Toxic smoke still spewing from the dumpsite

IT HAS NOW been at least three weeks since the municipal dumpsite east of Vryheid caught fire. For all that time, there has been a toxic cloud of smoke emanating from the mismanaged facility.

Luckily, so far, the wind has been light, and most often blown the smoke away from town, from Bhekuzulu and from the low-cost housing area known as Sasko.Only occasionally has the acrid smell been discernable in town.

In the past when the dumpsite has been on fire, a pall of throat-gagging smoke has settled over town, most often in the early morning.

This smoke is really hazardous, and not only to infants, the elderly and those with bronchial complaints.

Smoke from landfill sites is known to contain a number of hazards. Among them are:

* Aldehydes which causes eye and respiratory illness, headaches and is an animal carcinogen.

* Carbon Monoxides, which causes dizziness, headaches and slowed reflexes; affects mental function, visual acuity and alertness.

* Chlorofluorocarbons causes dizziness, headaches and slowed reflexes.

* Dioxins and Furans which may cause cancer; causes growth defects; affects DNA; affects immune and reproductive systems and is very toxic.

* Hydrogen Sulphide which is toxic, causes respiratory disease. Healthy people experience shortness of breath, sore throats, breath difficulties, irritated eyes.

And there’s more. Much more.

Quite often in Vryheid in the past, it has been the hydrogen sulphide smell of rotten eggs that have been the clue at night that the dumpsite is burning.

On Monday this week it was still just parts of the southern side of the dumpsite from which smoke was drifting, but there is fuel to keep it burning for months, as it did in 2012.

In fact, it seems like an annual occurrence the burning of Vryheid’s dumpsite, and a cynic might even believe that setting fire to the site is a “dumpsite management strategy” at AbaQulusi Municipality.

A study has shown that the burning of municipal waste produces amounts to a 40 – 60% reduction in volume of the original waste. But the cost to the public and the environment is too great.

Also read: Winter and the dump site’s on fire again.

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