A huge cleanup of SA’s most infamous stockpile of toxic waste is under way after decades of delays, but it could take another two years before the poisons are contained and remediated.
Stacked in warehouses, or simply piled up in untidy heaps in the open air, more than 4,000 tons of deadly mercury sludge have been accumulating at the old Thor Chemicals factory in Cato Ridge, west of Durban, since the early 1980s.
The waste was imported to SA by the British-owned Thor group, ostensibly to recover and recycle used mercury products. Instead, several workers died or became ill after being exposed to the deadly fumes and sludges, and the plant was eventually shut down in 1991.
Now national environment minister Barbara Creecy has reiterated her determination to get the mess cleaned up “once and for all”.
Responsibility for the costs of the cleanup has been dragging on since the mid-1990s, when then president Nelson Mandela appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate the saga.
At a media briefing ahead of her budget presentation last week, the forestry, fisheries and environment minister said an intergovernmental expert team has been appointed to oversee the cleanup and ensure the full implications of the pollution threats are dealt with.
“When I was appointed to this portfolio I committed to leaving no stone unturned to have this material removed and to ensure an end to a three-decade pollution legacy issue.
“I am pleased to inform you that the removal of the approximately 4,200 tons of mercury-containing waste began in earnest last year,” Creecy told the national assembly.
So far 1,211 tons of waste have been exported to a treatment facility in Switzerland and it is anticipated the repackaging and removal of the Cato Ridge stockpile will be finalised by mid-2022, with final remediation completed by 2023.
Ten years ago, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) published a study suggesting some of the mercury appeared to have spread out via streams and rivers to reach the upper sections of Inanda Dam, the main source of Durban’s fresh water supply.
The expert study noted that mercury is a poisonous heavy metal which attacks the brain, muscles and central nervous system.
Based on samples collected near three villages around the dam, the study showed that 50% of the fish samples and 17% of human hair samples collected had mercury concentrations that exceeded guideline levels of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
When I was appointed to this portfolio I committed to leaving no stone unturned to have this material removed and to ensure an end to a three-decade pollution legacy issue.
— Environment minister Barbara Creecy
Mercury concentrations in 62% of the river sediment samples collected in proximity to the former mercury processing plant exceeded the level at which remedial action is required, according to legislation in the Netherlands.
Ten years down the line, however, it remains unclear whether people, fish or water are still at risk from the mercury pollution.
In response to a question on whether new studies had been conducted to assess potential threats, Creecy said a number of fresh samples were collected in 2019, but any follow-up studies on human health will be the responsibility of the department of health.
She said the government expert team comprises officials from the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality; the KwaZulu-Natal department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs; the departments of labour, health and water and sanitation; and the SAPS.
UK-based Tato Holdings (the restructured former parent company of Thor SA) confirmed it had set aside €10m (about R174m) for the cleanup.
Tato CEO David Hewitt said the group had “offered our assistance in collectively working together to resolve this long-standing issue” after discussions with the SA government and other parties.
