Chemical dumping makes Sandspruit river bubble

Wendywood resident Michel Zimmerman said, “I enjoy my daily walk to the park with my dogs. I’m utterly disgusted by the way people and especially businesses are polluting the Sandspruit.”

Another resident Lynne Parker said, “I’ve been coming to this park for five months to walk my dogs and recently I noticed foam building up in the river. I tried to call the authorities but they couldn’t help me.

“The river is already in a bad state with litter all over, but this chemical dumping will endanger the wildlife in the river. The foam keeps on growing, at one point it was almost a metre high. There are beautiful herons which inhabit this area and this dumping of chemicals will kill them.”

A representative from City Parks who did not want to be named said, “The foam in the spruit has been an ongoing problem for a while. It’s actually caused by a leaking sewer pipe which causes soap or a similar substance from a nearby business or factory to flow into the river causing the foam to develop.”

Spokesperson for City Parks, Jenny Moodley said the foam in the spruit was a recurring problem which they have attempted to resolve. She added that they had previously notified the transgressor of the contravention.

As of yet the Department of Environmental Health have not commented regarding the issue.