City of Cape Town considers additional measures to reduce environmental pollution
The City of Cape Town is considering implementing additional environmental measures to further reduce the environmental impact of discharging wastewater into the oceans.
The city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Siseko Mbandezi, was responding to criticism of the five-year permit issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environmental Affairs that allows the city to pump treated sewage into the ocean.
Mbandezi told the publication that the city’s discharge of wastewater was done with due consideration of the best environmental practices.
“These outfalls have been assessed to be operating within marine environmental standards. The city is committed to protecting and managing Cape Town’s natural environment and reducing environmental pollution to best practices and technology,” said Mbandezi.
“This includes upgrades to wastewater treatment works and the sewer network, which will have a positive impact on water quality.”
Over the summer, several Cape Town beaches were closed due to concerns about the health and safety of swimmers amid high levels of pollution.
But the city argues that its current wastewater management processes are safe, including the removal of solid waste before it pumps the sewage-contaminated water into the ocean.
“Historically sewage was discharged directly at the beach, in Greenpoint and Camps Bay. These outfalls were later upgraded to proper deep sea marine outfalls to extend over 1.7 kilometers out to sea,” added Mbandezi.
ActionSA is preparing a legal challenge to the permit issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, and contends the pumping of sewage into the ocean violates the right to health enshrined in the Constitution.
-EWN
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