Contamination woes continue at Klity

       Klity villagers in Kanchanaburi province have no choice but to consume leadcontaminated water as the Pollution Control Department continues to fail to find a way to clean up their creek.
       "I don't think the problem will be solved any time soon," said Worasart Apaipong, the department's deputy chief."It's too difficult to remove all the contaminated sediment from the waterway."
       Mr Worasart chairs a panel charged with finding a way to solve the lead contamination of Klity creek in the western forest complex in Thong Pha Phum district.
       Klity creek, which is a major source of water for Lower Klity villagers, has been heavily polluted by waste from an idle lead processing plant. Scores of villagers, mostly children, are suffering from lead poisoning-related ailments.
       The panel of government bureaucrats,academics, environmental activists and villagers is the department's latest bid to tackle the problem.
       The agency last year lost a court case filed by 22 affected villagers.
       The Administrative Court blamed the department for not only being slow in its efforts to rehabilitate the contaminated creek but also failing to claim compensation from the polluter.
       The department was ordered to pay 743,000 baht in compensation to each of the plaintiffs.
       The panel will make a final decision on how to rid the area of contamination after the department receives proposals from a consultant firm.
       The firm has been asked to study and suggest the most appropriate and effective clean-up operations, the pollution control deputy chief said.
       Experts have been at loggerheads over what to do. While some have argued that there is no better solution than trying to remove the lead sediment from the creek, others believe such a move could make the lead spread further in the water. Finding a site to store the lead-tainted soil is another problem.
       Earlier, the department said the contaminated sediment should be left where it is.
       Surapol Kongchantuek, director of the Karen Studies and Development Centre,who has followed the Klity case, said the consultant firm's proposals would be useless if the department stood firm by its stance that the polluted sediment should be left in the creek.
       More than 15,000 tonnes of leadtainted sediment is in the creek, which flows to many major rivers. The department needs to be sincere if people are to expect a proper solution, he said.