Sewage spill mud wrestle

Metro could be prosecuted for pollution

THE national Department of Water and Sanitation is investigating the metro after it failed to comply with an instruction to urgently address sewage spilling into the Swartkops Estuary. Acting department regional catchment manager Thandi Mmachaka said in e-mail correspondence that the department had issued a non-compliance letter to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality on April 23 and that it had not replied.

“They were given seven days to make representation and have failed to do so and I also followed up with them last week without success.

“We have escalated this matter to our compliance and enforcement directorate for further investigation and possibly prosecution.”

A copy of the letter, addressed to wastewater treatment director Anderson Mancotywa and signed by Mmachaka, said the department’s inspectors had visited the Brickfields Pre-treatment Plant on April 16.

They found that raw sewage had accumulated in the plant’s emergency ponds and was being channelled into the stormwater system and then being discharged into the Swartkops River.

The department said the situation contravened Section 19 of the National Water Act, which included the injunction that the entity controlling the land or process must take all reasonable measures to prevent pollution.

The department told the metro that in light of the findings it had 48 hours to stop the sewage spillage and to provide an action plan. The plan had to be provided within seven days.

The drama around the sewerage system began on April 15 when a section of sewerage pipe between the pre-treatment plant and the Aloes community sheered off, and sewage poured into the Markman Stormwater Canal and from there into the estuary.

The metro and plumbing contractors were quickly on the scene and a decision was taken to replace the section of pipe.

The team slotted in the new section but since then a series of further breaks and blockages have resulted in repeated spills from the overflowing pre-treatment plant and down the Markman and Motherwell canals.

Zwartkops Conservancy spokeswoman Jenny Rump said the metro team was battling yesterday to build a 3m-high berm to hold back the pre-treatment plant effluent long enough to allow officials to clear sludge from the outlet pipe.

One of the repercussions of the continued pollution is that the scheduled May 27 Swartkops SPAR Family Paddle Day, a much-anticipated fund-raiser for the conservancy’s estuary protection work, has been postponed.

Once the problem has been resolved the event will be rescheduled.

Metro spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki said last night he had not yet managed to obtain comment from metro officials.