Sustainability Report 2012 - Transnet

Safety Act, 1993 and section 28 of the National EnvironmentalManagement Act, 1998; and disposed at registered landfill sites.A total of 95 710kg was removed from an area coverage of17 464m 2 . Expenditure to date is R4,1 million. The main challengethat affected sustained expenditure was the requirement to obtainwaste licences in terms of the National Environmental: Waste Act,2008. Waste licences for clean-up were obtained in March 2012from the Department of Environmental Affairs, enabling cleaningefforts to accelerate in 2012/13.Sustainability performance: Environmental dividendsIn 2011/12 Rail Engineering committed R107 million over threeyears, to cleaning up asbestos contamination at its sites, of whichR21 million was spent. In the year ahead, Rail Engineering willconduct soil analyses in Koedoespoort to determine the extent ofburied asbestos.Transnet Property will initiate an analysis and subsequentrehabilitation of the Culemborg and Kloofeind sites in theyear ahead.Hydrocarbon clean-upIn compliance with the National Environmental Management ActNo 107 of 1998, Freight Rail identified 70 areas contaminated byhydrocarbon (oil and diesel) pollution. The clean-up commenced inApril 2011 and is being rolled out over the next three years. Theclean-up involves cleaning the identified site and putting newcontrol measures in place, including absorbent mats and drip trayswhich absorb and trap the oil and diesel spillages to preventfurther pollution. Freight Rail’s budget for the clean-up isR34 million and to date, 18 sites have been rehabilitated.Rehabilitation is to be concluded in March 2013. Pipelines iscurrently cleaning-up sites in Kliprivier, Ladysmith andMagaliesburg and hopes to complete this by March 2013.Changing cartridges in the manganesedust monitoring systemScrap steel and oil recyclingPort Terminals has implemented a reverse logistics process inorder to ensure oil and scrap steel are disposed of for reuse notlandfill disposal. A total of 6 552 tons of scrap steel and 235 000litres of used oil were recycled during 2011/12.Biodiversity enhancementThe nature of Transnet’s business activities lends itself toincreased environmental exposures primarily due to the nature ofcommodities transported across Transnet’s extensive port, rail andpipeline network. Transnet aims to be a leading company forenvironmental management and compliance, and has alreadycreated several opportunities for best practice in the field ofenvironmental management.SHEQ officials at the Port ofPort ElizabethSustainability Report 201275