Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 3: The politics of wasteIt has a high rate of unemployment but most of those who do have work depend onthe plant both for their jobs and their housing. In the larger centres of Port Shepstoneand New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, people say the kilns employ few locals. In largeand small centres, people told groundWork that cement kiln dust – which includesparticulate emissions from combustion – covers everything from field and gardencrops to washing. In the small town of Slurry outside Mafikeng, people harvest rainwater from their dust covered roofs because they do not have piped water. The impactof traditional cement kiln pollution on people’s health is undoubtedly severe but notmonitored by government. Adding waste to the coal now used as fuel will compoundthe problem. Government reportedly intends tighter emission standards for alternativefuel kilns – but seemingly has no intention of tightening “lenient” standards forconventional fuel kilns. 48 This leaves communities with a choice of more or less visiblepollutants – assuming that they’ll be given the choice.Box 11: Persistent Organic PollutantsThe Stockholm Convention is the global treaty designed to protect human health andthe environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It originally dealt with the 12chemicals known as the ‘Dirty Dozen’ although other chemicals are being added to the list.POPs are toxic and persistent in the environment. They bio-accumulate along the foodchain and can be carried on the wind over long distances. The dirty dozen includes nineorganochlorine pesticides, the industrial chemical PCB, and dioxins and furans.The pesticides are used to poison agricultural pests, termites and ants. In South Africa,the Department of Health claims that the pesticide DDT is the only way to controlmalaria carrying mosquitoes but has not, according to Wells and Leonard [2006], seriouslyinvestigated alternatives used effectively elsewhere. PCBs are used in electrical equipment.Dioxins and furans are formed in combustion processes, and most notably in incineratorexhaust gases.People who work or live near POPs sources are at risk of acute exposure. The mostimportant chronic exposure to POPs is through eating contaminated fish, meat and dairyproducts. Exposure through the food supply leads to cancer, endocrine and immune systemdisruption, hormonal disruption, reproductive disorders, neurological and behaviourdisorders, Parkinson’s disease, birth defects and respiratory illness. POPs are passed to thenext generation via exposure in the womb as well as through breast milk. Children ofmothers who have eaten POPs-contaminated food can suffer from neuro-behavioural anddevelopmental problems.Source: http://www.ipen.org/ipenweb/library/ipendocuments/popstrainingmodule.pdf48 See ‘National policy development process for high temperature waste incineration and AFR co-processing incement production: Final comments and response report, August 2007 – July 2008, Response to Port Shepstonecommunity meeting, p.58.Wasting the Nation - groundWork - 67 -