Environmental protection has been a controversial subject for years. Sunday Nation writer KEN OPALA examines why the Athi River is classified as among the most polluted.

Fish in the ocean was found to contain chromium from a factory

Danger looms large in River Athi waters and beyond.

A stream of effluent collected in Nairobi and its environs snakes through the semi-arid Yatta plateau and Tsavo wildlife ecosystem to pour into the vast Indian Ocean. En route, thousands of people, livestock and wildlife, and aquatic life live off it, oblivious of its perils.

A key component of the environment, the Athi and its tributaries is under assault by myriad industries - poorly sited and strengthened by lax legislation - threatening all in their way.

Whereas hardly any study locally links river pollution to ill health, concern is wide and deep. Experts shiver at the possibility of "very serious" long-term implications of unchecked poisoning of rivers, according to a medic at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Nairobi.

Poignantly and, despite the telltale signs, no pollution-related human deaths have been reported - at least not directly. But perhaps this is because medics are yet to isolate the cases. Prof Shem Wandiga, a former University of Nairobi deputy Vice-Chancellor, once warned: "Diseases leading to deaths are now attributable to polluted water in our rivers."

The Athi is not just any other river. It is the lifeline for the people of eastern Kenya, traversing Yatta plateau and the Tsavo national park to pour into the ocean not far from Malindi Town. Midstream, it is named Galana, downstream it is called Sabaki. But names don't change the extent of pollution.

Two of Athi's three tributaries, Nairobi and Mathare, rise from the foothills of the Kikuyu escarpment clean but in the city, they become "so polluted with the surface run-off, refuse and other wastes that (they) forms a slow moving mass of garbage and human waste," Francis Situma, a University of Nairobi law lecturer, once said. The two, plus the Ngong tributary converge into the Athi.

Some industrial effluent and human waste has been traced to fish in the Indian Ocean dozens of kilometres away.

Two University of Nairobi lecturers, Dr D.O Olago and Dr N. Opiyo-Aketch, recently made startling revelations: Sections of the tributaries are polluted 2,000 times above the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards of a wholesome water mass.

"Unpolluted waters ususally have Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) values of 2mg/1 oxygen or less. BOD for the Nairobi rivers (tributaries of Athi) have concentrations between 40 and 4400mg/1 oxygen," their report reveals. (BOD is the measure for the amount of oxgen demanded by a water mass).

"The Nairobi rivers data suggests that the high BOD ... is related to combination of raw sewage pollution and industrial pollution," it says.

The technical statistics may be difficult to comprehend, but a situational analysis betrays a sad scenario. Sample this: Raw sewage has a BOD of 600mg/1 Oxygen, implying that parts of the Athi are seven times worse.

A study last year by United Nations Environment Programme/Africa Water Network raised questions about the safety of the river as a source of water for irrigation and domestic use. Could it be that many people are being posioned?

"Certain plants concentrate certain nutrients such as mercury, a highly poisonous element. When you eat the plants (raised from such nutrients), then you are eating higher concentrations of poison," Dr Olago and Dr Apiyo-Aketch warned.

The study discovered high concentrations of sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, chlorine, and phosphorous. Metals such as lead, chromium, zinc, copper were also found in the Athi.

Down in Gikomba and other slum areas, including Mukuru Kayaba, this polluted water is used in homes and for irrigating vegetables. Against the background that 45 per cent of Nairobi residents are not supplied with piped water, the situation is critical.

A bacterium known as E. Coli is a hardly known in Kenya. But in the US, reports l consumption of beef from cattle feeding on pollutants, sparked widespread scare in 1997. Authorities warn E. Coli may not be alien here, just that it has not been isolated.

In Nairobi's Industrial Area, various factories discharge waste directly into Ngong River that traverses this manufacturing belt, rendering it the most polluted stream in Kenya. On its way to pour into the Athi, the waste-laden river picks up oil and grease from the busy roads.

"The rivers are very polluted and carry loads way above what is acceptable for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes ... During the dry season, (the water) consists mainly of sewage," a study commissioned by the City Council three years ago says.

Environmentalists worry. And the reason is manifest: pollution affects human health. A recent discovery in the Indian Ocean of fish containing chromium traceable to an Athi River-based factory was alarming.

A tannery and a fish processing plant whose efluent was believed to be polluting the Athi were ordered closed years ago to check pollution. Although they remain officially closed but the river remains heavily polluted, indicating there are pollutants still pouring in.

Tucked in the yard of one of the factories is a large chromium deposit which drains into the Athi River during floods, poisoning aquatic life and, possibly, humans too. But the unsettling question is: Why have the authorities slow to intercede?

Answers are scarce in the corridors of Maji House, Nairobi, where the Ministry of Environment headquarters is located.

A new legislation grants the concerned minister sweeping powers to close any facility found to be polluting the environment or is a public nuisance. It was assented to by President Moi on January 14, 2000, and should have provided a fresh approach to environmental conservation. But corruption sneers at this endeavour. Sources claim a rift is sizzling at the Ministry of Environment headquarters over a decision by Minister Francis Nyenze not to punish firms in Athi River town accused of pouring effluents into the river. The stage had been set for an announcement that would have involved closing down some of the firms a few weeks ago.

The ineptitude is mindboggling, say critics. The tannery is located just a few dozens of kilometres north of Nairobi, the seat of both the government and host of international research bodies. The proprietor is a tycoon at the Coast, where the Athi unloads its poison.

However, the problem transcends the tannery. Investigations showed that several other factories, including London Distillers Kenya Limited and Vekaria Construction Company, could be responsible for the mess in the Athi and the air around it.

London Distillers Kenya Limited manufactures alcoholic beverages using molasses as raw material. In small quantities, molasses is as good as fertiliser but it is posionous in excess. "It can kill all fish life. That's why Nyando River has no fish," says a ministry researcher, in apparent reference to a river in Nyanza which is almost lifeless owing to molasses. "(Molasses) absorbs all the oxygen in water."

The trouble with London Distillers, is that it can hardly control the overspill of mollases from its lagoons during rains. The rot is discharged into the Athi, in effect adding further weight to the waste carried by the Nairobi, Ngong and Mathare tributaries.

A planned Sh25 million treatment plant will eventually reduce pollution to "zero level", says Mr A.K Verma, the project manager. The proposal has been okayed by the Government, he says. "We are going to make changes to the (manufacturing) process."

Ministry sources said the proposal, authored by a Czech expert, involved installing a Sh12 million treatment plant. When it is actually set up, the Athi can claim one enemy down.