Update on clean-up and remediation after arson attack on Cornubia warehouse

An intensive containment and clean-up operation after the arson attack that destroyed UPL’s Cornubia warehouse has successfully contained all runoff from the site, pollution control and treatment dams have been constructed, and remediation efforts are well under way.

This follows events in the late evening of 12 July and early hours of 13 July, when the UPL Cornubia warehouse was vandalised and set on fire by looters connected with the general unrest that spread through the greater Durban area.

Update on clean-up and remediation after arson attack on Cornubia warehouse

An intensive containment and clean-up operation after the arson attack that destroyed UPL’s Cornubia warehouse has successfully contained all runoff from the site, pollution control and treatment dams have been constructed, and remediation efforts are well under way.

This follows events in the late evening of 12 July and early hours of 13 July, when the UPL Cornubia warehouse was vandalised and set on fire by looters connected with the general unrest that spread through the greater Durban area.

Reports suggest multiple fires were set, engulfing the warehouse in its entirety and resulting in the roof collapsing. The fire department’s initial response to the fire was delayed for a variety of reasons, including threats to the safety of their personnel and barricades that delayed access, and strained resources in dealing with the multitude of events at the time.

When the fire department was eventually able to attend to it, the fire was so advanced and in places covered by so much rubble and sheet metal from the destroyed warehouse that it took several days to access certain areas and extinguish the smouldering debris.

The containment work began immediately access to the site became possible, with two specialist firms appointed to remove wastes and polluted water.

More than 100 spill response staff have been working around the clock, seven days a week, with supersuckers employed to remove contaminated water from streams.

Laboratory test results to determine the most effective water treatment options are expected imminently, which will enable accelerated bioremediation efforts to address any remaining contamination.

The experienced team overseeing the clean-up and remediation is comprised of leading environmental experts, and specialists in air quality, toxicology, human health, water, wetlands and environmental engineering, biomonitoring and forensic ecology, among others.

UPL has appointed a specialist firm to manage a public consultation process to ensure affected communities are fully consulted and informed, and a human health impact assessment, including interviews with affected communities, has begun.

UPL has been logging queries and concerns raised by members of the surrounding communities and has now formalised a complaints submission process. Anyone wishing to register a complaint can do so via a form available on the UPL South Africa website: www.UPL-ltd.com/za

The response strategy, which is being overseen by a joint operations committee including national, provincial and local government authorities, is divided into containment, clean-up, remediation, impact assessment and rehabilitation and monitoring phases.

The initial impacts of the fire were from the smoke. Although at first the winds were fairly strong and the plume was taken away to the north and widely dispersed, once the winds calmed and the fire was still not extinguished, the effects were felt in the vicinity of the site. However, once the fire was extinguished, the air quality impacts were significantly reduced. All efforts during this time involved extinguishing the fire and disseminating warnings and information with regard to the smoke.

The water quality impacts became evident the day after the fire and, whilst geographically defined, also have potential impacts on human health. These will continue until the system is adequately remediated.

Specialist teams of environmental engineers, hydrologists and aquatic ecologists have formulated a risk mitigation strategy to remove the bulk of contaminated water and sediments from the stream to the confluence with the Ohlanga River.  

In the wetlands, the most polluted sediments are being physically removed for appropriate hazardous waste disposal. These wetland systems are rapidly being repurposed, engineered and designed to act as long-term bioremediation cells, or bio-processors, and to assist in the longer-term remediation and then rehabilitation of any residual pollutants that may remain trapped in the system.  This work is taking place in conjunction with the specialist chemists and toxicologists in the team. 

Wetlands are widely recognised for their ability to break down pollutants, including some of the most complex chemical compounds.  Ultimately, the environmental team supporting UPL in this incident is intending to rehabilitate the river and wetland systems to a fully functional and healthy habitat. 

On-going water quality and toxicity monitoring is going hand-in-hand with the clean-up process to ensure that the worst of the pollution is removed and/or remediated.  Reporting on this is formally and independently being undertaken by the various scientists on the team and these results are going to the various provincial and national authorities for their scrutiny and review. 

Air quality monitoring on and around the site began before the fire was extinguished and continued after this. Air dispersion modelling, along with toxicological information, will produce an Air Quality Impact Assessment.

Results have already been received from laboratories in Johannesburg from water samples taken one week after the incident.

The independent laboratory results for organic and inorganic substances show that the levels of some chemicals around the warehouse in the water and sludges were high, but none of the parameters exceeded the chosen South African and international screening levels in the stream prior to its entry into the Ohlanga River at the time of sampling.

Air sampling results to date show elevated levels of dust, ammonia and sulphur dioxide during the fire, but that these reduced significantly after it was extinguished and are currently at baseline levels. Further review, analysis and monitoring is ongoing.

On the site of the burnt warehouse, steel, rubble and concrete debris is having to be made safe, sorted, cleaned, and removed off-site for safe hazardous waste disposal, while specialist clean-up teams access the surfaces and undertake deep-clean and neutralisation of residual pollutants. A large, lined pollution holding dam has been constructed off the site to capture and contain any further runoff.

UPL will continue to do everything it can to eliminate the spilled product from the environment, and no expense or expertise is being spared, regardless of the fact that the event was entirely beyond its control.

ENDS