Pietermaritzburg – An
environmental situational
analysis
Presented by groundWork
Siziwe Khanyile and Bobby Peek
20 September 2005
Air Pollution – an ongoing problem
• Historical reality – you can see it (photos)
• 1997 Pietermaritzburg Municipality recognizes problem and
approached civil society to sit on Air Quality Forum (Msunduzi Air
Quality Forum)
• Civil society request to Hilton Ryder – then City Health Officer – to
call for five year pollution reduction plans of all industry before
participation: no response back.
• Problem well documented in local media – groundWork threatened
with court action
• groundWork engaged with PMB in 2002, nothing materialised.
• The Forum: In reading the recent minutes – after ten years sampling
is still done no mention of reduction plans and emmission
inventories.
Hotspots
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Inner city (N3 – Bison Area)
Northern area around oil mills
– Eastwood
– Raisthorpe
– Northdale
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•
Southern areas around Edendale
Complaints often from:
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Claredon
Scottsville
Plessislaer
Pelham
Prestbury
Chase Valley
Central
Bisley
Blackridge
Peace Valley (next to FFS)
Peace Valley Survey
• Municipality survey July 2003
• Grouping of odour: Cattle Skin / Leather; Burnt Coal; Oil
/ Petrol and Chemical; Rotten egg; Old Paint; Smoke
from trains; terrible smell; Burnt / Old Oil; Chemicals.
• 41 people interviewed
• 34% - Oil / Petrol and Chemical
• 39% - Burnt / Old Oil
• “Smells strongest in the morning …” – no doubt because
of inversions.
• Smells mainly in the morning by majority of recipients
Air samples in PMB
• June 2 – Burning Landfill site
• July 6 – Adjacent to a busy freeway and
industrial wood plant
• July 20 – Adjacent to FFS Used Oil
Refiners
Wilma Subra
• Environmental Chemist
• Member of American Chemical Society
• EPA Common Sense Initiative, Petroleum Refinery Subcommittee,
1994 to present.
• Chairman of the Review Committee for Louisiana Proposed Solid
Waste Regulations, 1991
• Louisiana DEQ NORM Committee to develop regulations and
disposal options for Oil and Gas NORM Waste, 1992
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Advisory Council on
Environmental Policy and Technology Committee on Toxic Data
Reporting - 1996 to present.
• Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Hydrogen Sulfide
Regulatory Committee - 1998.
• 1999 MacArthur Fellowship Award Recipient
June 2 – Burning Landfill site
• Benzene highest concentration
• 720 ug/m3 – exceeded the EPA Screening Level (0.25 ug/m3) by
2,880 times
• Exceeded the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Annual Standard (12 ug/m3) by 60 times
• Toluene – 520 ug/m3 exceeded the EPA Ambient Air Screening
Level (400 ug/m3) by 1.3 times.
• m, p-Xylene – concentration 310 ug/m3 exceeded the EPA Ambient
Air Screening Level (170 ug/m3) by 1.8 times.
• Elevated levels of Chlorobenzene, Styrene, Chloroethane and
Chloromethane
• Hydrogen Sulfide was present at 16 ug/m3 which exceeded the EPA
Ambient Air Screening Level (2.1 ug/m3) by a factor of 7.6 times
• These chemicals indicate - large quantities of crude oil and
petroleum products in the waste that is being burned in the landfill.
Health implication – Landfill site
• The high levels of the volatile organics in
the ambient air near the burning landfill
are a danger to the health of emergency
responders and community members.
• Exclusion zone and only entered by
personnel with appropriate protective
equipment.
July 6 – Busy freeway and
industrial wood
• Benzene concentrations: 001 - 25 ug/m3 & 002
- 27 ug/m3 in excess of the EPA Ambient Air
Screening Level (0.25 ug/m3) by factors of 100
and 108
• Double the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality Annual Ambient Air
Standard (12 ug/m3).
• Toluene (the chemical present in the highest
concentrations), Ethyl Benzene, multiple isomers
of Xylene and Methyl Ethyl Ketone.
