The nauseating smell of petrol lingering around the Blaauwpan Dam, east of Johannesburg, might remain there for days while a shimmering layer of fuel on the dam’s surface is causing “catastrophic” environmental hazards, according to conservationists.
More than one million litres of aviation fuel is said to have leaked from OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday night into a storm-water drain and eventually into the dam, a protected wetland about a kilometre downstream.
This is the third fuel spill in 16 months, accounting for almost two million litres of fuel spilled into the environment during this period.
The chairperson of the Gauteng Environmental and Conservation Association, Nicole Barlow, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Wednesday that the ecological consequences of the leakage are “beyond catastrophic” and “incomprehensible”.
She said that after performing five autopsies on ducks and geese the association found that the birds’ insides were eaten away. “The environment is totally toxic,” she said.
The association also found dead ducklings, and fish were jumping out the water because there was no oxygen in the water due to the fuel layer on top.
Residents around the dam may need to be evacuated if high levels of carcinogenic chemicals, such as benzene and styrene, are found in the air.
The levels of carcinogenic elements were being tested mid-afternoon on Tuesday.
Marjan Jacobs (29), a resident who lives across the road from the dam, said the smell of the fuel is an inconvenience. “It hangs. It just stays. [The fuel vapour] gets in your eyes and in your chest. What we’re worried about is what the petrol will do to us in five years’ time … just now we’ll have birth defects,” she said.
The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said it will take full responsibility for the leakage if negligence on its part is proved. Speaking at a press conference in Cape Town, Acsa CEO Monhla Hlahla said preliminary investigations indicate a mechanical failure was the cause of the spillage.
“The gasket [part of the valve] failed. A detailed investigation to determine the reason for the gasket failure has been initiated,” she said.
Acsa faces charges of criminal negligence from water-quality management — part of the Gauteng department of water affairs and forestry — as well as the Gauteng Environmental and Conservation Association.
The deputy director of water-quality management, Marius Keet, told the M&G Online he thinks there is a strong case against Acsa. “We’re not happy with Acsa … they are responsible for rehabilitating the area,” he said.
Barlow also blames Acsa. “They’re very willing to wash their hands of the situation and say, ‘Well, it’s not our problem,’ and then they have the audacity to blame their contractor when at the end of the day the blame lies squarely at Acsa’s feet.”
Employees of pump company Rapid Allweiler worked hard on Tuesday to build a temporary dam wall to block fuel from streaming into the dam. They also pumped fuel out of the dam. The fuel will be taken to a recycling facility.
Barlow said rehabilitating the Blaauwpan environment will take up to two years — that is, if rehabilitation is at all possible.