Dear Editor,
I am a Pinelands resident and I pass the Black River, often many times a day, especially on Raapenberg Road and on the Raapenberg offramp from the N2. The sewage stench from this river is unbearable and has been going on for many weeks. I pity the golfers who use the St. Davids course nearby. I have heard that the problem is that the Athlone wastewater treatment plant just cannot cope. What is the City Council doing about this ongoing disgusting issue?
This brought to mind the River Club “development” in Observatory. When completed there will be, literally, thousands of people on that relatively small site every day. How will the Athlone wastewater treatment plant then cope? It boggles the mind!
And then I thought about that other sewage: traffic. The roads in and around Obs are hugely crowded already – imagine what it will be like with thousands more cars dumped in that area (I’ve heard that the plans of the “development” include parking spaces for nearly 5000 cars). How on earth was the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) passed? I happen to know that an EIA must include a traffic survey – how was this passed? It also boggles the mind!
Dr. Ed Wethli
Pinelands.