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Ecological Scoping Assessment for the Expansion of the Pollution Control Dams Associated with the Continuous Disposal of Ash at the Majuba Power Station

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Ecological Scoping Assessment for the Expansion of the Pollution Control Dams Associated with the Continuous Disposal of Ash at the Majuba Power Station Ecological Scoping Assessment for the Expansion of the Pollution Control Dams associated with the Continuous Disposal of Ash at the Majuba Power Station, Mpumalanga Province November 2018 for Advisian Worley Parsons Marinda le Roux [email protected] DRAFT Cell: 0614174281 PREPARED BY Enviro-Insight CC Corné Niemandt (Cand. Sci. Nat.) [email protected] REVIEWED BY Luke Verburgt (Pr. Sci. Nat.) [email protected] 1 , TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Project Details and Background ................................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Study area .................................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Study Limitations ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 2 Methods ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Desktop Survey .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1 Flora Assessment ................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Fauna Assessment ................................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1.3 GIS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Field survey ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.3 Species of conservation concern ................................................................................................................................ 9 DRAFT 3 Results ................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 3.1 Climate ....................................................................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Regional Vegetation ................................................................................................................................................. 11 3.3 Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan ........................................................................................................... 12 3.4 Important Bird Areas ................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.5 Overview and Current Impacts ................................................................................................................................. 14 3.6 Habitats .................................................................................................................................................................... 15 3.6.1 Survey sites .......................................................................................................................................................... 15 3.6.2 Main Habitats ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 3.7 Observed and Expected Fauna ................................................................................................................................ 19 3.8 Floral Species of Conservation Concern .................................................................................................................. 25 3.9 Faunal Species of Conservation Concern ................................................................................................................ 26 3.10 Habitat Sensitivity ..................................................................................................................................................... 27 2 , 4 Conclusion and Professional Opinion ................................................................................................................................ 28 5 References ........................................................................................................................................................................ 28 6 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................................................... 30 6.1 Appendix 1: Flora species list ................................................................................................................................... 30 6.2 Appendix 3: Mammal species list ............................................................................................................................. 44 6.3 Appendix 4: Avifauna species list ............................................................................................................................. 45 6.4 Appendix 5: Herpetofauna species list ..................................................................................................................... 49 6.5 Appendix 6: Specialists Proof of Qualification and CV ............................................................................................. 51 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1: Locality of the study area for the proposed PCD expansions. ................................................................................... 6 Figure 3-1: The mean temperature recorded at Majuba Power Station over the survey period. ................................................ 10 Figure 3-2: Strong winds at Majuba Power Station blowing ash DRAFToff the ash dump into the surroundings. ................................. 10 Figure 3-3: Regional vegetation types in relation to the study area. .......................................................................................... 12 Figure 3-4: The study area in relation to the Mpumalanga Terrestrial Biodiversity Conservation Plan. ..................................... 13 Figure 3-5: The study area in relation to Important Bird Areas. .................................................................................................. 14 Figure 3-6: Specialist coverage (GPS tracks) and location of sample sites during the field survey. .......................................... 15 Figure 3-7: Habitat types identified within and surrounding the study area. ............................................................................... 19 Figure 3-8: Photographic evidence of a selection of avifauna observed during the field survey. ............................................... 23 Figure 3-9: Photographic evidence of a selection of avifauna observed during the field survey. ............................................... 24 Figure 3-10: Preliminary habitat sensitivity of the study area. .................................................................................................... 27 LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1: Attributes of the Amersfoort Highveld Clay Grassland regional vegetation unit 11 3 , Table 3-2: A short habitat description and visual representation of the 12 survey sites surrounding the PCD extension areas. *PCD = Pollution Control Dam. 16 Table 3-3: Observed fauna at the different survey sites. 20 Table 3-4: Potential plant Species of Conservation Concern. 25 DRAFT 4 , 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROJECT DETAILS AND BACKGROUND Enviro-Insight CC was commissioned by Advisian Worley Parsons to perform a Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) specialist report for the expansion of the Pollution Control Dams (PCD’s) associated with the ash disposal facilities at the Majuba Power Station, Mpumalanga Province. Majuba Power Station is Eskom’s second largest power plant in South Africa. The ash generated by the facility is currently being disposed by means of “dry ashing” within Eskom owned land and on the premises of the Majuba Power Station. The current ash dump was initially designed for the planned life of operation of the Majuba Power Station. However, Eskom have recently decided to extend the planned operation of the Majuba Power Station until 2045. This process therefore requires the continuous disposal of ash on existing facilities and the extension of new ash disposal sites to accommodate increased ashing requirements of the power station for the next 27 years. Associated with this ash disposal facility extension is the necessity to increase the PCD’s to accommodate the increased facility size. This scoping report therefore seeks to detail any potential environmental impacts associated with the extension of three existing PCD’s servicing the current ash disposal facility. 1.2 STUDY AREA DRAFT The study area is located approximately 16 km southwest (SW) of Amersfoort and approximately 40 km north northwest (NNW) of Volksrust
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