PRETORIA - Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy says the final report into the chemical spill which took place last month at the United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) Warehouse in Cornubia, KwaZulu-Natal is expected to be completed by the end of next month.
“The multi-departmental investigative team which was set up to address the third priority has almost finalised a preliminary report which sets out the findings of the investigation, specifically into the regulatory environment in which the UPL warehouse was required to operate,” she said.
Creecy was addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday, on the report by the Portfolio Committee of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries’ oversight visit following civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
She said the ongoing investigation included aspects related to environmental law, requirements for major hazard installations, relevant licensing requirements under the Hazardous Substances Act and the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies Act, as well as the various legal requirements set out in the local by-laws.
“The report will guide further actions that need to be taken by government to address any non-compliances detected, but also to implement proactive measures to strengthen the regulation of this sector,” she said.
Creecy reiterated the importance of transparency in the manner in which government responds to an incident of this nature and supported the recommendation made by the portfolio committee to establish a multi-stakeholder forum that would receive regular reports from the joint operations centre and ensure representation of relevant stakeholders, including community representatives, researchers in the health fraternity and NGOs.
During the peak of the violent unrest which blazed numerous businesses in KwaZulu-Natal last month, the natural environment did not escape the negative effects of the pandemonium.
The eThekwini Municipality last month reported mass fish and crustacean deaths along the Umhlanga and Umdhloti Lagoons, north of Durban.
The City urged residents to refrain from all recreational activities, including fishing or surfing, collecting the dead fish for bait or human consumption.
According to reports, the die-offs could be attributed to the thousands of litres of run-off water - contaminated with hazardous chemicals - coming from an industrial chemical plant in Cornubia which was destroyed and set ablaze by looters.
Creecy said given the scale of the incident, and the numerous regulatory authorities involved, the government has focused on three priority areas.
“The first and most immediate was to ensure that further environmental and health risks were contained; the second is to oversee and guide the assessment, clean-up and remediation process and the third priority has been to investigate the incident within the ambit of the regulatory environment applicable to such a facility,” she said.
She said these three priorities align with the environmental principles set out in the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).
The minister pointed out that no fresh contamination was being released from the UPL facility into the environment, but as an additional layer of precaution, eight shallow water and eight deep water boreholes are being drilled to confirm that there was no contamination of the deeper aquifers.
Creecy said the investigation into the spill, and the findings, would go a long way to restore public confidence in the investigative and remedial measures underway.
The probe is also a requirement in terms of the National Environmental Management Act.
African News Agency