Response to received reply on my letter on emissions in St Helena Bay

A letter from Gareth Morgan MP to the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, responding to the government's claims regarding air quality in St Helena Bay. Morgan argues that emissions of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and other sulphur compounds from fish factories are causing severe health issues for residents, particularly children, and calls for the installation of scrubber systems and a cessation of the use of rotten fish.

• Gareth Morgan MP disputes the government's claim that hydrogen sulphide (H2S) evaporates easily, arguing that its half-life in air (12 to 37 hours) and the continuous operation of fish factories lead to an accumulation of the gas in St Helena Bay.
• The document asserts that residents of St Helena Bay are exposed to H2S concentrations that cause eye irritation and strong, unpleasant odors, placing them in categories ranging from 4.6 ppm to 27.0 ppm.
• Morgan claims that nearly all long-term residents of Stompneus Bay suffer from upper airway diseases, including Asthma, Emphysema, Bronchitis, Chronic Bronchitis, Bronchiechtasis, and Bronchiolitis Obliterans.
• The letter highlights the specific risks to children, noting that reduced sulphur compounds descend and affect children more, and that H2S exposure in utero could lead to structural and behavioural abnormalities.
• The document cites a study from Shanxi University suggesting that Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is a clastogenetic and genotoxic agent that may inhibit mitoses and increase CA frequencies of bone marrow cells.
• Morgan proposes three specific requirements for fish factories to mitigate the crisis: prohibiting the use of rotten fish, cleaning the factories, and installing scrubber systems to prevent toxic gas emissions.
• The author notes that community complaints have persisted for approximately ten years and that a criminal case (CASE OPEN MAS 67/07/08) was opened, though it yielded no results.

APA

Morgan, G. (2010). Response to received reply on my letter on emissions in St Helena Bay. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2010_Morgan_letter_to_enviro_minister_on_air_quality_in_st_helena_bay.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Morgan, Gareth. Response to received reply on my letter on emissions in St Helena Bay. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2010. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2010_Morgan_letter_to_enviro_minister_on_air_quality_in_st_helena_bay.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Morgan |first1=Gareth |title=Response to received reply on my letter on emissions in St Helena Bay |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=2 August 2010 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2010_Morgan_letter_to_enviro_minister_on_air_quality_in_st_helena_bay.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{morgan2010response, author = {Morgan, Gareth}, title = {{Response to received reply on my letter on emissions in St Helena Bay}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2010}, month = aug, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2010_Morgan_letter_to_enviro_minister_on_air_quality_in_st_helena_bay.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }