Residents urged to refrain from putting dangerous chemicals into stormwater pipes

Environmental manager at Lonehill Residents Association Nadeem Abraham has urged residents and local businesses to refrain from putting oil and dangerous chemical substances down stormwater pipes.

This was after oil, allegedly from a stormwater pipe that feeds into Lonehill Dam, contaminated the water resulting in the death of many fish.

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Abraham said the association’s environmental team and City Parks were working hard to identify the source of the oil that led to the incident. “More than 80 fish died as a result of the oil spillage into the dam. We want to remind community members that one drop of oil can contaminate 1 000 litres of water and have a catastrophic impact on water species and the environment,” said Abrahams.

“We also call on residents to refrain from washing their cars in driveways because the water will go into stormwater pipes and end up in dams and rivers. We need to respect our environment at all costs to prevent incidents of this nature.”

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Ward 94 councillor David Foley said, “We are working with Lonehill Residents Association and different City departments to clean the dam to prevent more species from being killed by contaminated water.”

City Parks spokesperson Jenny Moodley confirmed that they’ve been made aware of the incident. “City Parks’ conservation and environmental protection units were joined by various departments including the Regional Health Inspectorate and Environmental Infrastructure Services Development Department.

Subsequent to the site meeting and the follow-up meetings, it was resolved that the pollution from the oil spill triggered the fish kill. We have commenced the clean-up and will continue to monitor the facility.”

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