Leachate dumping under fire
With permission given for leachate to pumped into the nearby ocean, locals are concerned about health safety.
UNYIELDING and fervent community members are calling for an immediate halt to the discharge of waste into the sea at Cuttings Beach, while officials claim there is nothing to be alarmed about.
Cuttings Beach – already a quagmire of broken bottles, chemicals, medical waste, sewage, glass and other detritus – now has leachate effluent being pumped off shore.
Local fishermen are the first to feel the repercussions of the waste at Cuttings Beach. Many have complained that the chemicals in the water have turned their legs white and others complained that the winter season, usually a productive fishing time, was poor this year. There is no evidence the leachate is responsible for this.
Questions have been asked of multiple companies, with the main focus on EnviroServ in Shongweni and the Bulbul Drive Wasteman site. The companies are only two among hundreds of companies that use Southern Wastewater Treatment Works (SWTW) to dispose of waste, however it was the issuing of a permit to EnviroServ for the dispersal of thousands of kilolitres of effluent into the ocean that provoked the uproar and galvanised the community.
“The leachate is discharged via the sea outfall over four kilometres out to sea. It is dispersed 60m below sea level and through a number of diffusers over the last 250m of its length. The effluent is tested and if it exceeds the toxicity limits then notices and fines are administered,” said eThekwini Municipality’s head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa.
On 19 August, a provisional permit valid from 1 August to 30 November was granted to EnviroServ’s Shongweni site for the discharge of trade effluent from a semi hazardous landfill site. The effluent was to be transported to the SWTW at a volume not exceeding 4,500 kilolitres per month.
An initial community meeting hosted by the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) on Thursday, 8 September, was attended by about 60 South Durban residents. Having heard of the potentially harmful chemicals being discharged into the ocean, many were present to hear what dangers it posed.
At the second meeting on Thursday, 15 September, numbers doubled to about 120 and included both local residents and those affected by the Shongweni landfill site. All expected a resolution but many left disheartened or incensed.
Government officials were tasked to meet with a forum of community representatives to discuss a plan of action.
The overarching question among many community members was what effect the waste would have on their families. Their expressions of fear and frustration permeated the discussions and at times, the palpable tension brought them to their feet, shouting for the immediate discontinuation of the dumping.
Depending on the argument, the effluent is either referred to as ‘leachate’ or ‘toxic waste’. As no clarification has been forthcoming on the constitution of the waste, residents and activists are concerned about the health consequences for people and wildlife and the long-term effects on local biodiversity.
Liquid that leaches from a landfill is termed leachate. The composition of the leachate depends on what is being stored at the site.
On one hand, the officials say the leachate has been tested and is safely being disposed of at sea. “Yes, the stuff is toxic but at the levels of dilution we are looking at, it is within acceptable levels and we are protecting the environment,” said eThekwini Municipality manager of pollution and environment, Christopher Fennemore.
Averda SA managing director, Johan van den Berg, said: “Averda, which recently acquired Wasteman, does not dump any toxic waste in the ocean, nor does it dump (in it) any other type of waste.
The liquid waste (leachate) generated by the permanent disposal activities carried out in Bulbul landfill is sent for further treatment and permanent disposal to eThekwini Water Services, the competent authority which regulates the liquid waste disposal (outfall) into the sea. EWS are responsible for monitoring the quality and environmental parameters of the landfill’s leachate, ensuring we comply fully with our environmental permit’s obligations and specifications.”
Click here for Averda’s full statement.
EnviroServ Group CEO, Dean Thompson also responded to the controversy: “Over the past five years we have received five fines for not meeting one of the 17 standard parameters as measured by the municipality. Be assured that these fines do not relate to a major non-compliance or criminal prosecution but are rather administrative in nature.
At our last external audit conducted by the DEA in May, the Shongweni landfill achieved 99.2%, which is only a minor non-compliance,” he added.
Read EnviroServ’s full statement here.
On Monday, 12 September, the Green Scorpions executed a search warrant at the EnviroServ office, collecting documents and samples for testing. According to the department of environmental affairs’ (DEA) director of enforcement for environmental impact and pollution, Grant Walters, they had a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of EnviroServ, which prompted the raid. A criminal investigation is being investigated.
“No charges have been laid at this point in time, although, if you do go through that process, there must be reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed,” said Walters. “The samples will be analysed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and after that we will be in a position to make an informed decision on which charges to lay,” he added.
“We have neither been issued with a non-compliance notice, nor have any charges been laid against the company arising from its operation of the Shongweni site.
We have, however, been informed of an investigation into the possible contravention of certain legislative provisions. We understand further that EnviroServ has not been singled out by the DEA in this regard.
Well before the DEA’s current investigation, EnviroServ had of its own accord assembled a task team to investigate and verify allegations by local residents regarding odours. The reports were submitted to the DEA and resulted in an 11 point action plan being prepared and agreed upon. That plan is currently being implemented within the agreed time frames,” said EnviroServ Group CEO, Dean Thompson.
Fines of R1,000 have been levied against EnviroServ on five occasions. Community members believe this to be too lenient. Walters said the DEA will be working with the municipality in terms of the size of fines being issued, with the plan being to increase them to hundreds of thousands.
City officials also stated that tariffs have been increased multiple times in the preceding years for companies that are not reducing their waste and simply sending them to treatment centres.
During the meeting, groundWork’s Bobby Peek read out a directive to the government officials, formulated by gathered community members. Among that directive were the following concerns:
“We want the waste treated at source.
We need to be able to find alternative methods to store that waste immediately. We also call for a long-term independent investigation to look at why we are in this crisis.
The whole process of toxicity and measuring of toxicity and how they do that is flawed and we want a new system. We need clarity on what is going into the sea – is it poisonous or not?,” asked Peek.
“I hope a precedent can be set here that an open and transparent process is developed so we can get to the bottom of this,” said SDCEA co-ordinator, Desmond D’Sa.
The Bluff Boardriders, who have taken up the cause of the local beaches in a crusade to beautify and improve the quality of the beaches, also criticised the discharge of the waste.
“We feel the area in concern has been the dumping ground for waste such as this for many decades and we have reached saturation point in our tolerance for this action.
It is our view that eThekwini has tried to placate the general public with reference to the tests that the CSIR has conducted on this leachate.
It concerns us deeply that eThekwini has no process of informing the community about the intended action and if it was not for the pro-active work of SDCEA and groundWork, this waste would have been dumped with the community kept in the dark.
As regular beachgoers and ocean users we condemn the proposed action and feel we must draw a line in an effort to begin the general rehabilitation of our immediate coastline,” said Duncan Pratt on behalf of the Bluff Boardriders.
With so much already flowing down the Umlaas Canal into the sea where many fishermen make their livelihoods, the sense of an urgent need for action was palpable. Following the meeting, the officials affirmed they will meet with key representatives from the affected communities to discuss a plan of action.
Read also:
How the leachate is disposed of at sea
Bluff Boardriders express outrage over sea dumping
EnviroServ hits back at ‘toxic waste’ dumping claims
Averda clarifies ‘unfounded statements’ about leachate
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