Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 3: The politics of wasteBox 3: Thor ChemicalsThor, a British transnational corporation, set up a mercury waste processing plantat Cato Ridge outside Durban in <strong>the</strong> late 1970s, just as <strong>the</strong> anti-apar<strong>the</strong>id sanctionscampaign was beginning to bite. Thor was soon also on <strong>the</strong> run from Britishregulators. Successive inspections at its British plant showed mercury in <strong>the</strong> air upto 20 times <strong>the</strong> legal limit and, in 1987, <strong>the</strong> regulators told Thor to clean up or facecourt action. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than do ei<strong>the</strong>r, it closed down <strong>the</strong> British plant but expandedat Cato Ridge where it could draw on a pool of cheap labour from <strong>the</strong> impoverishedInchanga area which fell under <strong>the</strong> authority of <strong>the</strong> KwaZulu homeland. By this time,Thor was clandestinely taking waste from <strong>the</strong> US and Britain at US$1,000 a tonne.Authorities on both sides sanctioned <strong>the</strong> trade. In 1986, <strong>the</strong> US EnvironmentalProtection Agency accepted Thor’s claim that <strong>the</strong> plant was <strong>the</strong> largest mercury‘recycling’ operation in <strong>the</strong> world and had no environmental impacts. South Africanauthorities allowed Thor to accept more waste than it could reprocess and effectivelycondoned <strong>the</strong> use of <strong>the</strong> site as a dump.In 1988, local utility Umgeni Water traced mercury contamination from 15kilometres downstream in <strong>the</strong> Mgeni River to <strong>the</strong> Mncgweni stream which risesnext to <strong>the</strong> Thor factory. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF)was alerted but took no action. Over a year later, a frustrated Umgeni official leaked<strong>the</strong> story to <strong>the</strong> press. Earthlife launched a campaign that drew in <strong>the</strong> ChemicalWorkers’ Industrial Union (CWIU), local communities and internationalenvironmental organisations. The coalition mounted protests at Thor and at <strong>the</strong> USplant of American Cyanamide, a major exporter of mercury waste. It also establishedthat <strong>the</strong> body burden of most workers was way over <strong>the</strong> limit for mercury. TheDepartment of Manpower, responsible for occupational health, was pushed intomaking a formal enquiry at Thor in 1992. It found “gross negligence leading to<strong>the</strong> poisoning of at least 29 workers” [Butler 1997: 200]. In 1993, three ex-Thorworkers died from mercury poisoning.Under pressure, <strong>the</strong> provincial attorney general charged Thor with culpable homicideand transgressions of health and safety laws. It bungled <strong>the</strong> prosecution and Thor waslet off with a plea bargain and a minimal fine of R13,500. The outcome appeareddesigned to protect Thor and, in response, <strong>the</strong> parent company was sued in Britain.Thor finally settled out of court in 1996 for R9.4 million against <strong>the</strong> claims of20 workers whose blood samples showed high levels of mercury contamination.- 36 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>