An Ekurhuleni business that illegally pumped toxic manganese fumes into the atmosphere has been ordered by court to plant 80 indigenous trees in a municipal park. Blue Sphere Investments Trading and its director, Nico Kruger, were also fined R100 000, or 10 years’ imprisonment. A third of the sentence was suspended for five years on condition that the business cleans up its act and the trees do not die.
For Melissa Fourie, director of the Green Scorpions, which helped win the judgement, the case exemplifies the innovative approach needed to deal with environmental crimes.
Kruger was ordered to plant 20 white stinkwood, 30 wild olive and 30 karee trees in a wetland near his business premises, in consultation with the Nigel municipality. Growing indigenous trees is a globally accepted way of mitigating air pollution and harmful gases that cause climate change.
”This was a precedent for us in dealing with the parallel objectives of punishment through prosecution — not shutting the business down, but ensuring that in future it complies with environmental legislation,” said Fourie.
Residents of Vosterskroon, Nigel, complained that their health was affected by Blue Sphere’s pollution. The company smelts ferromanganese and related compounds in a furnace, and then sells lumps of the material to manufacturers of metal and steel products. Exposure to ferromanganese emissions and dust can damage the central nervous system and cause respiratory infections. Breathing, swallowing and touching manganese oxide or vapours can cause severe burns.
Blue Sphere, which employs about 65 people, was charged with carrying on a ”scheduled process” with a substantial detrimental effect on the environment without the necessary registration certificate and permit from the minister of environmental affairs.
Kruger admitted to contravening the environmental laws from October 2004 to October last year after taking over the business from Ocwen Investments. Ocwen had previously applied for authorisation and Blue Sphere continued to consult the authorities, but failed to meet their requirements.
In a plea bargain confirmed by the Nigel Regional Court last Friday, Kruger pleaded guilty to contravening the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act and the Environment Conservation Act. Part of his sentence was suspended on condition that he installs equipment to capture the toxic fumes and channel them through chimney stacks. He undertook to put up a ”weather station” to monitor atmospheric emissions, which would be regularly checked by pollution officers.
Other conditions included concreting an area where bags of ferromanganese are kept, to prevent it leaching into the groundwater. Employees must be sent for annual health tests and an emergency plan to deal with a disaster must be okayed by the authorities.
Kruger also promised to help the Green Scorpions with information about other polluting industries on the East Rand, where environmental laws are routinely flouted.
Fourie said the Blue Sphere case was a trendsetter in eco-crime. It involved joint investigation by enforcement officials in the national and provincial departments, and co-operation with police, the prosecuting authority and municipal officials. ”It was an important resolution, mirroring how our approach to enforcement has changed from talking to action,” she said.
”Earlier in the case, the company made good use of the lack of communication between the departments. When we agreed on an approach and dealt with the company jointly, the matter was quickly resolved. This is exactly how the Environmental Management Inspectorate will work.”
By July, close to 800 environmental management inspectors should be operating in national, provincial and municipal government institutions countrywide. They are not empowered to prosecute cases, but gather evidence to bring offenders to court.
Blue Sphere was charged under an old 1965 Act, currently being replaced by the Air Quality Act. When the new Act becomes fully operational, offenders will be liable to stiffer fines and jail terms of up to 10 years.
Kruger bought and planted the 80 trees in January, in anticipation of the court order. But the magistrate wanted some changes to the deal, which took another five months to confirm. ”I understand the trees are having some trouble in the early winter out in Nigel,” said Fourie. ”But he has promised to replace those that die.”