PRESS RELEASE - 9 May 2002
Open Letter to President Mbeki
Global Alliance Urges Mbeki to Junk Proposed
Sasolburg incinerator
Over a hundred groups from 45 countries petition the government
to go for safer alternatives
Manila/Pietermaritzburg – More than a hundred environmental and
civil society groups belonging to a growing global movement against waste
incineration today sent an urgent appeal to President Thabo Mbeki to reject
the proposed incinerator in Sasolburg for stockpiled hazardous wastes,
stressing that the proposal runs counter to the aims of an international
treaty which aims to eliminate persistent toxic substances.
The groups, most of which are members of the Global Anti-Incinerator
Alliance (GAIA) and the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN),
warned that incineration generates toxic by-products, among them the ultra-toxic
dioxins and furans which have been linked to extensive health problems
including cancer, birth defects, reproductive disorders and the suppression
of the immune system which could accelerate the inception of full blown
AIDS in people already suffering from HIV infection.
Dioxins and furans belong to the list of substances being targeted for
elimination by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs). South Africa is a signatory to the Convention that was adopted
by more than a hundred countries in Stockholm last year.
“We find it alarming to learn that your government is considering the
use of a dangerously polluting technology whose operation will virtually
undermine the objectives of the POPs treaty,” the environmental and civil
society groups told President Mbeki.
“Studies reveal that burning hazardous waste, even in "sophisticated
state of the art" incinerators, will lead to the release
of three types of lethal waste into the environment: heavy
metals, unburned noxious chemicals and new toxic pollutants
such as dioxins and furans.All of these aredispersed into
the environment in the form of air pollution or toxic fly
ash, having potentially fatal affects onthehealth of the exposed
population. These pollutants will represent an added toxic
burden to the citizens of Sasolburg who are already being
heavily-impacted by the smog and air pollution caused by the
local oil refinery and various chemical industries in the
town,” the groups added.
The groups also pointed out that these toxic pollutants travel vast distances
and accumulate in the food chain. Their environmental and health effects
may therefore extend well beyond Sasolburg and the whole of South Africa
and even to neighbouring African states.
They also warned that the approval of the incinerator proposal, aggressively
being pushed by the Peacock Bay Environmental Services Pty Ltd, would
send a negative signal that could damage South Africa’s image before the
international environmental community, particularly in the light of the
upcoming World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
The global petition, endorsed by 109 environmental and civil society
groups from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas, appealed to
the South African government to opt for alternative, non-combustion destruction
technologies instead which do not generate POPs, in keeping with the pollution
elimination objectives of the POPs treaty. Other countries like the Philippines
and Slovakia are in the process of implementing such projects to utilize
alternative non-combustion technologies to destroy problem POPs stockpiles
within their borders.
Speaking on behalf of the Sasolburg Environmental Committee (SEC), Nicholas
Kasa welcomed the initiative by the global NGO community. “Their letter
to Pres. Mbeki reinforces our legitimate opposition versus the PBES incinerator
project. We are not alone in defending our constitutional right to a safe
and healthy environment,” he said.
The anti-incinerator petition concluded that by rejecting the Sasolburg
incinerator and adopting non-burn alternatives, South Africa would be
setting a positive example for the African continent and the world as
regards the proper treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. They added
that such a decision would validate the choice of South Africa as venue
for the upcoming Earth Summit.
For her part, Linda Ambler of the environmental justice group groundWork
said that “the proposed incinerator will be the largest hazardous waste
incinerator in the country and opens opportunities for hazardous waste
to be imported into South Africa from other countries for burning in Sasolburg.
Since we first heard about the proposal we have been in continuous contact
with the various decision makers pleading with them to oppose the project
in favour of alternative technology which would not demand such high a
cost to human health and the environment."
The letter to Pres. Mbeki was initiated after a visit to South Africa
and Sasolburg by Manny Calonzo of the by the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance
(GAIA), an international NGO coalition with offices in the Philippines
and USA, and supported by other networks working for a sustainable future.
During the South Africa visit Manny Calonzo met with local community activists
and attended a hearing by the Free State Portfolio Committee on Environment
on the proposed incinerator.
For inquiry, please contact Linda Ambler at groundWork in South
Africa (phone: +2733-3425662; e-mail: linda@groundwork.org.za) or Manny
C. Calonzo at the GAIA Secretariat in the Philippines (phone: +632-9290376;
manny.gaia@no-burn.org).
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