Transfer station up in smoke

Video

KAROO NEWS AND VIDEO - Waste management in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality (DBNLM) was put in the spotlight again last week when Graaff-Reinet residents noticed a thick, dark column of smoke billowing up from the waste transfer station and blowing directly towards the town.

Eventually, a cloud of smoke was hanging over Graaff-Reinet with black ash descending on the town.

Upon investigation, the Graaff-Reinet Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRPA) discovered that the mountains of domestic and industrial waste at the transfer station had been set alight.

The transfer station has been used for dumping waste since the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality (DBNLM) announced on 1 November that the landfill site near Adendorp was closed as "a temporary measure to ensure the realisation of its rehabilitation".

Residents and businesses were requested to dump their waste at the transfer station where, DBNLM said, "the recyclables will be sorted, and the rest will be disposed of in a designated space". This was in response to previous complaints about waste management in Graaff-Reinet.

The transfer station looked like a war zone.

Criminal charges laid
According to GRRPA it transpired that the burning at the transfer station has been taking place for some time, but the fire got out of hand early on the morning of Thursday 30 November, to the extent that the fire department could not contain it.

In response to this, Samantha Graham-Maré, DA MP and Dr Beyers Naudé Constituency Leader, laid criminal charges against the municipality on Friday 1 December. This was done under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008) and based on the municipality's alleged failure to fulfil a general duty in respect of waste management. Graham-Maré is of the opinion that the municipality's inability to manage landfill sites has now become hazardous to residents.

"On Thursday last week, residents of Graaff-Reinet were forced to endure a suffocating pall of smoke blowing across the town," says Graham-Maré. "The noxious smoke emanated from the uncontrolled fires burning at the municipal waste transfer station. The waste transfer station stood closed for a year due to complete mismanagement where the extent of the rubbish became unmanageable, and a woman lost her life. Instead of providing a sorting facility to remove the recycling material from wet waste, the station stood empty.

This all changed on 1 November, when the municipality issued a notice that its landfill site had been closed and that all refuse must now be dumped at the waste transfer station.

Within a month after the announcement that all rubbish must now be dumped at the waste transfer site, it has become a seething mass of rubbish, tip dwellers and endless spirals of toxic smoke polluting the air."

According to her the landfill site also burns every day. This is a serious health risk as burning waste releases harmful toxins.

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Graaff-Reinet Advertiser submitted a request for comment regarding the burning at the Graaff-Reinet transfer station and the landfill site to the DBNLM, but no response has been received.

The municipality also failed to respond to a previous request for comment relating to the burning of a landfill site situated outside Willowmore, behind the Willowmore Nursery and Aquaponics Cooperative.

According to Graham-Maré, several complaints were previously made to the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, but were unsuccessful. The DA therefore had no other option but to lay criminal charges.

"The municipality is obligated, not only to fulfil its service delivery mandate in respect of waste management, but also to ensure that it is done in an environmentally sound manner which protects the health of its residents," she says.

On Saturday 2 December, the Director of Community Services cleaned the transfer station.

Adendorp landfill site
Complaints were also received about waste management on the municipal landfill site near Adendorp on 31 October. Both the provincial road leading to Adendorp from the N9 and the access road leading to the landfill site were blocked by illegally dumped rubbish and completely inaccessible.

The Municipal Director of Community Services, Gewnynne Hermanus, and his team started removing the rubbish that very day and worked right through the night to clear the roads.

The provincial road was properly rehabilitated and the waste on the access road was pushed to the side to form a temporary buffer to prevent further illegal dumping. At the time, the spokesperson of the DBNLM, Vuyisa Jantjies, stated that a service provider had been appointed and instructed by the municipality to start fixing the waste management problems immediately.

The service provider was expected to remove all illegally dumped rubbish by Monday 13 November, and then start with the development of waste holding units to ensure proper management of the site. According to a reliable source within the municipality, a meeting was conducted with the service provider about a month ago, but the promised rehabilitation of the access road and landfill site has not yet commenced.

However, on Saturday 2 December, Hermanus and his team again rolled up their sleeves and cleaned the transfer station. According to Hermanus, the rehabilitation of the landfill site is also underway.

The rehabilitation of the landfill site near Adendorp is underway.

Concerning facts
Burning trash can cause long-term health problems. The toxic chemicals released during burning include nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and polycyclic organic matter (POMs). Burning plastic and treated wood also release heavy metals and toxic chemicals, such as dioxin.

Other chemicals released while burning plastic include benzo(a)pyrene (BAP) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), both of which have been shown to cause cancer. If agricultural bags or containers are contaminated with pesticides or other harmful substances, those will also be released into the air.

The transfer station burned out of control.