As a major KwaZulu-Natal river turned into a cauldron of dying fish this week, Willowton Oil, the company responsible for the pollution incident, has been called in to set up a disaster fund. The ecological disaster - one of the worst of its kind to have happened in the province - began on Tuesday when about 1600 cubic metres of fatty oils and caustic soda poured out of the Pietermaritzburg factory into the Msundusi River, just below the N3.
One of South Africa’s leading water specialists, Dr Anthony Turton from the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of Free State, said if the pollution had spread all the way down to Inanda Dam, the clean-up could take several years. “Willowton should be setting up a disaster fund and mobilising the public and business community to assist,” said Long.
Turton said the fact that two fluids were involved in the spill suggested “an industrial accident of a significant scale” that could have been avoided.The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, said an investigation was under way. Appropriate action would be taken if there had been negligence, she said.
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