‘Foul’ business exposed

SewERage workers attached to the National Housing Authority (NHA) Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP) across TT embarked on a silent protest last week, uncertain about their jobs after they heard of plans by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), to take over the plants shortly. WASA has been mandated by Cabinet to take over the (NHA) STPs by September 1.  That is only two weeks away and the workers said they have heard nothing from  the NHA concerning their jobs. One worker attached to the Malabar STP suggested that the National Union for Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW), file an injunction against NHA, in order to force them to have dialogue with the workers.  As many as 60-80 workers’ jobs are at stake. Contacted last week, NHA’s Executive Director, Noel Garcia, re-assured the workers that their jobs will be absorbed and not one worker will be retrenched.

However, anxious about their jobs, they invited Sunday Newsday to visit the plants and expose other issues. During a tour, members of the union and workers from the various plants put up red flags at certain stations as a demonstration of protest action, if their employment status and other outstanding issues were not addressed. John Folkes, Chairman of the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), Maloney, said the workers are uneasy while negotiations were continuing into the planned take-over. “We have been seeing headlines and hearing news about WASA’s plans to take over all of our plants, even the contracted ones, by September 1. Until now, the management has not given us any concrete information about what is taking place,” he said. Folkes said there were a number of outstanding issues which still needed to be addressed.

“The men are in limbo and it is frustrating us. We want to know if we are going over to WASA or if we are going to be absorbed back into the NHA,” he added. He explained that there were several categories of workers at the STPs, including welders, operators, pump attendants, plumbers, electricians/mechanics and maintenance crew. However, he is concerned about the status of  the other workers, who may not fall into any category of employment within WASA. “We want to know where we are going and they can’t just fire us because there are qualified people working on these plants for as many as 25 and 30 years,” said Folkes. A high-ranking NHA official said the workers were crying “crocodile tears” and reiterated that they will not lose their jobs.

Conditions at a sewerage plant

The workers are angry, especially since working on a sewerage plant is a “dirty” job. They see their job as  providing a special service to the country, especially one which most people will be reluctant to do. Sunday Newsday got to see just how dirty the job was. At each of the three stops, scores of flies greet you. They sit on you and swarm around you. “Those flies are a joke,” said one worker “Some days, not even insect spray could help.” The stench hits you with a blast, and for a first-time visitor, it is almost impossible to breathe. Maloney branch worker Carlos Charles, said, “It’s been 21 years I have been doing this dirty job and the Authority doesn’t care about us, they have treated us badly.” One worker said even though working gear is provided for them, they cannot wear them because of the nature of the job. Having to deal with the stench is one thing, to clean up the raw sewage is another struggle they said.

“We are the ones, whenever there is a breakdown in the sewerage plants, who go out and fix it. There is nothing on the plant we cannot do,” said Charles. Leslie Deboulet, operator at the Couva STP, pointed out that because the system works continuously, the plant needs round-the-clock workers. He said, however, because workers are working over-time and are not being paid a fair day’s work, they are reluctant to come out in full force when there are problems. They want to know why it is that NHA workers were not being paid the same as their WASA counterparts, even though they were doing the same or similar jobs.

Sewage overflow and equipment problems

Raw, liquid sewage is currently overflowing at the Couva STP and is contaminating a nearby river. Deboulet indicated that the overflow has been going on for some time now and he is concerned about the health and environmental hazards it could cause. At the plant, workers showed Sunday Newsday  the Wetwell, from where the raw, liquid sewage was overflowing. At another point, the sewage is overflowing into a small river which leads directly to Orange Valley, near a fishing bay in Couva. “This situation is hazardous to the entire population,” said Deboulet. He said the Wetwell had not been operational for the past three weeks and nothing has been done to rectify the problem, even though the situation has been reported. He pointed out that it is a problem which had been ongoing for the past four years because of a faulty pump which constantly gives problems. At Malabar, workers said despite NHA’s hiring of a contractor to manage the stations, some equipment remains non-operational.

“Government has spent over $3 million in equipment and for years they have not been working properly and everything continues to deteriorate,” said one worker. Anton Hart, attached to the Malabar plant, said when he started working there, most of the equipment was  working. “Since then, Government brought in contractors, money has been spent and only one Blower is working. They purchased equipment for the Screw Pump and it is not working up to this present time,” he said. A letter, addressed to former Housing Minister, Martin Joseph, states: “For more than two years, they have been working on the four Blowers (1, 2, 3 & 4) but only one works and the Screw Pump is the same thing.” It indicated that the Couva Plant generators still have not been completed. Deboulet said NHA management’s excuse has been that there was no staff to run the plants. However, Sunday Newsday was told that there were at least 60 to 80 people who run the plants and were qualified to do so.

