A number of companies in Wadeville have been experiencing a flow of an unpleasant and unidentified liquid past their doors in the past few months.
What started as a trickle of sewage, late last year, but it has now turned into a black, thick and acidic chemical-looking flow, with an excruciating smell.
“This started in October, last year, when sewage was seeping through the back wall of the property; we reported the matter to the municipality and, after weeks of struggle, they came and seemingly unblocked the drain,” said the general manager of Edrick Trading, Sharon Morrick.
The sewage seemed to be coming from PQ Corporate, who had also lodged a complaint with the metro about the blocked drain.
The sewage dried out at the beginning of December, last year, but when the Edrick Trading employees returned from holiday on January 6, they were faced with a substance which was worse than the sewage.
The companies affected by this are all Edrick Trading’s neighbours, who are renting property from Lothlorien Properties.
“When the property manager, Alba Williams, informed me about the waste problem I also contacted the metro and the response I got was that they suspect that a sewage pipeline has collapsed and needs to be dug out and replaced,” said the DA’s PR councillor, Cliff Patterson.
It is unclear where the industrial waste comes from, because it is running onto the old railway servitude, behind the Lothlorien buildings, and overflowing into their property.
“This reminds me of three years back, when we had a serious problem with chemical waste being dumped just outside our property,” said Williams.
“For months, we tried getting assistance from the metro, but all we got was a reference number.
“That chemical waste was slippery and caused a lot of accidents; we kept repairing the wall because cars would crash into it due to the waste.
“It was only when things were getting out of hand, and more people started complaining, that the metro sent people to investigate the matter and discovered that there were people dumping their waste.
“It floods to the extent that we sometimes have to jump a ‘river’ of waste, just to go from our offices to the workshop.”
“The other factor is that this waste is slippery and I almost lost control of my vehicle the other day after driving through it,” said Morrick.
“This is a health hazard, because most of our employees and I have had severe headaches due to the awful smell that comes from this waste.
“This is a severe environmental issue and something has to be done soon, because so far the only thing that we have received from all of this was just a reference number.
“If we can’t rely on the metro for assistance then who should assist us?”
Williams received a number of complaints from tenants, because they are unable to work productively under these circumstances and neighbouring companies think that the waste comes from their properties.
Williams also told the GCN that she sent an email to the metro and received a response from an employee, who shall remain anonymous, saying that her complaint was a water and sanitation issue.
She was referred to the appropriate person, but, following countless emails, she is still awaiting a reply.
Patterson was also told that there might be companies that pour their unused oil into the storm water drains.
“Enough is enough; this is a danger to society and the metro has to make this their number one priority,” he said.
“An investigator has still not been sent out to figure out what the root cause of this problem is.”
Morrick, Williams and Patterson doubt that this is just sewage, because of the colour, smell and the fact that it seems to be brewing [bubbling] as you take a close look at it.
“I sincerely hope that the metro attends to the matter at hand, as soon as possible,” said Morrick.
The GCN contacted the metro for comment, but, at the time of going to press, none had been received.
