Air pollution poses health threat, North Coast residents claim

Concerned Dolphin Coast residents believe a noticeable drop in air quality needs serious attention.

In response, a group of anti-pollution warriors are mobilising support for strategic intervention.

Led by Ballito resident Sunelle Hack, the Dolphin Coast Air Pollution – Breathe Easy Facebook page has grown to 994 members, 35 of whom attended the first group meeting at Townsend Park on November 13.

Support of environmental organisations such as the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) and groundWork has been enlisted.

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The Dolphin Coast group allege a serious decline in air quality has been evident over the past 2 years especially, characterised by foul odours and chemical smells behind illnesses such as asthma and eczema, with more serious diseases an imminent possibility.

“After tracking the smell for months, we identified a number of potential causes, one of which is the Dolphin Coast landfill site in New Guelderland,” said Hack.

The Dolphin Coast Landfill Management (DCLM) company strenuously denies harmful chemicals emanate from the site.

It says it not only complies with local emissions legislation, but also follow international standards as dictated by parent company Veolia in France.

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“In addition, DCLM is constantly implementing mitigation measures for odour and other nuisance conditions associated with the business. Measures implemented and planned for the near future include the covering of tanks, planting of trees, aeration, oxygenation of effluent and expansion on leachate treatment,” said DCLM general manager, Kyle Gaffar.

Without DCLM’s knowledge Bongani Mthembu, the air quality and GIS officer at SDCEA, conducted a bucket test at the DCLM fence line on June 19 to determine any ‘toxic soup’ conditions possibly present.

Analysed by Chemtech in Pretoria, the results indicated high levels of the chemical benzene, a known carcinogen.

The level of benzene was 41.94µg/m3 (parts per million), significantly higher than the allowable national level of 5µg/m3 (although this is an annual average).

In a meeting at DCLM, a number of issues were raised about the methodology of the study.

“Benzene is caused by a number of different industries, including manufacturing, mining and from the exhaust pipes of cars. Depending on the meteorological conditions, any number of the industries in the vicinity of DCLM as well as the N2 highway could have caused that high level,” said Gaffar.

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Without specific details of how the study was undertaken, such as specific positioning, times, wind conditions and the data gathering process, DCLM declined to comment on the results.

Dolphin Coast Conservancy chairperson Di Jones, who sits on the DCLM monitoring committee, said she had been taken around the DCLM site.

“I know that DCLM is an easy target for such allegations, but in all my dealings with them I got the impression they run an international-level operation. The real cause of the pollution, which seems to be ignored, are the illegal landfill sites which have no oversight or regulations to speak of,” Jones said.

SDCEA head, Desmond D’Sa, acknowledged there were many possible culprits and that the community meeting was simply to create a framework to formulate a strategic plan of action.

At the meeting, 5 community volunteers formed a committee to plan the way forward over the next few months.

If you experience air quality issues or noxious smells, you can join the Dolphin Coast Air Pollution – Breathe Easy Facebook page, on which a community complaint form is available.

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