Improve your facilities, NEMA orders Dagoretti slaughter houses NEMA has ordered all slaughter houses to apply for the effluent discharge licence as soon as possible, in a bid to curb environmental pollution from the facilities. According to NEMA Chief Enforcement Officer Mr. Robert Orina, failure by the facilities, some of which are more than 50 years old but without adequate basic amenities, to acquire the document will prompt the Veterinary officer of the particular slaughter houses to withdraw their services. The facilities, which perform the killing and dressing of animals mainly cows and goats, are under the purview of the Veterinary department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, mainly for the purpose of meat inspection. There are five slaughter houses located within the same area in Dagoreti market. In a report prepared after he led a team of inspectors to the privately owned Dagoretti slaughterhouses, Mr. Orina said the wastes from the facilities drain into River Kavuti which is the upstream tributary to the Nairobi River Basin. He said the waste generated is almost wholly organic, mainly consisting dissolved and suspended material, thus causing harmful effects for the downstream communities that depend either directly or otherwise on the river system. The drain that discharges waste from Dagoretti Slaughterhouse into River Kavuti (Photo: Courtesy) “The principal deleterious effect of these wastes on the downstream water courses is their deoxygenating. The uncollected waste within the drains also leads to polluted air and bad odour. The decaying wastes and accumulation of sludge becomes breeding places for disease causing organisms,” the report read in part. The inspectors said chances of epidemic are very high since these slaughter houses suffer from very low hygiene standard posing a major public health and environmental hazards due to discrete disposal of waste and highly polluted effluent discharge. For this reason these facilities were targeted as high risk facilities for monitoring during the 2013/2014 financial year. In the initial inspection of the slaughterhouses conducted on 9th October for their compliance status and which involved going through the documentation of the facilities in the Authority’s possession and a rapid walk-through to assess environmental performance, the team observed that the Dagoretti Slaughterhouse Limited had no effluent discharge licence. Waste channeled into the river In addition, the inspectors noted that waste water from the animal holding area is channeled through a storm drain and together with wastes from the surrounding homesteads and commercial stalls is finally discharged into River Kavuti. This occurs despite the slaughterhouse having a waste water reticulation system with both primary and secondary treatment systems and through which most of the waste water from the animal processing area is channeled. The animal holding area at the Dagoretti Slaughterhouse (Photo: Courtesy) The Chief Enforcement officer said the team observed that some equipment, although installed, are not in use, citing the pump in the first pond which he says is rarely used as there was no evidence it had been used that day. He also pointed out other anomalies at the facility including the second and third ponds not holding adequate water due to the presence of observable cracks at their bottom. Others included non verification of the plastic paper lining at the pond as informed by the operators and placement of solid waste on a raised concrete slab before being transported to an off-site location on a track. Process the wastes In a bid to combat pollution and save River Kavuti users from health epidemic, the team of inspectors called upon the operators of the slaughterhouses to process the generated solid wastes in an environmentally acceptable manner. In this regard, Bio-methanation was suggested for the particular facility, since it requires less space and its effectiveness in the removal of BOD, thus making it recommendable for putting up of a biogas plant at the slaughter house. With regard to liquid waste management, Orina’s team said that waste water from the slaughterhouse should not be allowed to mix with the municipal drainage system without pre-treatment meeting effluent standards as per the Water Quality Regulations, since it’s heavy in pollution. They said the liquid waste should be washed away by safe potable and constant supply of fresh water at adequate pressure throughout the premises of operations. Mr. Orina (right) with his team of inspectors at the Dagoretti Slaughterhouse (Photo: Courtesy) The inspectors recommended that the waste water treatment system comprise of both aerobic and anaerobic treatments, filter press for dewatering of the sludge and self cleaning type screening or the bar type (two stage screening). The report also suggests that the blood available from the slaughter house should be collected and made use of in other industries. Bleeding areas should be clearly identified in the slaughter house and blood drains should be put up and collection should be done immediately so that its full potential could be utilized. Moreover, slaughtering of animals generates wastes consisting of non edible offal such as lungs, large intestines, various glands, animal tissues, organs, intestinal contents, dung, sludge from waste water treatment, bones among many others. All these types of wastes, according to the inspectors, are required to be disposed by adopting methods like rendering, controlled incineration, burial, composting and Anaerobic digestion. Further more, in order to curb the stinking that normally gets out from the slaughter house, proper ventilation of the slaughtering halls, washing of the floors with non-poisonous disinfectants and if need be use of aerobic deodorants must be provided at each of such facilities. The team, finally, recommends that in the long run, the slaughter house owners should work with the County Government to modernize these facilities to reduce environmental pollution arising out of the slaughtering activities and achieve the pollution control norms.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 10:40:38 +0000