Pollution needs urgent attention

IT started as huge clouds of chemical foam, and now it has morphed into a foul-smelling, toxic sludge that is endangering everyone living and working alongside one of the Bay’s most important stormwater canals.

Residents and environmental officers sounded the alarm almost a month ago and still little has been done to investigate the cause of the latest problem plaguing the Markman Industria area and address it in an effective way. Besides the fact that people are taking ill and animals drinking from the canal are dying, there is a very real risk of these dangerous pollutants landing up in the Swartkops River.

This already heavily polluted river is dying in front of our eyes as spills continue unabated and sensitive ecosystems are placed under ever increasing threat.

The worst part is that none of this is new. The Zwartkops Conservancy has vocalised its concerns for decades, but the situation has not improved.

The once flourishing Swartkops has systematically been allowed to deteriorate into a place of danger and disease. With the latest spill particularly worrying, how hard can it be to establish where this toxic material originated from and how it landed up in the canal?

Environmental officers suspect industrial waste was illegally dumped in the municipal sewer before landing up in the canal. Adding credence to the theory is that the Studebaker Road sewer has been blocked since last month, with teams working around the clock to pump sewage from overflowing manholes.

Somewhere in this area there is an operation (or operations) shamelessly flouting environmental laws with little regard for human health, much less environmental concerns. The priority right now is to identify the source of this pollution.

Heavy fines must be issued and future transgressions should result in operations being shut down.

What is happening to our river is criminal.

We have to acknowledge that the Bay’s waste management system is in crisis: the municipality’s capital budget, specifically for water and sewerage infrastructure, is being under-spent; forward planning is sorely lacking and intervention is needed.

If neither the municipality’s water and sanitation department nor the Department of Water Affairs can take charge then this is increasingly looking like a job for the Green Scorpions.