PRESS
RELEASE 12 March 2003
THOR CHEMICALS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR POISONING WORKERS,
COMMUNITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(Pietermaritzburg, 12-03-2003) Today the Deputy Minister
of Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, will personally
hand over a directive to clean up to the management of the Thor
Chemicals plant in Cato Ridge.
Thor Chemicals is notorious worldwide for giving mercury poisoning
to its workers and for widespread mercury contamination of the
surrounding land and streams. Thousands of tons of mercury waste
were imported from the USA and European countries to the Thor
Chemicals Cato Ridge plant during the 1980s and 1990s. Thor intended
to recycle all this waste to reclaim the mercury, but the technology
they installed to do so was ineffectual and inappropriate, and
a decade later most of the mercury-contaminated waste is still
being stored in leaking containers and sludge dams at the plant.
Three workers have died and numerous others have been left ill
from exposure to this waste. While affected workers have sought
and found relief in British courts, the South African government
and judiciary have yet to make Thor pay for the damage it has
caused, and potentially will continue to cause.
Until now, that is.
Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi will, this afternoon, hand over a
directive in terms of Section 28 (4) of the National Environmental
Management Act. In terms of the directive, Thor Chemicals will
have to take specific steps within a specific time period to properly
and safely store the waste and to clean up any and all traces
of mercury contamination in the surrounding environment. In terms
of s28 (5) of the Act, should Thor Chemicals fail to execute this
directive, the South African government can move in, and take
over all clean up and rehabilitation, and then seek to recoup
its costs from Thor Chemicals.
“This action by the Department of Environmental Affairs hopefully
signals a new willingness within the SA government to hold polluting
companies accountable for the damage they are causing to human
lives and the environment in South Africa,” said Bobby Peek, director
of the Pietermaritzburg based NGO groundWork.
“To date large corporations operating in South Africa have enjoyed
impunity from prosecution for the harm they have caused to the
health of their workers, the broader community and the environment,”
he said.
Kenny Bruno of EarthRights International, USA, who campaigned to
stop mercury exports from the U.S. to Thor in the early 1990's also
heralded the Deputy Minister’s actions: "The dangerous
mercury contamination at Thor arises from a classic case of transnational
corporate malfeasance. If ever there were a case that cries out
for government to step in and require action, this is it. The cleanup
will protect health, protect the environment, and send a message
that companies must abide by legal standards and the standards of
basic decency," he said. < style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">"We
must take steps to ensure that African soil is never again used
as a dumping ground for the poisons that foreign industrialists
want to get rid of," said Jim Puckett of the US-based Basel
Action Network (BAN), an international toxic-trade watchdog organization.
"To that end it is vital that, while the Deputy Minister of
Environmental Affairs calls on Thor to clean up their mess, she
also takes the steps necessary to have South Africa ratify the Basel
Ban Amendment[1]
and the Bamako Convention[2]
toprohibit such toxic waste exports to South Africa and prevent
this type of environmental injustice from ever happening again."
“The Deputy Minister is to be congratulated for her personal
commitment to sort out the Thor Chemicals fiasco,” Bobby Peek
further stated. The Deputy Minister has made previous visits to
the affected community living near Thor’s plant. She has
also consulted with United States government (EPA) officials on
environmentally sustainable options for dealing with Thor’s
waste. Also under her leadership, health risk assessments and
toxicological studies have been undertaken by the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism to ascertain the extent of the
damage.
During the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held
in Sandton last year, South Africa was one of the few governments
that recognised and called for international instruments to hold
large corporations accountable for the negative impacts of their
operations.
For more information contact Bobby Peek or Linda Ambler at
groundWork on 033-3425662 or Linda on 082895 1943 or Bobby
on 082 464 1383.
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