Mill’s enviro meeting

The committee was established under the waste management act which requires Sappi to have this type of meeting.

The function of the committee, according to Sappi’s safety, health, environmental and quality manager, Dave Smith, is:
– To look at the monitoring and establishing operating rehabilitation plans around the landfill site;
– Ensure that audits are done according to their licences and the results get reviewed;
– Monitoring results get reviewed;
– Represent the people in the area, Sappi and the government.

Smith started off by covering the air emissions of the plant.

He explained that Sappi no longer has an air emissions licence as they have mothballed the pulp plant.

Sappi still has boilers, but there are no regulations in place on how to operate these small boilers.

As a mill, Sappi has decided to control the boilers under their previous licence conditions and the emissions from these boilers are far under the limits set out by the licence.

Smith explained that the mill adopted the Enstra Water Management Strategy to look at how the operation impacts on water and from there develop an Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP).

“Our IWWMP was submitted in June to water affairs,” said Smith.

The plan includes minimising processes in the plant to minimise contamination, improve water management efficiency, comply with the new amended water use licence conditions with regards to effluent, reduce soil contamination, and managing the landfills leachate.

Under the new water use licence, which was issued last year, an audit was done in November 2012 and Sappi scored 91%.

“We found we do not comply with some of the conditions of our licence. As soon as we received the licence we applied for an amendment as some of the conditions are even more stringent than water drinking quality,” explained Smith.

The amendment went in and Sappi is still waiting for a reply from government on that.

Some of the other shortfalls from Sappi’s side were the lack of an IWWMP and no remediation report at the time of the audit, and the lack of biological monitoring by a government approved company.

“We do biological monitoring of the Blesbokspruit – prior to Cowles Dam, at the exit to Cowles Dam and in the centre of Cowles Dam. We do that once a year,” said Smith, explaining that there is no process in place to do the approval of a biological monitoring company and that Sappi was told to submit the name of the company, and the department will give them an answer.

“And that we’ve done,” said Smith.

As for the landfills, the quarterly tonnages to landfill between 2009 and 2010 have shown a downward trend in the amount of waste that ends up on the landfills.

The main tonnages going to landfill is fibre and ash.

The period 2010 to 2011 saw an increase in waste going to landfills while the downward trend recommenced in 2011 and still continues.

As for the compliance, the Green Scorpions visited the site six months ago, but Sappi is still waiting for their report.

The landfills are audited every six months and during the last audit Sappi scored 92%.

The settlement rates were not conducted quarterly and were one of the points of concern. They have been recommissioned and Sappi started the initial survey in March.

The daily allowable tonnages are being exceeded and there is an amendment in place for this.

“We find that some days it’s over, others it’s under. Generally on a monthly basis, we do not exceed,” said Smith, adding that with the plans in place for the repulper and waste plants and the recycling of a lot of water, there will be a reduction of fibre to the landfills.

The grassing of the landfills was also a concern.

“The slopes of the landfills were hydro-seeded and the problem was that it was done just before the winter. A lot of the grass didn’t take. During the audit, the northern and western slopes showed bad erosion,” explained Smith, adding that they have now been reseeded.

During the meeting, photos taken during the audit were shown so those present could see what Smith was explaining. Afterwards, attendees were taken on a tour of the landfill and a distinct difference could be seen.

The sloping of the landfill was at a better angle and the slopes were covered in grass, which will help prevent erosion.

The lime dams rehabilitation plan was approved in June and the rehabilitation of the site will go ahead.

During the audit of the lime dams, Sappi scored 80%, which is lower than in previous audits.

The access to the site is one of the reasons for the score being lower and Smith explained the problem is that illegal miners in the area steal the fence faster than Sappi can put up new fencing.

“We’ve discussed this with the disaster management of the metro, and the problem remains,” Smith explained.

Sappi will also not be constructing an emergency or storm water dam for the lime dams, as it will take longer to build the dams than it will take to rehabilitate the existing lime dams.

The lining of the lime dams are also to blame for the lower score.

“There is no general plus liner installed. The dams were installed in the 1930s and back then there weren’t requirements for lining,” said Smith, adding that this will remain as Sappi can’t pick up the dams, line them and put the dams back again.

Sappi also has satellite stations, which include the ash settlers, recovery centre and recycling centre, and these were audited in March 2012 during which Sappi scored 87%.

One of the problems with the licence requirements was the waste that wasn’t removed every 90 days as Sappi’s licence is only for temporary storage.

Smith explained that waste, including asbestos and oily rags, used to be removed every six months as the mill doesn’t generate sufficient waste, at the recovery centre, to dispose of it every 90 days.

But, he said, they have now negotiated with the removal company to remove the waste every 90 days, no matter how little there is.

Sappi is busy building a recovered fibre plant as Sappi will now repulp and produce paper from recycled fibre.

The mill had to apply for a waste licence, as this is a waste plant, which they received in November.

“The plant should be up and fully commissioned by August,” said Smith, adding that the plant’s first audit had been scheduled for November.

This concluded the overview of the environmental issues of the Sappi Enstra Mill.