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6.17. Dumped waste
Domestic waste and trash are widely dumped into the sea.
Worse examples include the Freetown bays, KingTom,
and Granville dumpsites. Fish kills reported in the 1980s
were caused by suspected dumping, dredge spoil dumped
into the Freetown estuary and sewage discharge from
Freetown. Ndomahina (1994) reported the mass mortality
of catfishes (
Arius spp.
) along the entire coastline.
6.18. Marine DebrisWracks
The condition is assessed to be good, but the worst places
include the Freetown beaches and the Mahera beach
in Lungi.
6.19. Sediment Transportation
The condition is assessed to be poor and declining.
Examples of least impacted coastal areas are found around
the Scarcies River. Examples of places most disturbed by
humans causing sediment mobilization (mining, coastal
development, sand mining, deforestation, etc.) are found
mainly in the north and south of the country.
6.20. Coastal Shoreline Erosion
The condition is assessed to be good, but declining.
Examples of areas where erosion is not an issue include
the southern region around Sulima and Bonthe-Sherbro
Island. Examples of worst areas affected by erosion
include the area around Freetown, the Freetown peninsula
and islands.
6.21. Freshwater inflow, Surface and
Groundwater runoff
Many rivers in Sierra Leone are free-flowing into the sea.
However, worse conditions occur in the Scarcies River
region. The Rokel River and the Moa River have been
damned, but fresh water is still flowing.