Canal Polluted After Jet Fuel Leaks From Tank at Chiang Mai Airport

 | Tue 11 Nov 2014 23:58 ICT

CityNews – Residents have been warned not to use water from a public canal after around 10,000 litres of jet fuel leaked from a tank at Chiang Mai Airport on Saturday night.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The leak was reported at around 11.15pm. The fuel leaked from the storage tank into the nearby Mae Kha canal, which flows past three villages.

A 300-metre-long section of a drainage ditch caught fire after an angler threw a cigarette butt into it, the Bangkok Post reported. An emergency response team from state oil and gas company PTT put out the blaze, which damaged two houses but caused no injuries, according to the National News Bureau of Thailand.

It said PTT had sent staff to investigate and had offered help to affected communities. It will be working with the airport and related sectors to repair any damaged caused as quickly as possible, NNT reported.

The Nation today quoted the mayor of Padad municipality, Rungpreecha Punkaew, as saying that the smell of oil was quite strong and facemasks had been provided to people living near the canal, which is used to irrigate farmland and for fishing. They have also been asked not to light fires nearby.

“We will later take legal action against PTT for environmental damage,” Rungpreecha was reported as saying.

The Bangkok Post quoted a PTT official as saying that the leaked oil was valued at around 26,000 baht. Flights to and from the airport were not affected.