The Lamberts Bay unlicensed and illegal dumping site, on the banks of the Jackals Vlei river, has burnt ten times since the 03.12 2022. The last fire started on the 02.05.2022 and was still burning on the 13.06.2022. The residents and the municipal dump site workers of Lamberts Bay have been breathing the toxic fumes for over a month. The municipal stables housing 15 horses are 200 meters from the dump and the horses are sick.
The Cederberg Municipality does not have correctly trained staff managing the dump site and has not adhered to their own Waste Management plan. On the 6th July 2021 the site was inspected by the Western Cape Government, Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning. Their report states.
• Officials conducted a site visit at the Facility at approximately 3pm on 6 July 2021and were concerned that there were no Municipal workers at the Facility. The gates of the Facility were left open and there were numerous waste pickers evident on the working face of the disposal area.
• A large area on the southern boundary of the Facility was still smoldering and in parts flames were still evident.
• The fence surrounding the facility was severely damaged in various sections, thus giving easy access to waste pickers.
• While conducting the inspection it became evident that the public enters the Facility without any Municipal official screening the waste on the vehicles. It must be noted that this will allow any person of the public to dispose hazardous waste at the Facility.
• It was evident that waste is not regularly covered at the Facility, which leads to waste easily being set alight.
• Officials conducted a methane gas test in order to determine whether there is a possibility that high concentrations of methane gas could be the cause of the fires. It can however be ruled out at this point as no methane gas readings were evident at three different points on the waste disposal area.
The following recommendations were made.
• The Department recommended that immediate action be taken with regard to security at the Facility, together with constant screening of waste at the facility gate. The gates must always be manned during operational hours.
• An action plan must be submitted to the Department within 30 days of signature of this letter, focusing on the identification of mitigation measures which will be put in place to prevent regular fires from occurring in future. Failure to submit the requested action plan within the allocated timeframe may result in administrative enforcement actions and/or criminal investigations being undertaken by this Department’s Directorate: Environmental Law Enforcement.
• The Department will conduct regular site visits in order to ensure that measures are put in place which would prevent the Facility from burning.
• Should satisfactory improvement of the area not be achieved, the Department will include the Directorate: Environmental Law Enforcement to further investigate and possibly take further steps.
These recommendations were not fulfilled.
Please sign this petition and support the residents, horses, and environment of Lamberts Bay.