A 30-member environmental management inspection team, the so-called ”Green Scorpions”, is set to descend on the Foskor Plant in Richards Bay on Thursday to effect a compliance inspection, according to the KwaZulu-Natal department of agriculture and environmental affairs.
The early-morning compliance inspection comes in the wake of ”numerous incidents” at the state-owned plant, where there have been serious breaches of environmental legislation during the past five years, the department said on Wednesday.
The compliance inspection will involve environmental inspectors from the departments of environmental affairs and tourism, agriculture and environmental affairs, and environmental officers from the Mhlathuze municipality.
In July 2002, there was a major sulphur emission at the plant, which resulted in more than 200 people having to be hospitalised, the department said.
Subsequently, one person, Ruth Dube, passed away. Another, Mumsy Sibiya, was severely affected by the emission of that day.
”Since then, there have been no less than eight incidents at the same factory, with the most recent incident having taken place on Saturday March 3 this year. On that day there was a phosphoric acid spill.”
An official investigation into the July 2002 incident is still ongoing and has reached a sensitive stage, which has necessitated that no further information be made public, lest it jeopardise future possible criminal investigation.
The compliance inspection will take place over two days, starting on Thursday morning, and involve more than 30 environmental management inspectors who will ”scour several sections of the massive factory on the North Coast”.
Foskor management will also provide details of corrective safety measures put in place to ensure there is no recurrence of past incidents.
KwaZulu-Natal minister of agriculture and environmental affairs Mtholephi Mthimkhulu has given his full support to the planned action, saying all tiers of government are united in ensuring that communities living side by side with heavy industries continue to enjoy an uninterrupted clean and unpolluted environment as enshrined in the Constitution. — Sapa