SWIM at own RISK
Industrial effluent pipeline leak poses possible health impacts
IT’S been almost a month since an effluent pipeline off Akantstrand at Richards Bay sprung a leak, dumping industrial waste into the city’s prime bathing area.
The matter has been repeatedly reported to the authorities, and plans are hastily being made to protect the public and the environment.
The exact nature of the contamination content has not been made known, but prior experience demands that the situation be taken seriously.
First noted by anglers off the northern breakwater, it was reported on Sunday, 20 August to the Ezemvelo Catchment Management Forum and Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA), which chairs the Mhlathuze Pipeline Forum.
It was again reported on 23 August and authorities acknowledged the situation as
‘very serious’, and said they would institute enforcement action ‘tomorrow’.
On Friday, 25 August, uMngeni-uThukela Water put out a statement to the effect that the damaged pipeline had led to ‘some treated industrial wastewater spilling into the sea’, and said a crew of technical experts had already been dispatched to determine the cause and repair the leak.
While they issued a notice urging the public not to swim or fish in the area, this was not enforced.
Among others, a major local surfing competition has since been held – with no reports of any adverse health effects.
Update
The situation as it was received on Friday was that an inspection will be carried out this week on the condition of the defunct B-line, to see if it can be used as a temporary emergency measure while repairs are undertaken on the C-line which carries Foskor effluent.
Completion of the C-line repair is projected for late November.
uMngeni-uThukela spokesperson Siyabonga Maphumulo confirmed that the utility’s scientists have been conducting regular environmental monitoring, and test results were awaited from the CSIR.
“We take responsibility for the leaks which happen from time to time, given the fact that these pipes are submerged and suffer salt erosion and storm surges, but we have already assigned a contractor.
“However, the sea conditions will determine the working time it takes to effect repairs.”
He said any decision regarding use of the beach would be a municipal by-law matter.
Background alerts
First commissioned in 1984, there are three offshore pipelines.
The A-line transports buoyant wastewater effluent discharged from the town’s industries to a point 4.7km out to sea.
The C-line – the one now leaking at a joint just 700m off the beach - carries dense wastewater consisting of a gypsum slurry by-product from Foskor’s phosphoric acid plant.
The B-line was made redundant when the C-line became operational in 2008 but was not decommissioned and remains as an emergency back-up option.
Just over 30 million cubic metres of waste water is disposed annually through the Alkantstrand Effluent Disposal Scheme, threequarters of this via the buoyant line.
Bi-annual marine surveys are conducted by the CSIR to monitor the environmental impact of industrial and domestic effluent to the marine environment.
Toxic scare
Red flags were raised in a 2020/21 report presented at the Mhlathuze Water effluent pipeline environmental monitoring meeting in June 2021 when an independent report stated that ‘levels of arsenic, lead and mercury in a single catface rockcod caught on the pipeline near the C-line diffuser were extremely high many times in excess of food safety limits’.
Test results showed ‘clear impacts on sediment quality associated with effluent discharge from the C-line (and also the B-line), especially trace metals (copper, lead, barium and cobalt), directly affecting demersal (bottom feeding) fish.
It recommended a need to look at options for reducing toxicity of the C-line effluent, specifically the effluent from the Foskor gypsum plant.
Concern has also been raised about the reportedly high radioactive content of the gypsum and possible health implications this might pose.