Postponed emission standards compliance irks SDCEa
During the five-year postponements period, action must be taken by the facilities in order to comply with the standards thereafter.
THE South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) calls the Department of Environmental Affairs’ announcement of which facilities were granted postponements for compliance with its minimum emission standards a tragic setback to the people of the South Durban Basin (SDB).
On Tuesday, 24 February the department announced which of the 37 applicants had been granted postponements. Successful applicants included some of Eskom’s facilities and in eThekwini, Engen.
Environmental affairs minister, Edna Molewa, said in terms of section 21 of the National Environmental Management Air Quality Act, facilities that are unable to comply with the minimum emission standards for air quality are allowed to apply for a postponement of the timeframe for compliance.
“As a department, we are the main role player in ensuring that the constitutional right of South Africans to an environment that is not harmful to health and well-being is always taken into consideration, while ensuring that socio-economic growth is not hampered. Such postponement of the compliance timeframes may be granted for a period not exceeding five years, per postponement,” said Molewa.
During the five-year postponements period, action must be taken by the facilities in order to comply with the standards thereafter.
“The capturing of government by big business makes a mockery of the same businesses’ commitment to the late president Nelson Mandela, when he arrived in Durban on 25 March 2005 and listened with humility to the people of South Durban,” said SDCEA co-ordinator, Desmond D’Sa.
D’Sa referenced two health studies done by NGO Groundwork, as a basis for its concerns about local air quality, which will be affected by the postponement of compliance with minimum emission standards. In 2002 at Settlers School, a health study showed that 52,5% of pupils had asthma and in 2007, a second study showed an escalation in children with asthma in the SDB.
“The study also showed the cancer risk was estimated to be 25 in 100,000, whereas the norm is 1 in 100,000. The leukemia rate in children under the age of 10 is at least 24 times higher than the national average.
Many sacrifices were made by the community of the SDB to ensure we were able to get accurate information that was provided to the government. We also presented this information to the public hearings conducted by the National Portfolio Committee of the Environment in Cape Town.
The people of the SDB will never give in to the polluters and will challenge those responsible in government who are failing to protect our health and wellbeing,” said D’Sa.
