The spillage was said to be approximately 300m on the left, before the Airfield circle, when travelling from the Springs Civic Centre, to Brakpan.
It seems, the spillage is a result of oil excreted from the back end of two companies situated on the main road, namely, Sime Darby Hudson and Knight, and Hypersonic Engineering and Gear Cutting.
“On my way to work last week, I noticed the black substance, leaking in the trench,” he said, “and it was not until today that I decided to stop and see what it actually was”.
“I find this pollution disgraceful,” he added.
Van Aardt explains that he had sent an official complaint to the Ekurhuleni Metro’s Water and Sanitation Department on April 25, and was told that the Springs Water Quality Officer would do a follow-up on his lodged complaint.
On April 27, when van Aardt took the Springs Advertiser to the site in question, it was found that the trench had been covered with sand, in what seemed like an attempt to conceal the oil leakage.
It was, however, evident that there was still oil residue, as evidenced by the conspicuous smell of oil in the air.
Furthermore, within the trench coming from of Hudson and Knight, were sandbags placed at the end of their drain in what seemed to be an attempt to stop the oil leakage from flowing into the trenches outside the premises.
“They have done nothing, just covered the area with sand, and that is it,” he said. “You can still see the residue that goes into the storm water drain into Blesbokspruit”.
Van Aardt said that he first noticed the spillage in passing, as he regularly cycles along the main road.
“I decided to report the matter, because I could see that it was getting worse, and clearly no one was doing anything about it,” he said.
He said that the leakage had been going on for months, and he was very unhappy about it, considering that major factories ought to have proper water purification and oil disposal systems in place, due to the toxicity of waste oil.
“Companies are not allowed to carelessly dispose of oil; there are laws against that,” he said.
Van Aardt was also very concerned about the fact that none of the Ekurhuleni Metro employees, nor the employees of Hudson and Knight, and Hypersonic, whose offices are situated near the area, had seemed to have taken steps to address the matter.
“I mean, this is situated on the main road,” said van Aardt, “so you cannot say that none of them have seen it.”
Hudson and Knight general manager, Michael Barkhuysen, said that the blocked substance visible in the trench was not attributed to oil spillage.
“There was no oil spillage from our company,” he said. “The material that was visible was blackish water from washing the driveway.”
Barkhuysen explained that the company uses spill kits on site to manage any accidental spills that may occur.
With regards to the resolution of the matter, Barkhuysen said that the storm water drain was blocked but had been cleaned on Tuesday (April 26).
Sand is said to have been used to absorb the waste water, and to be cleared by the end of the week.
“The Ekurhuleni Metro were in contact on Tuesday and they also came to visit the site,” Barkhuysen said.
On the same Tuesday, the Ekurhuleni Metro also visited the premises of Hypersonic Engineering and Gear Cutting on Tuesday, and again on Thursday.
Hypersonic Engineering has since responded and identified the source of the problem,
“The environmental health inspectors and a member of the water and quality department were here,” said Richard Kumm of Ultragear CC, on behalf of Hypersonic Engineering.
He further stated that the company was not aware of the oil spillage, until a complaint was received, as this would have been an isolated incident.
He gave assurances that the company takes a great deal of care to eliminate any spillages.
“This was not a long-term problem,” adds Kumm. “We are very serious about the environment and the effect of spillage.”
Kumm gave assurances that the company was taking extra steps to ensure that such a problem never occurs again.
“The source of the spillage has been identified and eliminated on Tuesday,” he affirms,”And further precautions are being put in place to prevent any future recurrence.”
