The controversial Shongweni landfill site has officially been shut down.
Operations at the site — which residents of several suburbs in the Upper Highway area west of Durban have long blamed for a noxious stench — were suspended on Tuesday.
“The Department of Environmental Affairs has‚ today 04 April 2017‚ suspended acceptance‚ treatment and disposal of waste at the EnviroServ Waste Management (PTY) Ltd Shongweni Landfill Site in eThekwini‚ KwaZulu-Natal‚ in terms of section 56 of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act‚ 2008‚” the department said in a statement.
“The suspension comes into effect within four working days of receipt of the Notice‚ and will remain in force until such time that the Department notifies EnviroServ in writing that disposal of waste may recommence and under what conditions.”
The statement said that the interventions by the company had been unsuccessful.
“There is still an unacceptably high level of landfill gases being emitted from the Shongweni landfill site‚ which the authorities have confirmed to be the source of the malodour emanating from the site.
“The decision to suspend the Waste Management Licence (WML) is therefore one of the significant steps to a permanent solution to this catastrophic situation.
“The decision comes after the company failed to comply with the provisions of the law and conditions of the Waste Management License. It is the Department’s view that there is a potential threat to human health and/or the environment resulting from the operations at the Shongweni Landfill Site.
“The Department believes that this situation should have been anticipated and remedial actions put in place long before the current state of affairs at the site‚” the statement continued.
— TMG Digital
Controversial Durban landfill will be closed by Friday
The controversial Shongweni landfill site has officially been shut down.
Operations at the site — which residents of several suburbs in the Upper Highway area west of Durban have long blamed for a noxious stench — were suspended on Tuesday.
“The Department of Environmental Affairs has‚ today 04 April 2017‚ suspended acceptance‚ treatment and disposal of waste at the EnviroServ Waste Management (PTY) Ltd Shongweni Landfill Site in eThekwini‚ KwaZulu-Natal‚ in terms of section 56 of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act‚ 2008‚” the department said in a statement.
“The suspension comes into effect within four working days of receipt of the Notice‚ and will remain in force until such time that the Department notifies EnviroServ in writing that disposal of waste may recommence and under what conditions.”
The statement said that the interventions by the company had been unsuccessful.
“There is still an unacceptably high level of landfill gases being emitted from the Shongweni landfill site‚ which the authorities have confirmed to be the source of the malodour emanating from the site.
“The decision to suspend the Waste Management Licence (WML) is therefore one of the significant steps to a permanent solution to this catastrophic situation.
“The decision comes after the company failed to comply with the provisions of the law and conditions of the Waste Management License. It is the Department’s view that there is a potential threat to human health and/or the environment resulting from the operations at the Shongweni Landfill Site.
“The Department believes that this situation should have been anticipated and remedial actions put in place long before the current state of affairs at the site‚” the statement continued.
— TMG Digital
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