Toxic blues: at last, cleanup of deadly Durban chemical spill begins

A cleanup operation began on Thursday to remove toxic water from the pond in Chris Saunders Park in Umhlanga, north of Durban, after high levels of toxins were identified in it.

A team of men in hazmat suits attached a pipe to a 30,000-litre tanker to dredge the pond, the latest move to contain toxic waste released into the air and water surrounding the United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) chemicals warehouse in Cornubia, also north of Durban, which was burnt to the ground during last month’s violent unrest.

The cleanup comes more than two weeks after a report was commissioned by the Umhlanga Ridge Town Centre Management Association to identify chemical compounds in the pond and Ohlanga River, which turned turquoise in the days after the fire.

The water analysis certificate, completed on August 3, identified levels of acute toxins which pose serious health and environmental risks.

The report lists 29 chemical compounds identified in the Ohlanga River and Chris Saunders Park pond during two separate water-analysis tests. 

The images below show 10 of the compounds identified in both areas. The “percentage match factor” is only the probability of the compound being in the water sample tested and is not a measure of quantification for the compound.

Almost all of the chemicals identified have a composition that makes them flammable, irritants and threats to health and the environment.

UPL, an international chemical giant headquartered in India, saw its 14,000m2 warehouse set alight on July 12. It burned for 10 days before firefighters were able to properly extinguish the blaze.

Toxic run-off turned parts of the Ohlanga River and Umhlanga lagoon turquoise and dead fish rose to the surface, washing ashore on beaches north of the city. Many remain closed.

Despite it being more than a month since the fire, UPL is yet to make public what was lost in the fire, the company’s commercial director Jan Botha offering little information during his appearance before a parliamentary committee last week.

On Tuesday, amaBhungane released a full inventory of the chemicals destroyed in UPL’s warehouse. Several are banned in the EU and other countries, among them China and Sri Lanka.

There are more than 700 line items on the list, including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides. 

DA eThekwini councillor Rory Macpherson said UPL’s failure to provide answers to the public required urgent intervention from national government.

“Why has it taken so long for them to drain the pond? Because about four weeks ago all the fish in the pond had died. That should have been sufficient evidence that the water was contaminated. We are now only seeing action because the Umhlanga Ridge Management decided to do its own tests,” he said.

He added that UPL needed to come clean and make public the original product manifesto, predated to the fire.

“The fact remains that UPL has not provided the public with any answers about this incident. We still don’t have clarity about where this toxic water is being disposed, where it is being held and so forth. There are hundreds of thousands of litres of water that have been sucked up and we need to know where it is being disposed of,” he said. 

Since the fire, all recreational fishing, swimming, surfing or harvesting of marine species which could have been exposed to the toxic chemicals have been suspended as beaches north of the uMgeni River remain closed.

On Saturday, the eThekwini municipality said beaches would remain closed as a precautionary measure due to the spill.

“Water and sediment samples have been analysed and the results are awaited. The public is asked to be patient and comply with requests from authorities. Any inconvenience is regretted. However the safety of the public is of utmost importance,” said municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela.