Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery
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Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery situated on the Remaining Extent of the farm Goedehoop 169 HT in the Mkhondo Magisterial District of the Mpumalanga Province, Republic of South Africa Ref no: 17/2/3 GS-222 Proponent: Siphiwo Investments (Pty Ltd Report Reference: KPS600 P O Box 652706 Benmore Report Status: Draft EIA/EMPr 2010 Date: February 2016 Tel: +27 (0)11 064 4836 Cell: +27 074 104 0662 [email protected] uKhozi Environmentalists (Pty) Ltd. (2004/013846/07 t/a “uKhozi”). Building 32, Cambridge Office Park, 5 Bauhinia Street, Centurion. Postnet Suite 1454, Private Bag X1007, LYTTELTON, 0140 Tel +27 (0)12 665 2471 Fax +27 (0)86 767 8072 Web address: www.ukhozi-enviro.co.za Directors: Inus de Wit; Alpha Hadebe; Tommy Olivier; Ken Smith Proponent: Siphiwo Investments (Pty) Ltd February 2016 Draft EIA/EMPr for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga Preface This Environmental Impact Assessment Report has been compiled by uKhozi Environmentalists, based on the guidelines provided by the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act no 107 of 1998), Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. Full acknowledgement is made for use of the NEMA EIA regulations guideline in compiling this report. This document includes uKhozi ‘s own interpretation of the requirements of the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998), the regulations, the guidelines and the integration with other statutory and best practice criteria. This Environmental Impact Assessment Report forms part of the process of applying for environmental authorisation for the refurbishment and recommissioning of the underground coal mining operation, Kwasa Colliery. Contact details: uKhozi Environmentalists (Pty) Ltd . t/a “uKhozi” Registration No. 2004/013846/07 Practitioners Contact Person for this project: Tommy Olivier Alternative contact persons: Inus de Wit Tel.: +27 (0) 12 665 2471 Cell: +27 (0) 82 521 8870 Fax: +27 (0) 86 767 8072 Postnet Suite 1454, Private Bag x 1007, Lyttelton, 0140 [email protected] [email protected] Proponent: Siphiwo Investments (Pty) Ltd February 2016 Draft EIA/EMPr for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga Executive Summary The Mining Right for Kwasa Colliery has recently been applied to be transferred to Siphiwo Investments (Pty) Ltd., for which a S.11 transfer of ownership is required, and has been submitted to the DMR. In line with the policy of operating within the framework of the various, relevant laws, Siphiwo and its various partners has appointed KSE Services to manage the process of applying for the environmental authorisations, and uKhozi Environmentalists as the independent environmental assessment practitioners. The National Environmental Management Act (107) 1998 (“NEMA”) and Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010 specifies certain requirements for assessing the impacts of the proposed project with the Public and this is complemented by requirements of the National Water Act (36) 1998 (“NWA”). This report is the result of fulfilling those requirements with information collected from site visits to the Rem. of Goedehoop 169 HT, previous studies in the area, specialist studies and a public participation process. Kwasa Colliery is situated in the Gert Sibande Magisterial District which falls within the Mkhondo Local Municipality in Mpumalanga. The coal reserve is located approximately 37 km south-west of the town of Piet Retief, 22 km due East of the town of Dirkiesdorp and 58 km East of the town of Wakkerstroom The Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (DEDET) has accepted the scoping report completed in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) and the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010 on the 16th September 2014 for the authorization to recommission the underground coal mine. The listed activities applied for by this application are to ensure that the application for environmental authorisations for the envisaged operation is aligned with what is planned in practice. This application focusses on the NEMA requirements: a Water Use licence Application process has started. The mine has been issued with a Mining Right (Reference Number MP 30/5/1/2/2/415MR F2009/04/28/004). An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) along with an Environmental Management Programme report (EMPr) is required to be submitted as the next step in the application process. This report is part of fulfilling the requirements of the NEMA, NWA and NEMA:WA for environmental authorisation and has been compiled with information collected