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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Dilution of pollution not the answer
By Peter Espeut, Executive Director of the
Caribbean Coastal Area Management (CCAM) Foundation,
writing in the Jamaica Gleaner, 11 November 1998
There is an old engineering
saying, that "dilution of pollution is the solution". Because of this, in Jamaica
there is very little waste-water treatment to remove substances that damage
the environment. Instead, the waste-water is treated to kill germs that might
affect public health, and then the pollution is discharged into the nearest
body of water, be it a river (which flows into the sea) or directly into the
sea itself.
The theory behind this approach is the same as held by those fishers who believe
that fish in the sea cyah done.
Short-sighted
There is a belief that the sea is infinite, and that its resources (like fish)
are infinite, and that it doesn't matter what you put in it or how much you
dump in it, the seawater will dilute it, and can keep on doing this forever
and ever. Amen!
This is a very short-sighted and dangerous view. The sea is not infinite. It
may be large - three-quarters of the earth's surface - and very deep in places,
but it is finite. You cannot keep dumping toxic chemicals in the sea and expect
them to be diluted into nothingness. The concept in chemistry of infinite dilution
is a theoretical one. In reality, there is always some trace of what has been
diluted.
Two years ago I attended a United Nations meeting in Cuba, where officials from
Jamaica, Costa Rica, Colombia and Cuba discussed plans for cleaning up the four
most polluted harbours in the Caribbean: Kingston, Puerto Limon, Cartagena and
Havana Bay.
To my horror, the main issue was how long a pipe should be used to discharge
the sewage in the Caribbean Sea. Yes, there was concern for coral reefs, and
so the consensus was that the outfall pipes should discharge the sewage in deep
enough water away from coral reefs.
More short-sightedness! Sewage dumped in deep water will be carried along to
countries downstream, and will come to the surface and damage coral reefs there.
And because of the Caribbean circular currents, will return to pollute the country
from which it came. Yes, diluted. But getting more concentrated every day.
To our credit, at that meeting in Cuba, Jamaica was the only country that proposed
tertiary treatment of sewage, treatment which would remove the nutrients and
discharge effluent that would do little harm to our sensitive coral reefs. Jamaica
proposes to establish a tertiary sewage treatment plant at Soapberry near to
Riverton City which will have the capacity to replace all the existing malfunctioning
and non-functioning sewage treatment plants in Kingston (including the Western
and Greenwich plants built by the British before the 1938 riots which led to
self-government).
To meet the needs of the Kingston Metropolitan Area in the year 2030 a plant
with a capacity to treat 60 million gallons of sewage per day (mgd) will be
required. According to the plan (which I have in my possession) a pilot plant
to treat 5 mgd is to be built immediately to test the technology. In the meanwhile,
dilution of pollution will be the solution. The construction of a 35 mgd plant
is to begin 10 years later, and its expansion to 60 mgd will begin some 20 years
after that. In the meanwhile, dilution of pollution will be the solution. By
2030 the system will be complete, and will for a fleeting moment be able to
process all the sewage in Kingston. Then it will be inadequate, and dilution
of pollution will again be the solution until a new plant is built.
Why take 10 years to test the Advance Integrated Ponding System (AIPS) technology
which has been tried, tested and proven elsewhere in the world?
Hard decisions
Let us move straight away to the 35 mgd plant, and then to the 60 mgd plant,
so that we can have a 90mgd plant by 2030, so to have excess capacity for the
future!
But in the mean time, the concentration of pollutants in the sea is increasing
daily, pollutants like heavy metals and pesticides deadly to humans, and nutrients
deadly to coral reefs.
And although everyone nods their heads vigorously and agrees that pollution
is a serious matter, no one seems inclined to take the hard decisions and find
the money necessary to remedy the situation.
Dilution of pollution is, in fact, results in a dirty solution of sea water
and pollutants. Dilution of pollution should not be considered as a solution
to the problem of pollution, as it simply passes on the problem to future generations
who will be given the task of cleaning up the seas polluted by us. Engineers
take note!
Do you want this on your consciences?
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
For more information, please contact:
Peter A. Espeut,
Executive Director,
Caribbean Coastal Area Management (CCAM) Foundation,
7 Lloyds Close,
Kingston 8
JAMAICA, W.I.
Fax: (876) 978-7641
