Durban - The scale of the devastation caused by the blaze that swept through the Africa Sun Oil Refineries in Mobeni two weeks ago has shocked investigators as they continued to sift through the ruins of the south Durban factory this week.
This week the Daily News was the first newspaper allowed on the site to see the extent of it.
A furnace-like fire, bricks turned to ash, containers and steel girders melted by the temperatures that went up to 1 3000C – and the consequential environmental disaster in the nearby mangroves in Durban Harbour – mean the clean-up will take months, possibly years.
Damages are provisionally estimated at R100 million. The directors of the company declined to speak, however.
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Labour spokesman, Nhlanhla Khumalo, said on Wednesday: “The clean-up operation started on the afternoon of March 26 (the day of the fire). To date, 490 000 litres of oil and water mix have been recovered from drains.”
This mixture, said officials, could be disposed of or, if the water and oil separated, could be used in the soap-making process.
The blaze had torn through bund walls (a kind of retaining wall) and caused massive oil leaks under the neighbouring railway tracks and through the area’s canal system – which had been plugged on Friday – into the sandbanks and the mangroves.
The Edwin Swales weir, Grunter Gully, the Bluff Yacht Club and Quayside, south-west of Grunter Gully, were affected.
The informal investigation may take two to three weeks to conclude.
Khumalo said video footage obtained from the company showed the fire had possibly been caused by an electrical fault at 4.26am.
He said a prohibition notice had been served on the company preventing it from removing (for safety reasons) any item from the scene until the forensic investigation had been concluded.
Asbestos exposure was one of the main reasons for locking down the site and restricting access.
A source close to the investigations explained that because the entire roof structure heated and was subjected to such extreme temperatures, it had changed into a “pulp”.
“Even the bricks when you tramp on them… are turning into powder. (There is a danger that the) asbestos fibres are being emitted into the air.”
The teams had to keep the fibres under control by “wetting down” to prevent them from being released into the air. “Even the forensic team that goes in there wears (special) protective equipment, and look like they are going into space,” the source said. This gear also had to be disposed of safely.
The fibres, when inhaled, can cause a myriad of long-term illnesses, particularly aggressive forms of lung cancer.
A Labour Department forensic team, headed by inspector Lennie Samuel, has been combing the scene for clues as to what sparked the fire.
The harsh smell of burnt chemicals was still evident on Thursday, and window panes had melted.
Tanks, which store between 150 tons and 600 tons of soya bean oil before the refinement process, were untouched by the flames. It was the refinery and warehouses that were gutted.
The source said that although there had been no worker injuries, the Department of Labour still had jurisdiction over the entire factory.
“This kind of incident is regarded as a ‘near miss’: there could have been major injuries. There could have been fatalities.” The fire burned for several hours and, six days after it was thought to be extinguished, had to be hosed down again by firefighters.
The Department of Environmental Affairs has approached the company, aiming to mitigate the pollution impact on the mangroves and sandbanks nearby.
The company needed to provide details of any risks posed by the incident to public health, safety and property, the department said.
The company, the department said, needed to ensure that the placement of booms was applied in a staggered approach to control oil seepage. Tankers needed to be available to remove the skimmed oil off site.
Co-ordinator of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, Desmond D’Sa, said that the directive had been issued too late.
“The mangroves, if they are affected, will take years to replenish themselves. These measures should have been in place to prevent the spill in the first place,” he said.
“It really is a slap on the wrist.”
D’SA said his organisation had written numerous letters to the Department of Environmental Affairs, but had not received any responses before the incident.
Daily News