456 Preventing and Reducing Harm from Toxics
GroundWork’s bucket brigade
Durban, South Africa, is a city surrounded by oil refineries and pipelines,
a large chemical storage area, chemical plants, textile and paper factories,
and toxic landfills. Every day, people in Durban are exposed to high levels of
air pollution, water pollution, and all of the health problems that come with
constant exposure to toxic chemicals. Industrial accidents, leaking storage
tanks, and broken pipelines are common, causing fires and destruction of
nearby wetlands and groundwater resources.
In 1999, a group called GroundWork formed to help people in Durban
monitor air pollution. Using the bucket brigade method, the community began
testing the air for toxics whenever there was a gas flare, an explosion, or a
toxic release. Then they sent the bags full of air pollution to a laboratory in the
United States for testing.
The lab tests found high levels of toxics, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxide, and benzene. Test results from air samples collected near a school
showed that children were exposed to levels of pollution as high as if they had
stood all day, every day, on a busy highway.
The activists showed the test results to the
government and the polluting industries, and also
announced them on the radio, newspapers, and
around the community. The state-run oil company
said the tests were not accurate and took their own
air samples. But when their samples were tested,
they found even higher levels of poisons!
The bucket brigade method helped build a nationwide
movement against pollution in South Africa. Under pressure from the growing
environmental justice movement, the government passed the Air Quality Act in
2004. The city of Durban also set up its own air monitoring system. Since then,
there has been a noticeable decrease in air pollution.
The bucket brigade helped community members feel stronger, braver, and
more able to challenge polluting industries. With this increased confidence,
they forced the government to listen to them.
There is still a serious pollution problem in South Africa. As chemical plants,
refineries, and pipelines get older, the danger of accidents increases. But by
combining strong community organization with a tool for collecting samples
of toxic pollution, the people of Durban have made themselves safer. And they
have shown the rest of their country and the world that people can make
industry and government take responsibility for their pollution.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012