Aloes: a toxic time-bomb!
On the 22nd and 23rd of May, the Bucket Brigade visited the Aloes community (a township of 700 people). This community has been living here for over sixty years and have had to deal with the Enviroserve medical waste incinerator and the two hazardoues waste sites for the past ten years. Due to local and international pressure, the medical waste incinerator is no longer in operation. The community continues to suffer from various illnesses and diseases.
Daniel Pienaar (left) explains the history of his community as Bobby Peek translates. The community lives on this hill which is lower than the incinerator stack seen in the background.
The Enviroserve leachate pond receives leachate from a closed unlined hazardous waste site (Aloes I) and pumps it into Aloes II which is close to capacity. In two months time, Aloes II will be full and Enviroserve is exploring three unviable options to deal with the waste. The vapours from the ponds along with the lateral movement of the leachate are cause for concern.
Extremely hazardous waste is stored in drums and then encapsulated in cement. On this day, the workers has no protective clothing. Most of these workers are casual workers.
When we visited the site the next day for an official tour, we found that the workers had gasmasks and yellow protective suits.
Another view of the leachate pond. Note the white foam on the top from aeration of the waste. Daniel Pienaar takes us for a walk around the perimeter of the site and points to the community concerns.
The leachate ponds pump straight into Aloes II which is close to capacity.
Bobby Peek and Denny Larson explain the bucket to Daniel Pienaar and the community as local organizers Frank Muller and Joan Couldridge (left top) look on.
The community gets into their new air sampling device.
Denny Larson hands Daniel Pienaar a Bucket Brigade t-shirt.
The bucket is handed over to local organizer Frank Muller and Joan Couldridge.
The struggle for environmental justice for the Aloes community continues. They are living under atrocious conditions and have asked to be relocated. While the new site has already been allocated, the Port Elizabeth Municipality is dragging its feet to implement the relocation. A strong campaign is underway so please contact us for more information.
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