Industrial pollution threatens Katsina community

This can sum up the fears of all other companies and people within the vicinity of the Katsina Industrial Layout which hosts several companies. Dana Steel bought the moribund Katsina Steel Rolling Mills in 2006, under the Federal Government’s privatization programme.
The dark and horrific smoke that covers the sky when operation is ongoing has put so many lives at risk which necessitated the community to come together to find a lasting solution. Several petitions were written to concerned authorities with the mandate to check such offence. This is in addition to verbal complaints to the company to find a way to address the massive smoke emitted from the company during operations. At peak of production, vision becomes blurred as one can hardly see few meters ahead, thereby causing several mishaps and making most people remain indoors for fear of breathing contaminated air.
It was the possible fear for their lives that made people from around the vicinity to come together to face the challenge collectively under the platform of industrial layout community. Some of the petitioners are Ni’ima Rainbow Water, WEMCO Aluminium Company and Kush Nur Nigeria limited.
 Several complains and petitions over the emission were gathered with a view to coming out with a single voice. They alleged that the dangerous and toxic smoke by Dana Steel Rolling Mills is putting their lives at great risk.
Some of the petitions made available to Daily Trust alleged that the unhealthy smoke being emitted by the plant is toxic thereby putting their lives at great danger. “Those of us living within the vicinity are currently in great danger and obviously will not continue to be subjected to living within such hazardous situation,” it stated.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), outdoor air pollution alone accounts for around 2% of all heart and lung diseases, about 5% of all lung cancers, and about 1% of all chest infections, explaining that some of the effects of the pollution take around 20 years for some illnesses to manifest.
“Pollutants affect our health in several ways. These include direct irritation of target organs or metabolic changes within cells. For example, exposure to too much smoke, fumes or dust evokes a burning sensation in the airways, tightness in the chest and possible suffocation. Sometimes, the effects are subtler and may take years to develop. Asbestos fibres, for example, are small needle-shaped silicate crystals that penetrate deep into lung tissue and evoke reactions. It takes around 20 years for some illnesses to manifest.”
Other health issues involve metabolic pathways in our bodies — pathways of chemical reactions in our cells — where they may interfere with energy production or cellular repair mechanisms. For example, exposure to inorganic arsenic is common among people who work in copper smelters or live around them. Exposure to inorganic arsenic also occurs among people who consume water from shallow tube wells in areas where the groundwater contains high levels of inorganic arsenic.
When it enters the body, inorganic arsenic is transformed through the same chemical reactions that are necessary to maintain the repair processes of DNA molecules within the cells. As a result of excess exposure to arsenic, and demands on these reactions, faulty repair of DNA molecules causes tumours to form.
The community through their spokesman Mustapha Gafai took the protest to the state office of the National Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA), a government approved regulatory organ mandated to address such issues. He said “enough is enough” as they can no longer continue to suffer in silence, adding that it’s time to speak up as all efforts to address it amicably has fallen on deaf ears.
When our reporter visited the state NESREA office, the state coordinator Toyin Obagiri confirmed the receipt of the petitions and complains, saying that a meeting to broker peace has been initiated which is one of the basic processes of intervening by bringing the warring parties under one table for amicable solutions. However, on the eve of the scheduled meeting a letter was sent to the petitioners that it has been postponed indefinitely.
A copy of the letter made available to our reporter shows no reason for the postponement. The letter with reference number REF/NESREA/KTS/88/16 stated, “I write to inform you that the meeting scheduled to hold on 26th June at NESREA Katsina Office has been postponed indefinitely due to some circumstances beyond our control. A new date will be communicated to you in due course.” It then regretted any inconvenience the postponement might cause.
In his reaction, the Assistant General Manager Dana Steel Rolling Mills Isah Ane said the plant is doing all it can to ensure that it operates according to laid down rules and regulation as efforts are being intensified to curtail hazardous emission. He assured that the company will be adequately represented at the meeting with a view to ensuring that it allays fears of the community and that of the other companies operating within the vicinity.
Though industrial pollution is harmful to health, both the sources of pollution and the resulting health effects are preventable. Prevention calls for the identification of polluting sources, awareness about the links between pollution and health, and steps to minimize the risks. These could be in the form of policy and regulatory controls by the government, improved technology to minimize industrial pollution and the adoption of personal protection.