Plant will be operational in a year
This acid mine drainage plant is currently being erected at the Grootvlei number 3 shaft.
Although the acid mine drainage (AMD) plant, outside Springs is in its eighth month of construction, it is still unknown where its sludge will be dumped.
This AMD plant is currently being erected at the Grootvlei number 3 shaft.
Once finished the acid mine water will be pumped from the mine, be will be treated with lime and this neutralised water will be discharged into Blesbokspruit.
The government on national level decided that this treatment plant had to be established in Springs and that no environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the plant was necessary.
An EIA is currently being done to determine where the sludge to be generated from the plant will be dumped.
The sites currently being investigated for this sludge disposal site – at Grootvlei, close to where the AMD plant is being erected, and at Largo – are both a bone of contention with the residents of Springs.
The sludge has to be transported by pipeline to the disposal site and if the Largo site is used, this pipeline will cross the Blesbokspruit.
During the public participation public meetings about the environmental impact studies regarding the suitable site for this sludge disposal site the community of Springs in July last year said they don’t want a sludge mountain on their doorsteps.
Steve Horak, from DigbyWells, the environmentalist company doing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the suitable disposal site says the final environmental impact study is currently being compiled.
This assessment report will be revealed at a public meeting, to be held within the next month.
Sophia Tlale, environmental manager of Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), the company that is responsible for the AMD plant, confirms that this EIA report will be submitted to Department of Environmental Affairs early March 2015
She confirms that the plant’s construction is in its eighth month of the 15 month construction period.
She estimates that the plant will be fully operational in a year’s time and anticipates that the trial operation of the plant will start from October.
Tlale confirmed that 352 temporary workers are, since the end January, in the construction company’s employ.
She says about 30 employees, mostly with specialised skills, will work at the plant once it becomes operational
About hiring local labour once the plant becomes operational, she says the department of water and sanitation, that will eventually be responsible for the plant’s operation and maintenance, still has to appoint the operator of the operation phase.
