Committee visits the Modderfontein Reserve
Mr Robbie Vermont, chairman of the Modderfontein CAER committee, said several water quality monitoring sites along the river were pointed out to the group.
Members of the Modderfontein Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) committee conducted an inspection of the water quality management procedures in place along the Modderfontein Spruit, prior to their bi-monthly meeting recently.
The inspection was arranged by AEL Mining Services’ environmental officer, Ms Amanda Harripersadh, and included input from the company’s technical and compliance executive Mr Colin Wilson and Trainee Environmental Manager Shudufhadzo Tshusa.
Mr Robbie Vermont, chairman of the Modderfontein CAER committee, said several water quality monitoring sites along the river were pointed out to the group from where the river enters Flamingo Dam on the edge of the golf course, through Fish Eagle and Grebe Dams in the Modderfontein Reserve to Buccleuch, where the river leaves the reserve.
“A range of tests are carried out along the river on a regular basis to ensure that the water quality matches up to the parameters laid down in legislation and required by the Department of Water Affairs and the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development,” said Mr Vermont.
These tests monitor the levels of ammonia, nitrate, pH, electrical conductivity, sulphate (SO4), fluoride (F), chloride(Cl), sodium (Na), phosphate (PO4), COD, manganese (Mn), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), suspended solids, phenol, arsenic, cyanide (CN) and TDS. If, for any reason, these exceed the prescribed levels, immediate action is taken to find out why and to remedy the situation.
“CAER committees exist world-wide and are drawn from members of the public residing in close proximity to factories using or producing potentially hazardous chemicals,” said Mr Vermont.
“This initiative was first implemented in Canada as a result of several incidents, including the notorious Bhopal disaster in 1984, when a leak of methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide factory in India led to the deaths of an estimated 16 000 people living in the surrounding communities,” he said.
The Modderfontein CAER committee was formed in 1995 and meets every two months. It provides a platform for liaison between the Modderfontein Industrial Complex and the communities surrounding it within a seven kilometre radius.
