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South Africa: Outrage as Chemical Giant Plans to Dump More Toxic Waste Into Durban's Sea
Daily Maverick, 15 December 2021
Barely a month after several Durban beaches were re-opened to tourists and locals, the UPL farm chemicals giant is hoping to dump even more poisonous pesticides into the sea - in… Read more »
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South Africa: UPL Was Only There to Kill Us, Say Shack Dwellers
New Frame, 3 December 2021
Residents of a shack settlement in Cornubia on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal continue to suffer from ill health after a toxic chemical spill. And the company responsible does… Read more »
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South Africa: Legislators Want Tougher Measures and Inspections for Chemical Storage Areas to Avoid Another UPL Disaster
Daily Maverick, 28 November 2021
Most KwaZulu-Natal legislators seem united about holding UPL to account for the Cornubia chemical inferno and the resulting pollution of the human and natural environment -- except… Read more »
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South Africa: Chemical Disaster - UPL Hunkers Down in 'Right to Silence' Legal Trench
Daily Maverick, 24 October 2021
United Phosphorus Limited has taken refuge behind a legal laager, refusing to disclose a raft of regulatory and safety documentation to Durban residents. It has also refused to… Read more »
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South Africa: UPL Disaster - Questions Emerge Over 'Missing' Toxic Chemical Results and Accuracy of Air Pollution Maps
Daily Maverick, 18 October 2021
New peepholes have been drilled through the closed-door government investigation into the UPL chemical warehouse fire, finally permitting Durban residents to access more… Read more »
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South Africa: Minister Barbara Creecy Pledges Clampdown On South Africa's Hidden Toxic Chemical Storehouses After UPL Disaster
Daily Maverick, 3 October 2021
Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has announced plans for a major clampdown on under-the-radar toxic chemical manufacturers and storage warehouses across South Africa in the wake… Read more »
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South Africa: Minister Releases Findings Into UPL Probe
SAnews.gov.za, 4 October 2021
The investigation into the fire at a chemicals warehouse at Cornubia, north of Durban, found that UPL South Africa (Pty) Limited was not in possession of the requisite… Read more »
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South Africa: Minister Barbara Creecy On Release of the UPL Compliance Profile Report
Govt of SA, 3 October 2021
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mr Ravi Pillay, Read more »
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South Africa: New Poo Hits the Fan As Poison Company Puts Pressures On Durban to Reopen Polluted Beaches
Daily Maverick, 23 September 2021
Just as the eThekwini municipality was coming under corporate pressure to reopen chemically contaminated beaches north of Durban, a major sewage leak along the Golden Mile has led… Read more »
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South Africa: 'Lift the Cloud of Secrecy Over Durban Toxic Chemicals Explosion,' MPs and Community Leaders Demand
Daily Maverick, 12 August 2021
It has been exactly a month since a massive cloud of toxic chemical fumes engulfed residential areas over large parts of Durban for 12 days - but government officials and the… Read more »
Chemical Giant to Dump More Toxic Waste in South African Ocean
United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL) is planning to dump even more poisonous pesticides into the sea in an apparent bid to save money on land-based disposal costs barely a month after several Durban beaches were re-opened to tourists and locals, Tony Carnie of Daily Maverick reports.
Several of the city's most popular swimming beaches were closed for nearly four months as a safety precaution after a torrent of pesticides and other agro-chemicals poured into the sea in the wake of the July, 2021 arson attack on the UPL chemicals warehouse in Cornubia, north of Durban.
Residents of a shack settlement in Cornubia continue to suffer from ill health after the toxic chemical spill. South African environmental activists as well as residents of Cornubia have slammed the Mumbai-based agrochemical company for its conduct before and after the chemical spill that has been described as one of the biggest disasters in the country in the past "30 to 40 years".
The UPL warehouse was set ablaze on July 12, 2021 and then exploded, causing extremely hazardous and toxic agrochemicals to spread to the beaches, rivers, soil and air to the north of Durban for several days. Contaminated beaches were only partially reopened for recreational purposes on 2 November to ensure the safety of beachgoers.
InFocus
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A warehouse storing chemicals was set ablaze during recent looting, poisoning a nearby estuary and strangling incomes of fishermen already crimped by repeated Covid-19 lockdowns, Read more »
The Marine parade pools on Durban's "golden mile". These salt water pools are free to the public (file photo).
