Rössing Uranium Limited SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR THE PROPOSED RÖSSING URANIUM DESALINATION PLANT NEAR SWAKOPMUND, NAMIBIA DRAFT SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN PROJECT REFERENCE NO: 110914 DATE: NOVEMBER 2014 PREPARED BY ON BEHALF OF Rössing Uranium Desalination Plant: Draft SEMP PROJECT DETAILS PROJECT: Social and Environmental Impact Assessment for the Proposed Rössing Uranium Desalination Plant, near Swakopmund, Namibia AUTHORS: Andries van der Merwe (Aurecon) Patrick Killick (Aurecon) Simon Charter (SLR Namibia) Werner Petrick (SLR Namibia) SEIA SPECIALISTS: Birds –Mike and Ann Scott (African Conservation Services CC) Heritage – Dr John Kinahan (Quaternary Research Services) Marine ecology – Dr Andrea Pulfrich (Pisces Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd) Noise - Nicolette von Reiche (Airshed Planning Professionals) Socio-economic - Auriol Ashby (Ashby Associates CC) - Dr Jonthan Barnes (Design and Development ServicesCC) Visual – Stephen Stead (Visual Resource Management Africa) Wastewater discharge modelling –Christoph Soltau (WSP Group) Shoreline dynamics - Christoph Soltau (WSP Group) PROPONENT: Rio Tinto Rössing Uranium Limited REPORT STATUS: Draft Social and Environmental Management Plan REPORT NUMBER: 9408/110914 STATUS DATE: 28 November 2014 .......................................... .......................................... Patrick Killick Simon Charter Senior Practitioner: Aurecon Environment and Advisory Senior Practitioner: SLR Environmental Consulting .......................................... …………………………… Werner Petrick Andries van der Merwe Director: SLR Environmental Consulting Technical Director: Aurecon Environment and Advisory This report is to be referred to in bibliographies as: Aurecon and SLR. 2014. Social and Environmental Impact Assessment for the Proposed Rössing Uranium Desalination Plant, near Swakopmund, Namibia. Draft Social and Environmental Management Plan. Page II Rössing Uranium Desalination Plant: Draft SEMP TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................. 1 SEIA NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Project alternatives ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 SEIA process ................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 1.3 Social and environmental impact assessment findings .......................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Opinions and recommendations .............................................................................................................................................. 11 2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................................................. 14 2.1 The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia (Act 1 of 1990) ................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Environmental Management Act (Act 7 of 2007) ..................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Water Resources Management Act (Act 24 of 2004)............................................................................................................... 15 2.4 The National Heritage Act (Act 27 of 2004) .............................................................................................................................. 16 2.5 The Soil Conservation Act (Act 76 of 1969) ............................................................................................................................. 16 2.6 The National Policy on Coastal Management for Namibia (2013).......................................................................................... 17 2.7 The Integrated Coastal Management Bill (2014)...................................................................................................................... 17 2.8 The National Policy on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management (2009) ................................................................................... 17 2.9 Proposed Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (2009).................................................................................................. 17 2.10 The Namibia Vision 2030 ........................................................................................................................................................... 18 2.11 Social Policies ............................................................................................................................................................................ 18 2.11.1 The MET Policy on HIV and AIDS ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 2.12 Biodiversity Legislation and Policies ....................................................................................................................................... 19 2.13 Rio Tinto Environmental and Sustainability Policies ............................................................................................................. 19 2.13.1 Rössing Uranium Limited Policies ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 2.13.2 Rössing Uranium’s HSE system ............................................................................................................................................................... 20 3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................. 26 3.1 Project Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................ 26 3.1.1 Pre-construction phase ............................................................................................................................................................................. 26 3.1.2 Construction phase ................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.3 Operations phase ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.4 Decommissioning phase ........................................................................................................................................................................... 28 3.2 Project Components .................................................................................................................................................................. 28 3.2.1 Seawater intake system ............................................................................................................................................................................ 30 3.2.2 Seawater pre-treatment system ................................................................................................................................................................ 32 3.2.3 desalination plant ........................................................................................................................................ 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Bookmark not defined. 3.2.4 Electrical supply system ............................................................................................................................................................................ 34 3.2.5 Product water system and pipeline ........................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.2.6 Effluent treatment and disposal system .................................................................................................................................................... 35 4 PRE-CONSTRUCTION PHASE .................................................................................................................... 37 4.1 Tendering .................................................................................................................................................................................... 37 4.2 Permits and agreements ........................................................................................................................................................... 37 4.3 Environmental considerations in design ................................................................................................................................. 37 5 CONSTRUCTION PHASE ............................................................................................................................. 41 5.1 SCOPE ........................................................................................................................................................................................