The government has threatened to shut
down the Caltex refinery in Cape Town
after air sampling revealed the air
in the city's Table View area is among the
most heavily polluted in the world.

Among the lethal chemicals that a United
States laboratory has found in the air is a
petrol additive called MTBE - a potent
carcinogen or cancer-causing agent banned in
the US. The Caltex refinery, the only
possible source of the chemical, is owned by
Chevron - an American oil company that
ironically operates some of the world's
cleanest refineries in its home country.

. . .

The main chemicals in the air at the
three sites tested by the US lab are:

• Sasolburg: Benzene, acetone, toulene,carbon
  tetraChloride, xylenes and styrene.
• Cape Town: Acetone, carbon disulfide, chloromethane,
  benzene, 2-hexanone, methylene chloride, tetrachloroethane.
• Durban: Toulene, methylene chloride, benzene,
  cetone, carbon disulfide.

Daily Mail & Guardian

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), September 10, 2000