‘Paint pollution’ investigated

The City of Ekurhuleni conducted a two-day investigation into the continuous paint pollution affecting the streams in the Sebenza area.

The investigation was done to verify if it was indeed paint that was polluting the stream; however no evidence of paint was found.

On August 24, the NEWS published an article about the paint pollution into the streams in the Sebenza area after a complaint from a resident was received.

Mr Gary Thomas, member of the Illiondale Wetland Buddies, said he received a call from one of the residents on August 12 about paint discharge in the stream.

The stream is behind the factories on Ingwe Road, Sebenza. Mr Thomas said they visited the area and found that the water had changed colour completely.

“We went to the area again on Saturday, August 13, and the situation was worse. The water was overflowing and we called the Edenvale Fire Department to come and see what was happening. They were very helpful but there was not much they could do,” he said.

Mr Thomas said at that moment there is no evidence to show which one of the factories was responsible for the discharge, but he wanted the matter investigated.

“This is not the first time this has happened, but no one has been able to trace which factory is responsible. Somebody has dug a hole which means someone knows what is going on,” he said.

Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Mr Themba Gadebe said they had not received any concerns from residents regarding the paint that was illegally discharged into the stream.

“If the complaint was found to be justified and the transgressors were identified, a written notice would have been issued in terms of chapter 2, part 2 and chapter 6, sec 37 of the Public Health by-laws. The matter would further be reported to the Environmental Resources Management: Legal Compliance Division for action.

The Environmental Health Division will continue to monitor the area and take the necessary action should a need arise,”said Mr Gadebe.

Mr Gadebe said an investigation was conducted on August 17 and 18, 2016 by the area Environmental Health Practitioner and the following were the findings:

•  No visible traces of paint could be identified at the time of inspection.
•  The murkiness of the water might have been due to lime used to rehabilitate the area around which the plumber employed by one of the factories in the area was working inside the factory boundary. A full report was requested from the plumber on this matter.
•  The Environmental Health Practitioner conducting the investigation found a manhole blockage and sewer burst. Two points on the map showed sites of blockages, one behind 20 Ingwe Road being a burst/broken sewer pipe and the one on the street at 10 Ingwe being a blocked sewerage manhole, all belonging to Ekurhuleni.

Mr Gadebe said, due to the closeness of those blockages to the stream, the spillage and run-off is flowing directly into a stream. “Water and Sanitation Department has been notified of these overflows,”he said.