Pretoria - The deadline for Wasteman, the second-largest waste management company in South Africa, to stop operations at its Klerksdorp facility, has been extended.
Last November, the Department of Environmental Affairs' Green Scorpions found the Klerksdorp incinerator to be in contravention of many of its permit conditions.
A final compliance notice was served to Wasteman on 24 December 2009 to terminate operations by 15 February 2010. However, the date has since been extended to 9 March 2010.
This follows a site inspection by the Green Scorpions last week, which revealed that a significant amount of work in a short space of time had been done in the form of upgrades and refurbishments, resulting in a substantial decrease in the fugitive emissions.
"The visual inspection also indicated that the incineration process has been optimized, resulting in more efficient air flows and an improvement in combustion efficiency.
"This will, however, need to be confirmed by the emission test results due to be submitted to the department at the end of this week," the department said.
A Safety Health and Environmental officer is also on site to oversee all operations until the date of closure and to ensure compliance with protocols, procedures and conditions of applicable permits.
Wasteman was also requested to provide the department with reasons as to why the permits applicable to the site should not be suspended or revoked.
"The office of the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Buyelwa Sonjica has received an application from Wasteman requesting the instructions in the notice to be suspended and objecting to the notice," the department said, adding that the Sonjica is in the process of considering the application.
The extension will allow for the results of the emissions testing to be considered as part of the application for suspension and objection.
