NPA charges premature, says EnviroServ

ENVIROSERV says a decision taken by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to criminally charge the company for its contentious Shongweni landfill is premature and that it will oppose the allegation.

EnviroServ group chief executive Dean Thompson yesterday acknowledged that the company had been served with criminal charges, relating to operations at the landfill.

“In view of certain agreements concluded with the Department of Environmental Affairs as recently as on 15 February 2017, we believe the NPA’s decision is premature, has omitted to consider a number of relevant considerations put to the Department and will therefore be opposed,” he said.

“We have been in a consultative process with the authorities for four months now, and an agreed process has been in place which only ends in April.

“The charges come as a surprise to us as we are still awaiting reports by the independent experts, which will contain conclusive facts that inevitably will have a significant impact on the matter,” Thompson said.

“Since this matter is now before the court, it is sub judice. We have full confidence that our technical and legal team will clear the company name.”

The company has come under fire from community members living near the hazardous waste landfill, who believe that “toxic fumes” from the site have been making them ill, along with their pets and livestock. Children have been particularly negatively affected by the noxious odours, they say. The smell was first detected in Plantations Estate, an upmarket housing complex about five kilometres from the landfill, in December 2015. However, residents living in the surrounding rural areas claim they have been battling with the same stench for up to 15 years. Communities have banded together to reclaim the right to breathe clean air.

The court case is expected to start next month, with charges including contravention of the National Air Quality Act.