The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
A road accident involving a truck carrying 30 000 litres of creosote termite poison has caused a major environmental hazard in Nyanyadzi’s Gudyanga area and surrounding communities after the poison spilled into Murare River which feeds into Save River.
The truck which was travelling from South Africa overturned and spilled 30 000 litres of the poison into Murare River, thereby contaminating the water and subsequently killing livestock, fish and other aquatic animals.
Creosote is derived from the distillation of tar from wood or coal and is used as a wood preservative.
Pesticide products containing creosote as the active ingredient are used to protect wood used outdoors against termites, fungi, mites and other pests.
Following the accident, the Environment Management Agency (EMA) responded swiftly and issued a warning to the public to avoid using water from the river for drinking, irrigation or recreation.
In an interview, EMA Manicaland provincial environment manager, Mr Kingstone Chitotombe said while they are in their second week of decontaminating the river, they expect to take several weeks to finish up the process and declare the water safe.
He said EMA managed to pump out the contaminated water from the river basin into lined ponds.
“After pumping out the contaminated water, we scooped the contaminated soil into lined ponds and treated the soil. After treatment, we diverted the river flow so that it takes a different route from the contaminated area.
“We bypassed the former river flow so that we minimise further contamination, and so far the water is flowing well and we are almost complete with the clean-up.
“We are currently monitoring the river channel as well as the water quality. We are also monitoring the area that we disposed the contaminated water to see whether it will be affected or not,” he said.
This was after some livestock died after consuming water from the river.
Members of the community that also came into contact with the contaminated water trying to catch the dead fish are also having skin problems.
Another EMA official, Mr Alfinos Rugara said they used a tipper, a hazardous material response truck and excavators to scoop the contaminated water from the river bed.
“At least 30 000 litres of creosote oil spilled into Murare River when the truck was involved in an accident at Murare Bridge recently. We acted immediately because Murare River feeds into Odzi River which also feeds into Save River. We issued warnings to the community to stop using the water.
“We ended up excavating and draining water from the river because we found that once the creosote oil gets into water, it separates into three components. A part of the oil sticks to the river bed, another part remains on top of the water, while another component dissolves into the water. We managed to scoop the river surface until we removed the level that had oil and put it in the lined points,” he said.
Three boreholes in the area were temporarily closed due to their proximity to the river.
Villagers who were interviewed said they were initially alarmed by the sight of the river being turned upside down by EMA, but soon understood the purpose of the operation.
They expressed gratitude to EMA for swiftly responding to the disaster.
Mr Aaron Machisi said the poison killed thousands of fish and posed a serious threat to locals’ health as they depend on the river for drinking water and irrigation.
His child developed a skin rash after getting into contact with the contaminated water while trying to catch the dead fish.
“Fish died in the river and goats that consumed the water also died. Our cattle now look sickly and we do not know if they will survive. When our children discovered that fish were dying, they rushed to catch them. This ended up affecting their skin,” he said.
Another villager, Ms Sheila Gudyanga said they now have travel long distances to fetch water.
“We are waiting for the water from Murare River to be deemed safe for domestic use. Our garden crops have wilted and we are now walking long distances to fetch drinking water,” she said.
