BY NHAU MHANGIRAZI
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has warned of a ‘hazardous substance spillage’ at Hilltop, Moi area, Hurungwe, Mashonaland West along the Harare – Chirundu Highway on Friday.
“The spillage involved a Gilbro haulage truck carrying 42 000litres of petrol resulting in the discharge of approximately 40 000 litres into the environment. Fortunately, there was no fire incident. However, an area of about 250m2 was affected,” the EMA said in a notice.
According to EMA, the fuel was looted by communities and artisanal miners surrounding the area.
“This was extremely dangerous.
“The EMA is working closely with the Transporter (Gilbro) to rehabilitate the area. Section 73 of the Environmental Management Act (Cap 20:27) prohibits the discharge of hazardous substances into the environment and places the responsibility of rehabilitating and restoring the affected area on the polluter.
“The company has since engaged a private company to do the clean-up which is already underway.”
