environmental waste - time bomb 
14 February 2008
 
It has also been accused of flouting legislation for the sake of development that can generate revenue.  Nicole Barlow, chairperson of Ekurhuleni's Environment and Conservation Association, says the destruction of wetlands is one such problem.  She has accused the department of minerals and energy and the department of water affairs and forestry of incompetence and of not implementing legislation.  "We are facing serious problems, much bigger than the government is prepared to admit."

Among the problems identified are:

Mines releasing leachate into groundwater by not sealing their slimes dams, which is contaminating wetlands and rivers, and is getting into groundwater; and
Sewage contamination, as most of the sewerage plants are operating at more than 100 percent capacity, and load shedding is making this worse.

Barlow claims that East Rand Water, which is owned by the Ekurhuleni metro, is one of the culprits.

"The metro has allowed unparalleled and unchecked development to continue with no control or regard for proper disposal of sewage, and while development is burgeoning in all the metros, the local authorities are not building any new sewerage plants, just as they have not built any new power stations. This government has created no new significant infrastructure, as all the infrastructure we are living off was created by the previous government," Barlow contends.

She points out that storm-water management is also non-existent, with every metro and municipality.  Barlow says an example of poor planning is the Clearwater Estate development in Benoni.

"During heavy rain, the illegal stormwater drains into Brentwood Park in Benoni and Atlasville in Boksburg, flooding the residential areas, which is exactly why we should not be building on wetlands, because they absorb excess rain water."  And she blames mixed-use developments, "where industrial and commercial areas are being built next to residential suburbs with outdated infrastructure".

Numerous attempts to get comment from the minerals and energy department were unsuccessful.

Jurie Terblanche, the executive manager of operations at East Rand Water, says they have only one pump station, at Welgedacht in Springs, which has not been affected by load shedding, and that they have not dumped overflow sewage into the nearby Blesbokspruit. "I cannot speak for other pump stations as there are many situated along the Blesbokspruit," says Terblanche.

This article was originally published on page 6 of The Star on February 14, 2008 
 
Anna Louw, www.iol.co.za