an a toni hi ng
contamination,
mon t e hi he t ever
recorded," Dr. P ul
John ton, n qu tic
to icolo i t at 0 een ry
Colle e in London,
quoted a ayin in
Greenpe t tement.
JOn TO
QUOTED by the Gu rdi n
a ying the mercury con­
t min lion "exten ive
nd erlous," and th t level
ere hundred of time
bove the orld Health
Or nization' m ximum c­
cept ble level for. drinking
ater.
The aZulu homel nd
in the ourhe tern part of
South frica i home to 7
million BI ck . South
fric i the only n tion that
recognize the re a inde­
pendent.
Greenpe ce id the toxic
ie h been introduced
into the ter upply hen
heavy r in c rry con­
t min ted oil into the river.
Chi Prie tley, a poke­
man for Thor Chemical, c­
cu ed Greenpeace of
"en tiona Ii m." He said if
hi comp ny con- ,
t min ting ater, high mer­
cury level ould lobe
pre ent in drin ing ater in
Durban, about 50 mile
do n tream.
Prie tley id the high
le el of mercury in the oil
mple a due to form
old minin c lied mer­
le ching , u ed in
poi
o
nearby mine
ago.
fe
year
HE 10 exce mercury
e ped into the river from
the ab ndoned mine, nd
contaminated the nearby
Zul u are , but not Durba
which i too far down tream
for the contamination to f­
feet.
"I h ve no evidence that
lead me to believe that any
coruamin tion that i arising
i coming form Thor Chemi­
c I itself. We mu t no in­
ve tigate and find out hy
this i happening," Prie tley
said.
In the Itt 0 ye rs, the
gro ing trade in hazar�ous
te h prompted a num-
ber of greements on dump­
ing in Africa. In December
1989, the European Com­
munity igned a w te trade
b n with 68 Afric n, C rib­
be n and pacific st te .
In M y 1988 nd July
1989, the Organization of
African Unity dopted
re olution c Iling for a
toxic re import ban for
Afric .
South Africa i banned
from member hip in the e
gro up due to the
government' pr ctice of
r ci I di crimination.
munity.