Durban - Environmental lobby groups and specialised clean up teams are still cleaning up the Msunduzi River in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday after oil and caustic soda spilled into the river from a factory.
The Msunduzi passes through the centre of Pietermaritzburg and flows into the Inanda Dam.
On Monday, Save Our Rivers ZA said Willowton group’s Marketing Director- David Sweidan invited them onsite to work together to further identify areas and communities along the river that may still need immediate attention.
Sweidan said that an independent professional team appointed to assist with dealing with the incident includes a structural engineer, an environmental specialist, a hydrologist and a river health specialist, namely Dr Mark Graham.
Sweidan said the environmental impact has personally affected everyone at the group and that they give their full commitment that we all are working on the remedial action
A concerned resident shows the impact the spill had on the Msunduzi River near Ashburton on Saturday. Video source: Duzi-uMngeni Conservation Trust-Facebook
On Friday the Willowton Group issued a statement stating that the incident happened on Tuesday afternoon at the Pietermaritzburg vegetable oil manufacturing facility.
"A vegetable oil storage tank collapsed and, in the process, brought down an adjacent tank. Two other tanks were slightly damaged. One contained sunflower oil and the other diluted caustic soda which is used in the manufacture of laundry soap. The incident is under investigation to understand the cause of the collapse. Our main focus is to fully ascertain the environmental impact and to implement the containment and effect the necessary rehabilitation required."Sweidan said.
Sweidan stated that emergency response teams, SpillTech and Drizit, arrived on-site immediately after the incident and have been working within the impacted area on containment and remediation, with their core focus being to secure the external environment.
Sweidan stated that the teams were able to contain majority of the spill within our own facility.
A fish kill clean up took place near Ashburton in KwaZulu-Natal. Over 80 bags removed by the appointed team on Saturday. Video source: Save Our Rivers ZA
The group said that unfortunately, some product managed to enter the Baynespruit tributary and then into the Duzi River.
All the relevant authorities were immediately contacted, including the Departments of Water and Environmental Affairs, and Msunduzi Municipality and are currently being actively engaged.
Sweidan stated that this process is ongoing and will continue until the rehabilitation is completed and the authorities are satisfied.
Sweidan said they are concerned and committed to dealing with the incident and are proactively engaged with all parties to expeditiously resolve this. In addition to the environmental impacts, any impacts to water users along the Baynesdrift Tributary and Duzi River will be reported and will be investigated.
Water tankers and bottled water were given to the affected communities as a precautionary measure.
On Monday, Duzi Disaster Fund on Facebook said that the Willowton Group has sent a report on Drizit activities as follows:
"We have teams currently at the spill entry point, Sobantu Bridge, Manning Road Bridge and Grimthorpe Road Bridge. We also have deployed teams to focus on Ashburton, Mpushini and Kwa Ximba. A team has also been deployed to walk the river from Inanda dam upstream and daily we monitor the point of furthest reach."
The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, said there were would be a full investigation into the incident.
Photographs and videos have been circulating of the dead fish floating in the Umsunduzi and Umgeni Rivers have gone viral on social media platforms.
Ethekwini Municipality spokesperson Mswakhe Mayisela said residents were cautioned against making use of water from Inanda Dam.
"Caustic Soda is a very alkaline material and is therefore corrosive. Residents upstream of the dam and in the dam surroundings are advised not to expose themselves to the water in the river nor should they allow livestock to drink such water until further notice,"Mayisela said.