FEIR for Boitshepi Landfill Site .pdf - Zitholele.co.za

134August 2010 884812 IMPACT SUMMARYThe environmental impacts for each alternative for the proposed extension with view ofclosure of the Boitshepi Waste Disposal Site have been summarised below. The followingbroad conclusions can be drawn from the impact assessment.• The current baseline environment in the study area is highly impacted upon from anenvironmental and social perspective;• The receiving environment is not of a sensitive nature with the exception of a wetlandsouth east of the site.• There are no sensitive features on site as most of the environmental aspects are alreadyhighly disturbed and therefore, the ecosystems found on site have adapted to theconditions of a waste disposal site.• The most significantly impacted baseline elements in the area are soils and landcapability, topography, terrestrial ecology, visual aesthetics, air quality, health andnuisance. These elements have already been highly impacted by the existing waste siteoperations.• During the construction phase for the extension of the site, the impacts will range fromVERY LOW to HIGH. The most significant impacts will be to air quality and health andnuisance the significance of these impacts is dependent on the preferred buffer zonealternative. Mitigation measures employed will adequately reduce the significance ofimpacts that may be sustained by the construction activities with the exception of airquality for the 0 metre buffer zone (alternative 1) as the specialist has indicated that thisis unacceptable.• During the operational phase, the impacts range from VERY LOW to HIGH. The mostsignificant impacts will be to visual aesthetics, air quality and health and nuisance.Mitigation measures together with the OMP for the site will reduce the significance of theimpacts during operations significantly;• It is important to note that all three alternatives are adjacent to each other and as suchhave the same or similar potential impacts. The alternative with the smaller footprintnaturally has a smaller impact than the other alternatives however the differences of thefootprint sizes is so small that it is hardly evident in the assessment with the exception ofsocial and health issues relating to the distance of the site from the surrounding landusers. As such the difference in ranking of the alternatives is insignificant with theexception of the 0 metre buffer (alternative 1).• From a size of impact perspective only the smaller footprint, that is Alternative 3, 100metre buffer zone would be the preferred alternative, however as mentioned thisalternative is no longer feasible as it would not accommodate the waste disposal needsof the area for the full period until the new waste disposal site is commissioned.Therefore the preferred alternative is Alternative 2 – the 50 metre buffer zone.ZITHOLELE CONSULTING