Question NW1238 to the Minister of Environmental Affairs

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24 May 2016 - NW1238

Profile picture: Whitfield, Mr AG

Whitfield, Mr AG to ask the Minister of Environmental Affairs

(1)Whether the Marselle Waste Transfer Site in the Ndlambe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape complies with every relevant provision of the National Environmental Management Act, Act 107 of 1998, as amended; if not, (a) why has the specified site not been closed down and (b) what waste management plans has her Department put in place to ensure compliance with the specified Act; and, what are the relevant details; and (2) whether the Green Scorpions have been asked to investigate the specified site; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Reply:

1. (a) First of all we need to remind the Honourable member that the mandate of managing landfill sites belongs to municipalities. This response relates only to our support work that we do. The Marselle waste disposal facility was identified to be licensed for closure because it is nearing its capacity. After rehabilitation one of the options for its alternative use was that the site be used as a transfer station. The site was licensed for closure on 16 March 2015. The license holder is required to commence the closure and rehabilitation activities under the supervision of a registered engineer and an Environmental Control Officer (ECO) within a period of three years from the date of issue.

(b) The site was inspected for compliance with the licence conditions on 10 June 2015, which is a routine monitoring function of the Provincial Department, and concerns were raised with the licence holder. Thereafter, concerns from local residents’ associations were received by the Department, and a meeting between the Ndlambe Local Municipality and the Chairpersons from Kenton-on-Sea Ratepayers Association (KOSRA) and Natures Landing Homeowners Association was convened on 14 September 2015 to try and address non-compliance issues associated with the site. It transpired that the Municipality has put aside a budget to appoint a service provider that will commence with the closure activities, but is overwhelmed with the quantities of waste still going to the site to enable the closure. The Department committed to assist the municipality to source funds for a project that will help with diverting waste away from going to landfill, and the project was approved and allocated a budget of R2, 026 million for the 2016/17 financial year. The project will employ a total of 46 people to assist with access control and security services at the landfill site, cleaning illegal dumps, door-to-door awareness campaigns in hotspot communities, promoting a culture of separation at source and recovery of materials.

2. The Department received this complaint in an e-mail sent to the office of the Chief Director: Regulatory Services on 08 February 2012. An inspection was conducted on 17 February 2012 at Marselle/Boesmansriviermond disposal site, and a meeting was held between the officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs, Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) and Ndlambe Municipality. On 23 February 2012, Ndlambe Municipality submitted a letter to the Department where they clearly indicated that there is currently no budget to render a 24-hour access control/security; however, staff members had been instructed not to start fires on site. Measures were also put in place as from
20 February 2012 to extend the working hours of the municipal employees to monitor the situation and ensure that fires were not lit.

It was also highlighted to the Department that, due to limited space for waste disposal, the Kenton-on-Sea garden waste site was closed, and more pressure was placed on Marselle disposal site as the garden waste was then brought to this site. The interim plan for the Municipality was to negotiate with the Kenton-on-Sea Ratepayers Association as they were keen to make available a chipper and ask garden services to drop off their garden refuse at a point where it could be chipped. This was to open up space for domestic refuse in the area that was to be used for garden refuse.

Since the matter focused on general waste management activities which fall within the mandate of the provincial sphere of government, the matter was then referred to the provincial DEDEAT on 29t February 2012.

Subsequently, the site was inspected for compliance with its licence conditions on 10 June 2015 by the DEDEAT as part of their routine monitoring function as indicated in question 1(b) above. Accordingly, the events following this inspection are outlined above.

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