Hazardous waste deaths alert

[caption id="attachment_40815" align="alignright" width="275"] DESMOND D’SA[/caption]

AN award-winning environmentalist yesterday urged communities to close down hazardous waste sites in Port Elizabeth, saying they were some of the worst he had ever seen.

Desmond D'Sa, winner of the 2014 Goldman Environmental Prize, visited some of the city's worst waste dump sites, including some scheduled as disposal sites for the most dangerous chemicals but still close to housing developments.

"I have a headache after visiting the one site," D'Sa, who won the prize for closing down a toxic waste dump near Durban, said.

"You can smell the toxic gas. I have smelled chemicals here today that I thought went out of use 10 years ago. You can close them down."

He said communities should take steps now to have the waste dumps shut - Estelle Ellis