UPL claims 'no serious health impact' for neighbouring community from unrest toxic spill

UPL SA claims there have been no serious health implications for residents living close to the site where one of the country's worst environmental disasters unfolded during the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal last year.

But environmental activists are not convinced.

July marked a year since the UPL chemical warehouse in Cornubia, north of Durban, was burnt to the ground by arsonists, unleashing 5,500 tonnes of pesticides, solvents and other agrochemicals into the environment.

A criminal investigation into the company is nearly complete and according to the national department of environment, forestry and fisheries, on completion of the investigation, the docket will be handed to the director of public prosecutions to decide whether to prosecute.

Preliminary findings of a report into the spill, released by Barbara Creecy, minister of forestry, fisheries & environmental affairs, found UPL was not in possession of the requisite environmental authorisation before establishing its operations three months before the incident.

On Saturday UPL SA briefed an interim multi-stakeholder forum (MSF), formed by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for economic development, tourism & environmental affairs Ravi Pillay to deal with issues around the chemical spill.

The forum was briefed by a team of specialists on ongoing water, sediment and air testing as well as assessment of certain parts of the food chain’s health in the ecosystem and the conducting and supervising of, among other things, toxicity, vegetation and entomological surveys of the site.

Desmond D'Sa of the South Durban Environmental Alliance, who is part of the forum, told TimesLIVE the presentation left more questions than answers.

“There are a number of critical questions that we raised with the experts who presented the reports. There are a number of gaps in the report.

“We've asked a number of questions. There will be a follow-up meeting. The information seems to lack substance. Remember, we are dealing with pesticides that have long-term effects on people.

“The geotechnical reports are still not complete. Certain things have to be done to give us a clear understanding of how deep chemicals have gone into the soil and rock. They are saying things are recovering but we say there are no physical signs of it,” said D'Sa.

UPL's team said testing and monitoring to determine human health effects is ongoing in the surrounding area of Blackburn to finalise the human health risk assessment report.

“Encouragingly, it appears from both the testing of first responders and on-site personnel, as well as those few people who have attended the clinic set up by UPL in the neighbouring Blackburn community, that there is very little by way of serious health implications.”

Beaches north of the city remained closed for more than three months after the toxic spill which contaminated the Ohlanga River and uMhlanga estuary.

But the specialists say “water quality surveys testing of the estuary and marine environments show that metal levels of arsenic, manganese, copper and zinc are now below the guideline levels set for the SA coast”.

“The emphasis remains on continuing to decontaminate the warehouse site, the tributary and the lower wetland, which will in turn see further significant improvements in the estuary environment.

“When it comes to the pollution control dam, analysis from independent laboratories has shown low levels of residual pesticides present and low overall toxicity. Scientific modelling, which looks at a number of factors, suggests that this water is now safe to release into the system as, when combined with the water already there, it will reach such significant dilution levels as to pose no harm to the environment.

“Continuous monitoring and testing for pollutants during and after the fire revealed that once the fire was extinguished harmful pollutants were substantially lower, while airborne dust samples no longer contained arsenic.

“The soil and sediment samples in the tributary and estuary show some residual organic and inorganic impacts. However, the levels have decreased significantly when compared to the initial sampling event.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.