Sunday, January 29, 2006

Ethekwini to probe toxic township arsenic

An eThekwini Municipality low-cost housing project in the Verulam area was placed on hold when it was discovered that chemical waste products had been dumped on the site.

The waste in question was a by-product of the herbicide monosodium methylarsonate, which, according to the PAN Pesticides Database in the US, is a heavy metal chemical containing arsenic, which has high carcinogenic properties. It is also a potential groundwater contaminant.

Two decades ago, chemical giant Sentrachem unloaded this by-product on the farm Ottawa, which has been earmarked for 130 residential sites, through the KwaZulu-Natal department of housing (but taken over by the eThekwini Municipality). Read More

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