The acceptance, treatment and disposal of waste at the Shongweni Landfill Site in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal has been suspended.

The landfill is operated by waste management company EnviroServ. The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) said it suspended the company’s landfill waste management licence on Tuesday in terms of section 56 of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008.

The suspension comes into effect within four working days of receipt of the notice which was issued by the department. It will remain in place until the department notifies EnviroServ in writing that the disposal of waste may recommence. This notice will also stipulate the condition under which waste disposal may continue.

“Despite many interventions implemented by EnviroServ to comply with the instructions contained in the compliance notice, 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 department said in a statement. “The decision to suspend the waste management licence is therefore one of the significant steps to a permanent solution to this catastrophic situation.”

The department explained that it took this decision as EnviroServ failed to comply with the provisions of the law and conditions of the waste management licence.

“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 DEA said. It added that it believes this situation should have been anticipated and remedial actions put in place long before the current state of affairs at the site.

In a statement, EnviroServ said: “Last week, we shared information with the DEA relating to fresh data obtained from three real-time air quality monitors recently installed in communities surrounding the Shongweni Landfill. These monitors revealed the presence of high levels of sulfur dioxide (a harmful gas with a pungent odour), a gas typically produced by combustion processes, and which does not emanate from landfill sites. This, to our knowledge, has yet to be followed up by the authorities.”

EnviroServ’s remedial action

A compliance inspection was done onsite in May 2016 and by August 2016, EnviroServ proposed remedial actions for immediate implementation in a letter to the DEA.

The department looked it over and shortly after issued EnviroServ with a letter of instruction. This letter conveyed the departments’ suggested measures.

Based on this letter, EnviroServ responded with an 11-point action plan which indicated how it would implement remedial measures.

The waste management company also told the department that the suspension of its landfill license would be unfair and inappropriate. However, the department said it “carefully and meticulously” considered all these reasons and decided to suspend the license in the interest of the environment and communities living in close proximity to the landfill.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has also formally charged EnviroServ and is expected to appear in court on 11 April 2017. Further details of the case may be obtained from the NPA.

EnviroServ said it will continue engaging and sharing information with the Upper Highway NPC and their appointed experts WSP.

“Our remediation plans as agreed-upon with the DEA remain on track to mitigate our diminishing contribution to the existing odour problem in the coming months,” it added.