After a second fish die-off at the Milnerton Lagoon was reported last week, residents and organisations are calling for the Milnerton Lagoon to be declared an environmental disaster.
This was highlighted last week when Facebook group #ReThinkTheStink and the Milnerton Central Residents Association (MCRA) said on social media they believe that sewage spills and an overall ecosystem collapse is the cause of the second fish die-off at the Milnerton Lagoon this year.
The Milnerton Lagoon was closed earlier this year after the first fish die-off was reported, advising visitors to avoid contact with the water due to signs of algal bloom.
TygerBurger requested the latest information from the City on Friday 14 October regarding the closed lagoon.
City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo responded as follows on Tuesday 17 October: “The Milnerton Lagoon is not suitable for recreational use. Signage to inform the public as such has been in place at the lagoon for several years now.”
Pollution at lagoon
The pollution of Milnerton Lagoon, the Diep River estuary and surrounds has been an ongoing problem for years.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) says endless appeals to the City of Cape Town were ignored and despairing of any real change, residents’ associations appealed to Outa for help with applying pressure on the City and finding a solution.
#ReThinkTheStink, one of the groups, aims to raise awareness and drive change around the alarmingly high levels of pollution in the rivers, vleis and oceans around Cape Town.
Jane Riley, a resident in the area, says the stench of the lagoon is increasing by the day.
“I live just around the corner from the lagoon and I have no words for the smells that come from the lagoon. It is up to us now as residents, rate payers and concerned citizens to take action,” she says.
Outa tasked independent consultants to take water samples as part of our investigation. Reports on water samples taken point to the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW), which is managed by the City, as the main source of the pollution, Outa says.
“Tests on water samples since then confirm that the contamination problem is ongoing. The management of the wastewater, including the responsibility to prevent hazardous waste from contaminating water resources, is the responsibility of the City of Cape Town.
Outa will continue to monitor the progress of the interventions being taken by the City of Cape Town.”
First fish die-off
In March this year, hundreds of fish died in the Milnerton Lagoon.
The City said then they believed that the excessive nutrients or pollutants from the effluent likely caused an overgrowth of algae in the lagoon, which killed oxygen levels in the water, resulting in the die-off event.
The MCRA at the time said the water quality at the lagoon has been steadily deteriorating since April last year. Residents also linked the fish die-off to Milnerton Lagoon’s “highly polluted water”.
The dead fish were found by residents following widespread complaints of foul smells around the area.
Community activists held protests against the pollution after the fish die-off.
Restoring the environment
The City responded in a media release last week, saying they are aiming to restore the environment at Milnerton Lagoon in the shortest possible timeframe, and are taking the next step forward with the appointment of environmental consultants to help investigate and assess possible short-term interventions.
The consultants will assess a range of short-term measures to improve water quality and odour at the lagoon, as well as options for the dredging of sediment to remove the decades-long build-up of urban pollution in the water body. Specialists in estuarine science and remediation will contribute to this plan, the City says.
“Restoring the health of the Milnerton Lagoon is not optional. It’s a must. In the coming years, we aim to generate a compounding positive effect via multi-billion rand sewerage and stormwater infrastructure upgrades coupled with on-the-ground pollution mitigation measures. The aim is to steadily close off pollution sources to the lagoon over time, building up to the ultimate goal of dredging the water body and removing the sediment containing the decades-long build-up of pollution. Many people have flooded us with proposed ‘solutions’. It is not possible for us to know which of these is serious, and which is wishful thinking. This will be the work of this specialist consulting team,” Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis says in the statement.
Monitoring progress
Consultants have been tasked to quantify the costs and timeframes of the various environmental remedial interventions, the City says.
The scope of consulting work broadly includes assessing the following options for restoring the lagoon:
- Short-term water quality and odour mitigation of the lagoon;
- Costs for dredging of the lagoon and river channel to various depths and
- Feasibility of pumping seawater into the lagoon.
