49 ton nurdle coastal cleanup declared complete
The over 49 tons of nurdles that had spilled along KZN's coast line and posed a threat to marine life have successfully been cleaned up.
The tiny plastic materials were in containers which were aboard ships but were lost at sea due to a massive storm in October 2017.
The SA Maritime Safety Authority has spearheaded a lengthy and costly cleanup operation since then, as captain Hopewell Mkhize explains.
"We convened a joint operations committee consisting of SAMSA, the Department of Environmental Affairs, the National Ports Authority, KZN Department of Economic Development, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Mediterranean Shipping Company", he said.
He says they will be keeping a close eye on the affected waters over the next few years.
"We then held a joint inspection and concluded we can now safely end this operation. We undertook that for the next four years we will constantly monitor the affected areas every 6 months", Mkhize said.
