PROPOSED WASTE TRANSFER FACILITY ON A PORTION OF FARM 279/RE, STELLENBOSCH

A draft Basic Assessment Report has been compiled for the proposed waste transfer facility on a portion of Farm 279/RE. The report is being made available for a 30-day public participation process commencing on 26 November 2018 and closing on 17 January 2019. You may provide comment via email: comments@enviropart.co.za or telephone: 021 422 0999 or by fax: 021 422 0998. Should you wish to register as an Interested and Affected Party, you may do so by email, telephone or fax as per the details provided.

 

BACKGROUND

The Stellenbosch Landfill Site which currently receives waste for the Stellenbosch Municipality is fast-approaching its capacity. The proponent, Stellenbosch Municipality, wishes to construct a waste transfer facility on a portion of Farm 279/RE in Stellenbosch in order to divert and reduce the amount of waste taken to the Stellenbosch Landfill Site located in Devon Valley. The primary waste stream to be handled at the proposed facility is residual waste collected from domestic households within Stellenbosch. Provision has been made to include waste collected from the trial organics separation at source program. The proposed facility on portion of Farm 279/RE will not operate as a public drop-off facility. Waste entering and leaving the proposed transfer facility will be handled by the Stellenbosch Municipality and approved contractors and off-takers.

Farm 279/RE is located south of the Stellenbosch Landfill Site, east of the Stellenbosch Waste Water Treatment Plant and Wynland Water Vereeniging, and north of Droedyke Farm (see locality map included).

LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

Activity 12 of listing notice 1 (GNR No. 327) of the NEMA: EIA Regulations, as amended, is applicable. Activity 12 refers to the development of infrastructure or structures with a physical footprint of 100 square metres or more; where such development occurs within 32 metres of a watercourse, measured from the edge of a watercourse (ponds 1,2 and 3).

PROJECT PROPOSAL

The proposed facility is to be designed to accommodate delivery of waste by 10 trucks undertaking two to three trips per day. General waste will only be accepted at the facility if there is a contractor to collect the waste (also referred to as an “off-taker”). If there is no off-taker, the general waste will be taken to the current landfill site in Devon Valley. The collection of the waste for beneficiation would be by the off-taker, using their own fleet and resources.

Two locations on a portion of Farm 279/RE have been identified for the waste transfer facility.

Site Alternative 1
The development footprint of the Waste Transfer Facility at Site Alternative 1 is 12 000m2 in extent and the site is located south of the R310, and the Asara Wine Estate. Directly adjacent to and east of the Wynland Water Vereeniging office. The proposed facility is located approximately 190 metres from the R310 via to access road.

Site Alternative 2
The development footprint of Site Alternative 2 is 9 000m2 in extent. The site is located adjacent to the southern boundary of Farm 279/RE. To the north is the remainder of the vacant land of Farm 279/RE. This site is positioned further south of the R310 road as opposed to Site Alternative 1. The proposed facility is located approximately 370 metres from the R310 via to access road.

 

The building layout is the same for both sites. The facility will include:

• A guardhouse with access control at the entrance to site;
• An access road off the R310, with a single dual-direction weighbridge on the incoming lane over which the drop-off vehicles will drive on entry/exit;
• An access ramp to a raised platform approximately 3m above handling/storage area;
• The container handling and skip storage area which is an enclosed and roofed building with one day’s waste storage capacity, a tipping hall and future compaction/loading hall, with a footprint are of about 1,200m2 – (approximately 11,5 m high from ground level to top of roof ridge);
• Site offices, ablution buildings and mess-room (single storey);
• Container storage area;
• Space allowance for an additional transfer bay;
• An on-site conveyer/compactor system (which is excluded from the initial project but may be built at a later date); and
• Stormwater catchpits.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS

Public participation is a key component of the environmental assessment process as it introduces the proposed development to the public and provides an opportunity for comments and concerns to be raised. This pre-application Basic Assessment Report will be made available to the broader public, adjacent landowners, identified key groups and individuals and Organs of State for perusal and comment by the following means:

• Distribution of the Information Sheet (summary of the BAR) to all adjacent landowners
• Distribution of the Information sheet to all identified key Interested and Affected Parties
• Distribution of copies of the BAR to relevant Organs of State
• Placement of a media notice in the Eikestadnuus on 22 November 2018
• Placement of site notices on the boundary of the site
• Placement of copies of the draft BAR on The Environmental Partnership’s website, www.enviropart.co.za
• Placement of the report for viewing at the Stellenbosch Public Library in Plein Street, Stellenbosch

 

You are invited to a Public Forum in the form of an “Open House” on 12 December 2018 at the Doornbosch Landbou Saal. Please do not put this location into your GPS as it will take you to the wrong place. You may attend the Open House at any time that suits you between 4.30pm and 7.30pm. At this public forum, you will be able to view project information on display and discuss the proposals with members of the project team

IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL IMPACTS

The following impacts have been identified and assessed.

Design and planning phase
• Potential loss of indigenous vegetation
• Loss of artificial wetland habitat
• Disturbance/contamination of wetland flats and the Veldwagters River during pond drainage and infilling
• Visual impacts of buildings and infrastructure

Construction phase
• Loss of artificial wetland habitat
• Potential health risks to employees on site due to contaminated groundwater
• Visual impact of construction activities and vegetation clearing.
• Noise impacts
• Dust impacts
• Increased congestion due to construction traffic
• Construction phase job creation

Operational phase
• Seepage / runoff of contaminated water from the site into the floodplain wetlands, the Veldwagters River and/ or the Eerste River via ground-water or surface pathways
• Visual impact on the physical landscape
• Visual impact of buildings and infrastructure
• Visual impact on the entrance to Stellenbosch
• Cumulative impacts resulting in the fragmentation of the rural land-scape.
• Compatibility with sur-rounding land uses
• Air emissions impact – odour management
• Noise impacts
• Operational phase job creation

THE WAY FORWARD

This Basic Assessment Report (BAR) is being made available for a 30-day commenting period to the broad public, identified I&APs, and relevant Organs of State for their perusal and comment. The commenting period commences on 26 November 2018 and closes on 17 January 2019. At the end of the commenting period, all comments will be captured and addressed in a Comments Table which will be included in an updated BAR. The updated report will be made available to the registered I&APs for a further 30-day period.

 

Comments on this report may be submitted on or before 17 January 2019 to:

 

The Environmental Partnership
P O Box 945, Cape Town, 8000
Tel: 021 422 0999; Fax: 021 422 0998
Email: comments@enviropart.co.za