Shongweni landfill site on the cards
The Shongweni community have until 3 February to submit their comments.
PLANS to create a landfill site in Shongweni have been put in motion, and the public is urged to comment before the final addendum report is submitted.
According to Bathabile Msomi, assistant consultant at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Environment and Energy, Africa, which had been appointed to collate comments from the public for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), In 1996, Durban Solid Waste (DSW) initiated a process to secure regional general waste landfill sites to cater for future waste disposal for eThekwini.
An EIA was undertaken and a final environmental impact assessment report was submitted in March 2010 to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development (DAEARD). In September 2014 the DAEARD, now known as the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DEDTEA), requested additional information from DSW to assist them to make a decision about the proposed Shongweni regional landfill site.
This addendum report is available for comment for a period of 30 days, from 5 January 2016 to 3 February 2016. The documents are in the Hillcrest Library, 22 Delamore Road, for scrutiny in the mornings.
Comments can be submitted to Bathabile Msomi via post at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Environment and Energy, Africa, Block A, 1 on Langford, Langford Road, Westville, 3629, faxed to 031 240 8861 or emailed to Bathabile.msomi@wspgroup.co.za. All comments received will be incorporated into the final addendum report for submission to the DEDTEA. To ensure that your comments are incorporated into the final addendum report, please ensure that they are received before 5pm on Wednesday 3 February.
Local councillor, Gillian Noyce, said Shongweni was a residential area and some communities will be severely impacted by odour. “Public participation does not appear to have taken place at all. Societal and environmental issues are a major concern here,” she said. Noyce said the fact that this was open to public comment was something of a farce because there had been no public meetings in the area that would be directly affected, such as KwaNdengezi.
“KwaNdengezi residents live really close to the boundary compared to Shongweni residents. Cato Ridge [another site being considered] is predominantly an industrial area where far fewer people would feel the impact of the landfill. Why has Shongweni been selected over Cato Ridge,” asked Noyce.
John Parkin, DSW’s deputy head of plant and engineering confirmed that the Mariannhill Landfill site was estimated to be full to capacity by 2018/19.
He added that EIA’s were submitted on both sites, however additional information was requested for Shongweni now, and additional information will be requested for Cato Ridge in a month’s time too, before a final decision is made.
“The Shongweni and Cato Ridge sites are the last two sites for Durban, which will have air space for another 100 years. It we can’t get either of these sites, we will have to look at high tech solutions or possibly transporting waste to Newcastle,” said Parkin.
The Cato Ridge site is on flat land whereas Shongweni is in a deep valley. In his opinion, Parkin said Shongweni is closer to the Mariannhill landfill site and has a larger area to fit the capacity. He said there’s also competition with Eskom which is looking at procuring the Cato Ridge site for a sub-station.
