DURBAN - IT COULD take years for the natural resources that were destroyed during the burning of the United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) warehouse in Cornubia, north of Durban, during the July unrest, to be restored to their former state.
Chemicals at the warehouse had gone up in smoke, and water used to battle the blaze ran off into nearby water channels and water sources, resulting in dead fish littering the uMhlanga lagoon and estuary, while some contaminants reached a freshwater stream, resulting in dead freshwater creatures and vegetation.
Environmental effects include:
• Visible dieback of estuarine vegetation.
• Aquatic life washed up near the Ohlange River estuary mouth.
• Estuarine fish died and marine species such as crustaceans washed up on beaches.
• Deposition of pollutants in and around the warehouse, which might have had an impact on the food chain.
EThekwini DA councillor Rory Macpherson said the extent to which the ecosystem was devastated seemed far greater than what they expected.
“We are hearing from independent conservationists that it could now take up to five years for the ecology to be restored to normal. This could have an impact on people who fish for a living or harvest oysters and mussels.”
He said the DA needed assistance from independent international lobby groups such as Greenpeace and other high-profile international environmental institutions, which could come on board and start helping them understand what had happened.
Greenpeace Africa volunteer Desiree Laverne said five years was a fair estimate for recovery because it took time to recover from a disaster of that magnitude. “The surrounding ecosystem will probably not recover fully in my lifetime. We must take into consideration that the stormwater drains will possibly still have hazardous chemical residue and, with our spring rains arriving soon, we are unsure what chemical residue detachments may occur in the stormwater system and be washed into the river, estuary and ocean.”
Laverne said UPL first needed to be held fully accountable for the results of the disaster. Then all the damaged environment needed to be removed, replaced and restored “to the best of our ability”, which could take years.
“Every living organism, both plant and animal, that has been exposed would need to recover. We can only hope that the long-term impacts will be minimal, lest we forget that the warehouse which stored hazardous chemicals was near to a school as well as Blackburn Village.”
GroundWork (Friends of the Earth South Africa) environmental health campaigner Rico Euripidou said the most dangerous and worst scenario was that if during the fire, the mixture of chemicals in the inferno led to or provided the conditions conducive to the creation of what are called “persistent organic pollutants”, which are entirely man-made chemicals and can remain in the environment for decades. They bioaccumulate in the food chain, have long-lasting environmental and human health impacts, and are associated with potent cancers.
Meanwhile, the Sibaya Conservation Trust, Hawaan Conservation Trust and the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa are still providing water stations for animals in affected areas.
Sibaya Coastal Precinct manager Justin van Rensburg said: “Six clean water stations were originally placed for game to drink from after the chemical spill. The water stations are regularly checked, refilled with clean water and replaced if necessary. This initiative will continue for as long as necessary … Initial reports after the spill were that the birdlife was greatly reduced; however this has improved and the teams are reporting more sightings, especially of larger species.”
Daily News