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The Rhodesia Herald,
August 4, 1977
A SALISBURY company and its director were yesterday convicted on an air pollution charge.
Through its director, John Alexander Stewart, Non Ferrous Metal Works (Rhodesia) (Pvt) Limited, pleaded guilty to contravening the Atmospheric Pollution (Control of Emissions) Regulations.
Stewart, who faced the same charge in his personal capacity, also pleaded guilty.
Both Stewart and company were fined $150 but in both cases the whole sentence was suspended for five years on condition they are not convicted for the same offense.
Mr B. Symeonoglou, for the state, said that on February 28, a health inspector saw dense fumes coming from a furnace operated by Non Ferrous Metal Works in Workington.
The inspector recognised them as lead fumes and he spoke to a representative of the company about them.
Between March 16 and April 15, a monitoring device was set up at the premises adjacent to the company to measure the amount of lead being emitted into the atmosphere from the furnaces.
During the period various amounts of lead were found in the atmosphere.
Mr Symeonoglou also said that on April 26, a health inspector took blood samples from employees at the adjacent factory, and these blood samples showed that five employees had lead levels which were above normal. However the amounts which they had were not dangerous, he said.
Mr M. Hartman for defence conceded these allegations and also said the company had taken precautions by installing a sophisticated filter system to extract noxious fumes from the furnaces.
But this system had caused trouble because sometimes it got blocked, and the fumes would not go out up the chimney, but came out at ground level.
The defence accepted the company had been negligent in not stopping the furnace operation as soon as this happened.
The magistrate, Mr R. Mathews, said the suspended sentence was designed to make the company do something about the problem.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
- Last month, the Health Professions Authority fined Varichem Pharmaceuticals $800 000 for improper disposal of medical waste in Harare, a situation that could lead to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- According to the World Health Organisation guidelines, Zimbabwe’s air quality is considered “moderately unsafe”.
- Despite the low industrial levels, air pollution in Zimbabwe now poses a major threat to the country’s environmental security.
- Combustion of fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and other factory combustibles are major causes of air pollution.
- Stakeholders should seriously adhere to the provisions of the Environment Management Act (Chapter 20:27) in order to curb air pollution?
Online Reporter