By Koviao Matuzee
More than six years after a massive heavy fuel oil spill allegedly crippled Windhoek’s waste water treatment system and polluted the environment, the City of Windhoek’s bid to recover more than N$24.5 million from Namibia Dairies (Pty) Ltd has been delayed again.
The High Court has granted the parties additional time to complete procedural steps, pushing back progress in the long running lawsuit arising from one of the capital’s most significant industrial pollution incidents.
A joint status report filed before the High Court shows that the Municipality of Windhoek, Namibia Dairies, Engen Namibia (Pty) Ltd and Rentech Trading CC requested an extension to file their Rule 28(8)(a) notices after determining that more time was needed to analyze the extensive discovery documents exchanged in the matter.
The court had previously directed the parties to file the notices by 31 August 2023.
Namibia Dairies met that deadline, but the remaining parties agreed that the volume of documents required further assessment before they could determine whether additional amendments to their pleadings were necessary.
The parties asked that the deadline be extended to 29 September 2023 and requested that the matter be postponed to 19 October 2023 for another status hearing.
They also agreed that the application could be considered by the court in chambers and in their absence.
The lawsuit stems from a major heavy fuel oil spill that allegedly occurred on 3 February 2019 at Namibia Dairies’ Windhoek factory when a safety valve in the company’s boiler system reportedly failed.
According to the City’s court papers, pressure built up inside the system and ruptured a filter pot supplying heavy fuel oil to the boilers.
The municipality claims that about 24,000 litres of heavy fuel oil spilled into the factory before flowing into municipal stormwater drains, the public sewer network and a nearby river.
According to the City, the contamination travelled through the sewer system to the Gammams Water Care Works, where it disrupted critical biological treatment processes before operators could isolate the affected facilities.
Court documents state that the spill forced the municipality to divert untreated sewage, causing flooding at sections of the treatment works, contamination of nearby ponds and rivers, fish deaths and an oil film on the Goreangab Dam and surrounding vegetation.
The municipality further alleges that the Gammams Water Care Works had to be completely shut down for 19 days, severely disrupt- ing wastewater treatment and water reclamation operations.
The City says it spent N$7.04 million on emergency clean-up operations, hazardous waste disposal, environmental rehabilitation and repairs to damaged sewer infrastructure.
It is also claiming N$17.49 million in production losses resulting from the shutdown of wastewater treatment and water reclamation facilities.
In its particulars of claim, the municipality argues that Namibia Dairies is liable under the National Environmental Management Act, the Water Resources Management Act and the City of Windhoek’s Sewerage and Drainage Regulations, which prohibit the discharge of oil and other harmful substances into public sewer systems and watercourses.
The City also alleges negligence, claiming Namibia Dairies failed to properly inspect and maintain its equipment, prevent the spill and isolate drainage systems connected to the municipal sewer network.
It argues the company knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that a heavy fuel oil spill could contaminate the city’s sewer infra- structure and nearby waterways.
Engen Namibia and Rentech Trading CC have been cited as first and second third parties in the proceedings.
The municipality is asking the High Court to order Namibia Dairies to pay N$24,533,767.42, together with interest, legal costs and any further relief the court considers appropriate.
For now, however, the case remains in the pre-trial stage as the parties continue to finalize their pleadings before the matter can proceed to trial.
