Mzolisi Witbooi
23 July 2007
Cape environmentalists are at their wits' end after a Sea Harvest ship spilled oil in the Saldanha Bay harbour at the weekend.
The oil spill is believed to have occurred when the ship was refuelling either late on Friday night or early on Saturday morning.
Sea Harvest's emergency controller Greg Marshall said the company had taken the rap for the spill and gave an assurance they were doing everything in their power to rectify the situation.
However, West Coast environmentalists said the spill posed a threat to sea life and birds in the nearby lagoon.
"There's oil all over the rocks and certainly a number of species, including fish, crabs and sea birds, would be affected. If I were the Minister of Environmental Affairs I'd see to it that any company that pollutes water is heavily fined," said Mike Rothenburg, a member of the Environmental Monitoring Committee for Iron Ore Export in Saldanha Bay.
Rothenburg, also a member of the Saldanha Bay Yacht Club, said their boats were dirtied by oil in the yacht club area.
"Yacht club members could not go on with their weekend activities because the slipway was covered with oil," he said.
Jimmy Walsh, vice-chairman of the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve, said: "The quality of water in that area is poor and is no longer suitable for swimming. Now with the oil spill comes a major threat not only to sea species but also to bird life in the nearby lagoon."
Walsh said the Saldanha Bay area had very strong tidal waves which meant polluted water could be easily driven into the lagoon.
The lagoon is home to many bird species, including flamingos, said Walsh.
"The water can be cleaned with booms or chemical sprays," he said.
Marshall said Sea Harvest was cleaning up the spill.
"Professional people who have specialised skills to deal with water pollution started cleaning up soon after the pollution was reported on Saturday," said Marshall.
When asked about the extent of the pollution, and the cleaning methods used, he said he was not in a position to comment further on the issue.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Cape Argus. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
