Pretoria - The civil rights organisation AfriForum has expressed its concern over what it calls the extremely flawed environmental impact study that supports an application for environmental authorisation for the mining of coal at a clay mine, which borders the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in Pretoria.
The existing mining rights only apply to clay. However, after it came to the attention of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy that coal reserves exposed during normal clay mining operations were being mined without authorisation, the department directed the mine to rectify this.
The mine was told to retrospectively apply for environmental authorisation, AfriForum said.
This application is subject to a basic assessment process and the Draft Basic Assessment Report is currently available for public comment.
Marais de Vaal, AfriForum’s adviser for environmental affairs, said the organisation was concerned about the “extremely flawed” draft Basic Assessment Report compiled by the environmental assessment practitioner.
“The environmental assessment practitioner has a legal and professional duty to present factually correct information.
“The draft Basic Assessment Report is riddled with inconsistencies and it seems as if parts of the text have been copied from other reports without any adaptation. If this is really the case, it is plagiarism and fraud,” De Vaal said.
Some of the examples he highlighted were that in one place in the report it was said that an application was being made for environmental authorisation and a water-use licence, while in another there was mention of a waste management licence.
According to him the report also stated that there were five years of coal reserves, while later on it stated that there would be mining for 30 years.
He said it was also clearly stated that the mine was already operational and therefore no construction would take place while the environmental impact during the construction phase was discussed pertinently in another.
“Essential factors that must be taken into account, such as the cumulative impact of mining in the environment, are discussed only in overview without any further analysis,” he said.
De Vaal added that this was a worrying trend being noticed in more and more applications for environmental authorisation.
He said the danger was that the competent authority’s decision to grant authorisation would be based on unfounded facts if the public did not notice such defects in time and object to them.
AfriForum has already registered as an interested and affected party to stay informed throughout the application and thereby make sure that the public’s objections are based on correct facts.
“The rumours about a planned coal mine bordering the Rietvlei Nature Reserve that recently circulated on social media are simply stirring up emotions and it is not helpful to assess this issue objectively and rationally,” De Vaal said.
AfriForum encouraged the public to get involved and to also register as interested and affected parties to voice their objections.
A public participation meeting will take place on September 8 at 11am at the Pretoria Sailing Club at Rietvlei Dam.
The closing date for public comment is September 26.
Environmental groups are meanwhile up in arms about the application regarding the possibility of mining operations in the area.
They are especially concerned about the negative impact possible mining can have on the water quality at the reserve.
Pretoria News