No compensation for exposure to fumes

The probability of the presence of all of the sewage gases makes it mandatory that proper tests be made to ensure the safety of the workers and the general public, the workers at the STPs said. Tests for gas are usually made before work commences around any area that is suspected to have any of the gases. In one of the letters given to Sunday Newsday, an engineer wrote: “To carry out the test, will require the provision of the following equipment — combustible gas indicator, hydrogen sulfide gas detector, oxygen deficiency gas indicator, carbon monoxide gas indicator. Due to the non-provision of such equipment, some compensation should be given to monthly paid officers and all workers at the NHA Wastewater Treatment facilities.”

The workers said they work with improperly guarded equipment, faulty equipment and machinery and hazardous dust, gases, fumes and mist.
The following is information from NUGFW on the composition of the gases and raw sewage and its effects on health:

1. Carbon dioxide (CO2) - When breathed in large quantities, it may cause an acid taste. CO2 cannot be endured at ten percent concentration in air for more than a few minutes, even if the person is at rest and oxygen content is normal. It acts on the respiratory nerves and is a gas formed in sewers and sludge.

2. Hydrogen (H2) - Highly flammable, this gas acts mechanically to deprive tissues of oxygen and is a sludge digester gas.

3. Methane (CH4) - It will be found on top of structures increasing to certain depth. It is a sludge gas and is a natural or manufactured gas.

4. Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) - The most dangerous of all gases, it has a rotten-egg odour. Exposure of 0.07 to 1.00 percent causes acute poisoning. Exposure at 0.2 percent concentration for a few minutes will cause death. Hydrogen sulfide gas is a product of putrefaction, will be found in the atmosphere of sewers and will almost always be in lower pits and below grade structures.

5. Carbon Monoxide (CO) - It combines with the haemoglobin of the blood. It is fatal in four hours at 0.1 percent. This gas can be found near the top structures of the plants, especially if present with methane gas.

6. Chlorine Gas - This gas is yellow/green in colour, non-flammable and has a choking odour in very low concentration. It irritates the respiratory tract and kills in a very short time in concentration of 0.1 percent. Chlorine gas can be found from the cylinder or feed line leaks and will generally always be at the bottom of the tanks.

Sewage affects health/environment

An STP worker pointed out that working with raw sewage and being exposed to it almost every day is hazardous to one’s health. “We were told that when a man works on a sewerage plant, he might as well take off ten years of his life,” said Anton Hart, an STP worker. Workers explained that there are several gases trapped in raw sewage which also contain several types of bacteria, giving way to water and air borne diseases. “When a worker has to be in and around that every day, he can be contaminated and it could trigger off several diseases,” said another worker. They told Sunday Newsday that a few years ago, an employee who worked on one of the plants for a number of years had died, and they suspected that the effects of the plant may have affected his health. One man said workers are always getting rashes on their skin, some fall ill and get dizzy spells. “Once they had to rush me to the hospital. It is hard, but this is our daily bread, therefore, we work to the best of our ability,” said another worker. Secretary of the environmental group, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), Gary Aboud, said raw sewage was human waste and one of the highest forms of bacteria.

He pointed out that according to a study done by the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) on the effects of sewage on human beings, people exposed to sewage had increased hair growth in their nose, ears and ‘bushy’ eyebrows. Other health problems include infections of the ears, eyes and throat. Aboud disclosed that the IMA has described TT as one of the most affected countries in the Caribbean in relation to sewerage, saying that this country is close to becoming a “sewage epidemic.” A manual entitled “Aerobic Biological Wastewater Treatment Facilities” prepared by a Washington DC Environmental Protection Agency, states: “Numerous environmental studies done in the Caribbean region have established that there is serious pollution of rivers and streams as well as the coastal and marine environment from sources such as sewage effluents, industrial wastes, agrochemicals, wastewater run off and sedimentation, with the resultant health risks, depletion of fisheries as well as destruction of marine ecosystems.” It added that contaminated drinking water and inadequate disposal of sewage and excrement are among the three leading causes of disease and death in the world. Many diseases such as cholera, typhoid, yellow fever and infectious hepatitis have been attributed to contamination of well water by improper sanitation and wastewater disposal.