from site visits to portion 0 of Goedehoop 169 HT, previous studies in the area, specialist’s studies and a public participation process conducted during the scoping and EIA phases. uKhozi: KPS600/0216 Page i of xxi Proponent: Siphiwo Investments (Pty) Ltd February 2016 Draft EIA/EMPr for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga The existing status of the site must be described during the environmental impact assessment in order that the environmental management programme is applied directly to the situation at hand. The Terms of Reference or plan of study for the EIA will need to be verified by the participants in the consultative process, enabling the EIA to proceed smoothly without gaps or duplication in the information generated. Please note that these conclusions and recommendations have been made for discussion purposes: The Applicant, Authorities, IAPs and specialist consultants will be given the opportunity to comment on this EIAR and EMPr, while the Applicant will be able to make an informed decision as to the management and mitigation commitments that will become necessary. Project Description Kwasa is a small, underground coal mine. It is planned to establish a wash plant on site. The mining methods will be bord and pillar, using a coal cutter with minimal drill and blast. There will be no secondary mining of the pillars to ensure that the roof will remain competent. Completed Activities The development of the mine up to this point in time have all been done and funded by Kwasa Mining Services (Pty) Ltd. The following activities had been completed approximately three years ago but would probably need to be refurbished: Refurbishment of access road to the mine and shafts; Installation of Eskom power lines and transformers; Refurbishment of the underground workings, with a) roof stabilisation, b) conveyor system, c) ventilation infrastructure, d) water management. Fencing of the shafts; Development of access control; Setting out of a stockpile and loading area in place; Infrastructure on site The following infrastructure is currently on site: Access roads as well as internal roads; Security berms and palisades; Old mining equipment; Abandoned buildings; Power Lines. Planned Activities for the Construction Phase The following activities will be carried out during the construction phase: uKhozi: KPS600/0216 Page ii of xxi Proponent: Siphiwo Investments (Pty) Ltd February 2016 Draft EIA/EMPr for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga Refurbishment and reconstruction of the water pollution control system; Construction of one fresh water storage dams; Construction of four pollution control dams (PCDs); Construction of the silt traps at each PCD; Transport to site and erection of a modular washing plant; Preparation of the discard management facility; Construction of offices and a change house; Installation of a septic tank system; Commissioning of an existing weighbridge; New security house at main gate; Final trenching and berms; New runoff water catchment areas; Three freshwater towers and tanks; Installation of a new conveyor belt in the Alfred seam belt adit; Road signs; Water pumps and piping for PCDs and clean water storage dam; Security lights at gates. Five year contractual commitments for the supply and operation of crushing and screening equipment; Five year contractual commitments for underground mining services. The facilities inside the operational area will be fenced such as the PCDs, fresh water dam, washing plant area, co disposal site and stockpile areas. Planned Activities for the Operational Phase Activities to be conducted during the operational phase of the mine are: Underground board and pillar mining with continuous miner which will not involve blasting; Transportation of run-off mine from the shaft to crushing and screening area via a conveyor belt system; Crushing and screening of run-off mine; Stockpiling of the coal product; Spraying of water on access roads to suppress dust; Transportation of coal product to client via trucks; Cleaning of silt traps; Disposal of discard and silt at the Co-Disposal site; Toil stockpiling (hard and softs); Sewage management; Solid waste management; Dirty water handling including pumping water from PCD 3 to the coal washing plant. uKhozi: KPS600/0216 Page iii of xxi Proponent: Siphiwo Investments (Pty) Ltd February 2016 Draft EIA/EMPr for the Refurbishment and Recommissioning of Kwasa Colliery, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga Planned Activities for the Closure and Post Closure Phases Activities to be conducted during the closure and post-closure phase of the mine are: Plugging/sealing of the three adits (ventilation, access and exit); Removal of storage equipment;