Authorities in Tak province have agreed to participation by villagers living near a factory, where tons of carcinogenic cadmium waste were stored, in processes to ensure their safety.

The villagers will send their representatives to join inspections by the authorities handling the cadmium slag in warehouses in Tak’s Muang district.

Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna will also take part in the inspections.

The request to be involved came from about 200 villagers living near the warehouses during a meeting with Tak authorities.

The meeting was chaired by Tak Governor Somchai Kitcharoenrungroj.

The issue of the cadmium slag received nationwide attention after thousands of tons were found stored in a factory in the central province of Samut Sakhon earlier this month.

Authorities traced the material back to warehouses in Tak, where some of the waste was buried in the factory’s compound.

The villagers are demanding that the slag already buried be dug up and re-buried, because the present site is in poor condition and they fear that the waste will leak onto nearby land and environment.

When the cadmium is excavated, the villagers want to observe the process to ensure adherence to the rules.

They acknowledged that clinical checks on 16 people, soil, water and plants in the area found no traces of cadmium, but they want checks every three or six months anyway.