Anyone reading the latest corporate news bulletin from the UPL agrochemicals group is very likely to gain the impression that the ecology is looking peachy, recovering rapidly after a massive chemical spill north of Durban more than two years ago.

In its new Road to Recovery communique, the UPL corporate communications team speaks enthusiastically about the reappearance of tadpoles in a small river tributary near Umhlanga, along with recent potted vegetable plant experiments. Despite being grown in soil once exposed to a torrent of pesticides, herbicides and other agrochemicals from the old UPL Cornubia storehouse in July 2021, the potted tomatoes appear to be flourishing.

"Signs of natural life returning to the tributary and further down to the confluence with the Ohlanga River are being observed, and as recently as September 2023 saw tadpoles present in significant numbers throughout the tributary -- a strong sign of recovery.

"Trials to assess the effects of natural degradation in soils affected by the spill have been led with tomato, pepper, radish, and Swiss chard. Vegetables grown in untreated soil collected from the upstream portion of the confluence wetland, have shown no signs of stress after 3 weeks."

That's not all.

There has also been "significant progress" with ecological remediation work "across most of the impacted system".

In fact, says UPL, "The majority of substances related to the spill (both pesticides and metals) are no longer present in the system or are at...