The City of Cape Town wishes to inform the public that a clean-up operation at St James Tidal Pool and the surrounding beach on the False Bay coast is currently underway. The low tide revealed what could be a years-old oil spill.
Also read: The City’s mitigating sewer spills affecting coastal areas
A very low tide on Friday exposed what the City suspects is an old oil spill from years ago at St James Beach.
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Immediately, teams from the City’s Coastal Management and Solid Waste departments were dispatched to begin clean-up operations.
The City can’t take heavy machinery like a front-end loader onto the beach, so everything has to be done by hand. The teams can also only work when the area is exposed during low and mid-tides.
To the City’s knowledge, only St James Beach is affected.
‘I want to assure residents and visitors that we are working as fast and thoroughly as we can. Some of the material may become dislodged and refloat as the removal process is underway. However, we will continue the work for as long as needed over the coming days as the re-floated patches make landfall again,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment Alderman Eddie Andrews.
Alderman Andrews continued, ‘We have cordoned off the areas where work is underway. But otherwise, the tidal pool and beach are open to the public. It is best to avoid the work area. At this point in time, we suspect that this could be an old oil spill. We don’t know where it came from, when it was spilt, and so forth.’
He added that this will have to be investigated, as the City has no knowledge of an oil spill in this area in recent years and is not aware of any reports.
‘We will inform the public if any information comes to light,’ he concluded.
The City will keep the public informed on the progress of the clean-up operation.
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Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook