The City of Cape Town (CCT) intends to upgrade the wastewater sludge handling facility at the Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) in Cape Town by replacing the existing Thermal Drying Plant (TDP) with a Biosolids Beneficiation Facility (BBF) (the “project”). The BBF will treat sludge from the WWTW as well as surrounding WWTWs to beneficiate the sludge and recover biogas (mostly methane [CH4]) and biofertilizer. The biogas will be stored on site and used to fire steam boilers and to fuel a combined heat and power (CHP) installation that will generate electricity to power the BBF and other facilities at the WWTW. A nitrogen removal plant will also be constructed to reduce the nitrogen concentration in effluent returned to the WWTW from the BBF. Transport of dewatered sludge from other WWTWs in the area will be via the existing access road to the WWTW, and will require minor realignment and upgrades in some areas.
The National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA), and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, 2014 (promulgated in terms of NEMA) warrant that listed activities require Environmental Authorisation (EA) from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). The National Environmental Management Waste Act 59 of 2008 (NEM:WA) warrants that listed waste management activities require a Waste Management Licence (WML) also from DFFE. An integrated Scoping and Environmental Impact Reporting (S&EIR, also referred to as an EIA) process is required to support an application for EA and a WML. In terms of section 21 of the National Water Act 36 of 1998 (NWA) a Water Use Authorisation (WUA) is required from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for the disturbance and/or destruction of wetlands during upgrades to the access road and construction of infrastructure associated with the BBF.
In 2020, SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (SRK) was appointed by Project Assignments (SA) (Pty) Ltd (Project Assignments), on behalf of the CCT, to undertake the S&EIR process required in terms of the NEMA, the EIA Regulations, 2014, and the NEM:WA. The Scoping Phase was concluded in November 2020; however, due to numerous changes to the project description, particularly with respect to the alignment of a new access road which was proposed after acceptance of the Scoping Report, the EIA Phase was never concluded. In 2022, SRK was appointed by JG Afrika (Pty) Ltd (JGA) to conclude the required S&EIR process.
