COME CLEAN ON CHEMICAL COMPANY FIRE

AN OPEN letter to the board and management of UPL, Fortress Real Estate Investment Trust, eThekwini Municipality and to national and provincial environmental authorities.

In the middle of this month, South Africans had to fight for their constitutional democracy. As the dust settles, we are fighting for the openness of that democracy. But openness is being trampled on in the handling of the chemical fire that broke out at a warehouse owned by Mumbai chemicals multinational United Phosphorous Limited (UPL) in Cornubia, north of Durban, on July 12. The building, which is irreparably damaged, is owned by Fortress Real Estate Investment Trust.

Residents and affected stakeholders have been denied essential information about chemicals and related by-products stored at the warehouse. As a result of the fire, and attempts to hose it down, these have escaped into airways and waterways, contaminating water, air and soil.

Since either looters or economic saboteurs set the factory alight, community complaints have flooded in. Nearby residents have said “this deeply concerns us as these fumes, we believe, will lead to health problems further down the line”.

The basis for the concerns lies in the nature of the “crop solution products” UPL may have been storing at its warehouse. Among the 124 herbicides, 52 insecticides and 43 fungicides UPL touts as crop solution products, some contain paraquat, carbofuran, atrazine, cyanamide and chlorpyrifos, all banned in the EU and numerous other countries.

All these substances are toxic or harmful to people, animals and the planet. These agents are known as human cardiorespiratory, neurological, gastro-intestinal and dermatological toxins.

Neither the company, the landlord nor eThekwini, KwaZuluNatal or national authorities have released the full inventory of chemicals stored at the warehouse. Nor have they put out substantive information on the nature of the risks that underlie the closure of Durban’s beaches north of the uMgeni estuary.

Belated warnings not to collect or consume the dead fish and birds, “wear double Covid-19-type surgical or soft cotton masks” kept “slightly moist” to trap particles and fumes, and use “extra virgin olive oil” (UPL company statement, issued on July 19) are insufficient.

In the public eye, UPL seems to be fudging and buck-passing its responsibility for the harm flowing from the fire. In statements to the media, it has blamed other fires in the vicinity and the possibility of “other sources of contamination”.

The company has suggested that 90% of the chemicals were destroyed by the initial fireball, or that the precise cocktail of substances released can be determined only after tests.

It has cautioned against causing unnecessary public anxiety and claimed the prerogative for notifying the community of risks rests with the authorities or the landlord.

UPL is responsible for the risk it created. But as has been the case in India, where UPL has also faced protests, the firm should be considered responsible. It should have notified everyone about the risk it created by manufacturing and/or storing extremely dangerous substances in a mixed-use, densely populated residential area.

We cannot allow a multinational pesticide producer to dictate the terms of access to information in our country. It is the state’s duty to protect our constitutional rights and well-being

Signed: Tracy-Lynn Field, Claude Leon Foundation chair in Earth Justice and Stewardship, Mandela Institute, Wits University; Melissa Strydom, attorney, PhD Candidate, Wits University; Rajen Naidoo, professor and head, Discipline of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of KwaZuluNatal; Kira Erwin, senior researcher at the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology; Rico Euripidou, environmental health campaigner, groundWork Friends of the Earth SA; Desmond D’Sa, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance; Patrick Bond, professor, University of the Western Cape School of Government; and Kamini Krishna, property and environmental attorney, Durban. Individuals who would like to sign the Open Letter should please submit their names to bongani@sdceango.co.za The opinions expressed in this Open Letter are those of the individuals concerned, and not necessarily the institutions at which they are based.