Bird park stream pollution continues
The continued pollution has seen an action group established to resolve the issue.
The joy that a solution for the continued pollution of the waterways that feed into the Amanzimtoti Bird Sanctuary was found, was short-lived.
After AfriForum called a meeting with eThekwini Municipality, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and a Southgate Business Park tenant who was fined for polluting a feeder stream, it was discovered that run-off water from the tenant’s washbays and ablutions were incorrectly connected into the stormwater system and not the sewer system.
The company, whose name is known to the Sun, was fully co-operative and the municipality agreed to fast-track the re-connection and it was understood the problem would be soon be solved.
However, pollution continues to taint the waterways. On Monday, 22 August Maple Road resident and watchdog, Jen Adam reported red dye in the water. “We hear that things are in the pipeline to improve the situation, but as yet things seem to be going from bad to worse. The red dye in the water is totally unacceptable – these people are dumping their effluent without any conscience and should be dealt with harshly. The fines are pathetic and something drastic needs to be done to stop this.”
The situation improved for a week, with no pollution detected, but it was short-lived.
“The stream is once again contaminated,” said Jen. “From being crystal clear the last week to slightly foamy on Thursday, 29 August to rust-coloured on Friday morning, 29 August. This is not muddy water – it is some sort of dye that is being dumped.”
The pond in the bird park is fed by three streams, which runs as one stream down from the park, along Bernadotte Street into the Toti river.
The continued pollution has seen an action group, headed up by Lynette Rowe and Lee Lewis, established to resolve the issue.
A meeting was held at the park with management staff from eThekwini natural resources division, concerned residents and councillor of ward 93, Sipho Vincent Ngcobo.
“An action plan was decided upon and Cllr Ngcobo agreed to have a one-on-one meeting with the city manager about the sewage problem and other toxic waste found in the pond water,” said PRO of the action group, Bretjohn Palmer.
“Cllr Ngcobo will also follow up with the various departments responsible for monitoring the EIA management plans of the various industries operating near along the three streams, take water samples and act on the results. He will meet with the eThekwini department of water sanitation and with the chairmen of Heartland Leasing and Southgate Industrial Park to ‘root out’ the causes of the stream pollution.
Not only will he ensure that the city manager gets a clear message from ward 93 residents as to their expectations for this matter to be resolved, but he will also ensure proper feedback from the various council working groups and committees responsible for investigating and resolving the water pollution problem.”
