PATTAYA City authorities explained that the seawater at Pattaya Bay got blackened because wastewater from a sewage treatment plant overflowed for a few hours and not due to an oil spill as has been feared, Naewna newspaper said this afternoon (June 16).
This followed the circulation of a video clip showing a boat sailing in Pattaya Bay coming across what seemed to be a lot of oil slicks in the seawater with questions raised whether they came from three oil-smuggling boats that disappeared from a Marine Police pier in Sattahip a few days ago.
A further inspection showed that the waters near Bali Hai Pier were contaminated with black substance and in the middle of the bay there were a lot of what appeared to be oil slicks.
However Mr. Manoch Nongyai, deputy mayor of Pattaya city, said the waters near Bali Hai pier got dirty after wastewater from a sewage treatment plant overflowed into the sea.
This plant was shut at 5 p.m. yesterday for repairs after a sewer pipeline suddenly collapsed. The repair work was completed at 11 p.m. last night after which the sewage treatment plant started working normally.
The contamination of the seawater is not due to an oil spill, he underscored.
CAPTION:
Pattaya waters contaminated with overflow from a sewage treatment plant. Photos: Naewna
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