July 20 – FFS Used Oil Refiners
• 2 Samples
• Benzene – exceeding the EPA Ambient Screening Levels (0.25
ug/m3):
– Sample 001 25 ug/m3 exceeded by a factor of 100.
– Sample 002 23 ug/m3 exceeded by a factor of 92.
– The ambient air also contained Benzene at double the Louisiana
Department of Environmental Quality Annual Ambient Air Standard (12
ug/m3).
• Sample 001 exceeded the EPA Ambient Screening Level of 100
ug/m3 for m, p-Xylene with a value of 150 ug/m3.
• Hydrogen Sulfide concentrations exceeded the EPA Ambient Air
Screening Level :
– Samples 001 26 ug/m3 by factor of 122.4
– Sample 002 38.9 ug/m3 of 2.1 ug/m3 by factor of 18.5.
July 20 – FFS Used Oil Refiners
• Other chemicals detected:
• Toluene, Ethyl Benzene, Xylene (BTEX), Methyl
Ethyl Ketone, Tetrachloroethane, and Styrene.
• These chemicals associated with petroleum
refineries.
• The Hydrogen Sulfide present in the air samples
indicated that the refinery processed sour crude
which results in air emissions of sulfur
compounds.
General health impact
Benzene
Xylene
-Carcinogenic
-Long-term exposure can lead to leukemia
-Harmful to bone marrow
-Decrease in red blood cells leading to
anemia
-Drowsiness, dizziness, rapid heart rate,
headaches, loss of consciousness
Short term exposure
-irritation of the nose and throat,
gastrointestinal effects such as nausea,
vomiting and gastric irritation
Long term exposure
-Central nervous system effects include
headaches, lack of muscles coordination,
poor balance
-Decrease lung function, heart palpitations,
chest pains
Toluene
-Nervous system
-Moderate levels cause tiredness, memory
Ethyl Benzene
loss, nausea, hearing and colour vision loss
high levels of exposure
-High levels may affect kidneys, cause
-dizziness, throat & eye irritation &
unconsciousness, and even death
tightening of the chest
General health impact
Styrene
Methyl Mercaptan
-Nervous system effects such as
-Eye, nose, and throat irritation, headache,
nausea, diarrhoea, hoarseness, sore
throat, cough, chest tightness, nasal
congestion, palpitations, shortness of
breath, stress, drowsiness, and alterations
in mood.
depression, concentration problems,
muscle weakness, tiredness, and nausea,
and possibly eye, nose, and throat irritation
Hydrogen Sulfide
-Is considered a broad-spectrum poison,
meaning it can poison several different
systems in the body. Breathing very high
levels can cause death within just a few
breaths
Way forward
• An emission inventory needs to be undertaken as a matter urgency.
• Reduction plans by all industry must be submitted two months after
inventory is completed.
• No expansions and further developments until above is achieved.
• The political decision makers must better equip the local officials
– Increased funding (Development Bank of South Africa etc)
– Increased staff
– Increased political support
• Air Quality Forum needs to be reconstituted and managed by the
authorities.
• City needs to take control – move away from reliance on consultants
for core functions such as monitoring and managing information
Way forward
• The N3 is a problem: During winter period, there should be no heavy
duty trucks using the N3 through PMB between 00:00 hrs and 09:00
hrs. This is when inversion is the strongest.
• Hotspots need to be tackled as a matter of urgency.
• Pietermaritzburg be considered as a priority area according to
NEMA Air Quality Act No.39 of 2004
• Landfill site needs to be audited
• A waste recovery and transfer station should be considered which
will result in permanent jobs for people.
• Urgently determine site for a new landfill
• Consider closing in the medium term (five years)
– On a wetland
– Adjacent to homes
– Clearly a problem as was evidenced this winter.
Wilma Subra, 19 September
2005
“The chemicals in the air which are representative of the chemicals
detected in the 5 air samples indicate that the ambient air is
contaminated in excess of acceptable standards and contains a
large number of chemicals which can have a cumulative impact on
the health of the community. Measures should be implemented by
the operators of the facilities and the regulatory agencies to reduce
the toxic chemicals released into the air and implement air
monitoring programs that will result in improved ambient air quality
and improved public health.”