Medical waste found in spruit
Ilegally dumped medical waste had been found in a spruit near Maroelana Street in Menlo Park.
Several kilogrammes of blood-stained medical waste and other used personal hygiene products were illegally dumped in a spruit in Menlo Park, creating a massive health risk to residents in the area.
Two schools are located in the immediate vicinity of where the medical waste had been dumped and according to Democratic Alliance (DA) ward councillor Siobhan Muller, children often walked in the area where the waste had been spotted by a resident.
The waste had been contaminating the Waterkloof Spruit in Maroelana Street for at least a week before it had been reported and removed, said Paul Fouchee, owner of the company 24 Hour Crime Scene Cleanup.
Fouchee said he had been alerted to the illegal dumping by Muller and had volunteered his company’s service to clean up the area before having the 9kg of waste he had picked up destroyed by a company in Johannesburg.
“Unfortunately by the time we were made aware of the dangerous dump, some of the waste had already been washed away by the spruit,” Fouchee said, adding that from the appearance of the waste, it had been dumped at least one week earlier.
Some of the waste, including used sanitary pads, posed a serious danger of contaminating the water and area adjacent to the water with among others hepatitis A and B and other diseases.
Fouchee said after collecting the waste, his company had treated the area with special chemicals that destroyed the dangerous substances but was eco-friendly and did no harm to the environment.
He said it was impossible at this stage to say who had been responsible for the illegal dumping, but the matter would be reported as some of the waste still contained bar codes and could therefore be traced to the user.
According to Fouchee, the dumping of any blood-stained material posed a massive health risk.
Muller said illegal dumping, especially of medical waste, was unacceptable anywhere, but especially in a spruit area.
She said the banks of the spruit was regularly frequented by children from the two schools in the vicinity.
She said she was awaiting more details before she would report the matter to Tshwane’s environmental management department to trace the origin of the waste and to take action against those responsible for the illegal action.
Fouchee said in a case such as this where dangerous waste was cleaned up, he had to obtain proof that the waste had been properly disposed of and not merely moved to another dump site.
