Basic Assessment Report - Transnet

Transnet LimitedProposed RO Plant: Port of SaldanhaFinal Basic Assessment ReportThe Final Basic Assessment (BA) Report has been updated and modified based oncomments received during the commenting period on the Draft Basic AssessmentReport. Additional or modified text is indicated in this Final BA Report as underlinedand italicised text.1 Project Overview1.1 IntroductionTransnet Limited (“Transnet”) is a State-owned Enterprise under the NationalDepartment of Public Enterprises. As the holding company behind some of SouthAfrica’s largest national transport businesses, Transnet is responsible for ensuringthat the country’s transport industries operate to world-class standards and form anintegral part of the overall economy.Transnet are legally required to suppress iron ore dust generated at the Iron OreHandling Facility in terms of the conditions of approval of the previous expansion ofthe facility (Phase 1B). Increased export volumes of iron ore, being the keycomponent of terminal operations at the Iron Ore Handling Facility at the Port ofSaldanha (refer to Locality Map in Appendix A), have resulted in the need for theidentification of measures to suppress dust generated as a result of the storage andhandling of the ore. Spraying the ore with water at key dust generation points in thehandling process is one of the most effective methods of reducing dust. Potablewater, which is currently used for dust suppression at the Port, is a scarce resourcealong the west coast of the Western Cape Province, and Transnet thus proposes toestablish a Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination plant to produce water for dustsuppression. The proposed RO plant would desalinate sea water in order tosupplement the existing municipal water supply available to the Port.In terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations contained inGovernment Notices GN R 385, GN R 386 and GN R 387, which came into force on3 July 2006 under the National Environmental Management Act No. 107, 1998(NEMA), the proposed development of an RO Plant would be subject to a BasicAssessment process, prior to a decision regarding the authorisation thereof beingtaken by the competent authority. As Transnet is a state-owned enterprise, the EIARegulations prescribe that the competent authority in this case would be the(national) Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT).Transnet has jointly appointed SRK Consulting (SRK) and PD Naidoo & Associates(Pty) Ltd (hereby referred to as the PDNA/SRK Joint Venture) as the independentEnvironmental Assessment Practitioners (EAP) to undertake the Basic Assessment, asrequired in terms of NEMA.2Prepared by the PDNA/SRK Joint Venture