BATTAMBANG: Residents in Battambang’s Rattanak district have been posting on social media about toxic black water that is suspected to have leaked from a reservoir at a nearby Chinese factory. On the morning of August 2, dead fish were found floating in the river.

On August 3, the director of the Battambang Department of Environment, Kot Boran, said that he was working with the deputy governor to find the source of the toxic water, but they have not yet been successful. Pictures from the morning of August 2 show black water pouring into the Sangkae River and mixing with the high murky yellow floodwaters. Fish were later found floating dead in the water.

Some residents in the Rattanak Mondul district claim that they see dirty black water flowing into the Sangkae River almost every year and that there are toxic chemicals that may have leaked from the wastewater storage tank of a Chinese company’s factory upstream. They said the toxic waters have killed fish as far downstream as the Stung Thvak Natural Resort.