Toxic spill into river ‘covered up’
Looking like the "toxic waste site" it has been described as, the rusted shell of the former chrome plant which spilled toxic chrome-6 effluent into the Crocodile River in Brits was deserted yesterday.
By CATHY THOMPSON
A MONTH and 12 days after it happened, the government has announced an investigation into a “large release” of the environmental pollutant and carcinogenic toxin Chrome-6 into the Crocodile River.
“What took them so long?” asked North West Eco Forum chairman Chris de Bruyn.
A statement on Friday by the Departments of Water and Environmental Affairs gave no details of the quantity of effluent containing chrome-6 that was released into the waterway on December 8.
A Water Affairs statement dated December 23 described it as having been a “large release” and warned of the “pollution plume” that may have contaminated shallow ground water acquifiers between Brits and the Roodekopjes Dam. This was although the river was largely washed clean of the substance by good rains last month.
Judging by Friday’s statement and the response of a spokesman, the government does not know what health and environmental damage the spill has caused or will cause – almost 45 days later.
The statement says: “Specialists are assessing all possible health and environmental impacts of the incident.”
Asked why this had not already been done, Environmental Affairs spokesman JP Louw said his Department and that of Water Affairs were each busy with their own assessments and therefore the effect of the spill was not yet known.
Chromium-6, Cr-6 or hexavalent chromium is the same toxin that featured in the court battle which the real-life Erin Brokovich fought in the ’90s on behalf of an American town poisoned by a huge gas company.
It is described as a “notorious environmental pollutant and strong oxidant” and a “cancer-causing chemical,” which is especially dangerous when inhaled, but also hazardous when ingested or absorbed by humans and animals.
The Crocodile River traverses many kilometres of land in Gauteng and North West and its water is used by irrigation farmers on crops of maize, citrus, sub-tropical fruit and soya.
The release took place at the site of African Chrome Pty Ltd, which was abandoned in 1999, in the Brits industrial park.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which funded African Chrome, has been conducting a clean-up and rehabilitation of the site since 2001.
On the night of December 8, a night watchman accidentally switched on pumps which discharged water contaminated with Cr-6 into a municipal sewage system. He had been trying to turn on the floodlights at the water treatment plant at African Chrome..
Sapa reported that water with a concentration of 41mg of Cr-6 per litre, much more than the acceptable limit of 0,05mg, was discharged into the Crocodile River from the municipal waste water treatment plant.
In the December 23 statement, Water Affairs warned the public not to use borehole or ground water between Brits and the Roodekopjes Dam.
IDC head of corporate affairs Dante Mashile said the corporation had notified residents the day after the spill and had held public meetings over it.
“We were transparent. We did tests on the borehole water and found no ill-effects,” he said.
De Bruyn conceded the Cr-6, which is used as a herbicide, had been diluted by heavy rains at the time and was less hazardous in the water than in the air, but added the potential for more spills was still there and the incident had been “covered up”.
He added: “The other question is why is it taking the IDC so long to clean up the African Chrome plant.”
Mashile said the nature of the plant meant it would take 10 years to remediate because of the chemical substances and their by-products. “But we are doing all we can to lessen this time.”
The government announced on Friday that officials from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and inspectors from Environmental Management had jointly launched a full investigation into the incident.
“Upon conclusion of this investigation, a decision will be made regarding appropriate legal action to be taken against responsible parties, as well as the recovery of costs of remediation, if necessary,” a spokesman said.
“To date, the IDC has given its full co-operation in the investigation,” the spokesman added.
– cathyt@citizen.co.za