Community groups in the Vaal Triangle have challenged Mittal SA to show it is serious about environmental improvements and to abandon its appeal against a condition in the record of decision (RoD) which gives conditional authorisation for the construction of two additional kilns at its Vanderbijlpark plant for increased production.

Authorisation for Mittal Steel Vanderbijlpark Steel (MSVS) to create additional production capacity of 350 000 tons per annum direct reduced iron (dri), an increase of 50% of the current capacity, is conditional upon MSVS submitting an Emission Reduction Strategy (ERS) for all operations at the Vanderbijlpark works to the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE) by 7 June 2007.

The record of decision (RoD) authorising the construction of two additional kilns for the production of dri stipulates that production of dri at the new kilns may only commence once a 56% reduction of PM10 emissions and a 42% reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions of the MSVS operations compared to the baseline in the year 2004 have been achieved. This is 75% of the emissions MSVS claims it will achieve through various planned future projects that will result in reduced overall emissions for the plant.

The condition that reductions must be achieved before the new kilns may commence production and the expansion can become a reality reflects concerns of community groups and closely follows proposals contained in extensive comments on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project which were filed by the Legal Resources Centre [1] on behalf of six environmental groups [2] in the Vaal Triangle and one national environmental NGO [3]. These comments extensively analysed and compared the MSVS plant to other similar plants in the United States, and provided evidence of MSVS being the highest industrial emitter of particulates and the third largest for sulfur dioxide in the Vaal Triangle. [4] In their comment on the EIA, the community groups specifically demanded that GDACE require MSVS to develop a comprehensive emission reduction plan, showing all proposed expansions and other projects for the plant.

Despite the fact that many of the projects that will result in the required emission reductions have already been approved by Mittal SA and are in an advanced stage of development and implementation, Mittal chose to appeal against the inclusion of the emission reduction condition in the record of decision.

The conditions contained in the RoD marks a great victory for the Vaal Triangle communities whose health, according to Setjele Mofokeng of the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance, is affected by the deteriorated air quality of the area, “The overall emissions from MSVS are a major contributor to the deteriorated air quality in the Vaal Area and the project will result in an increase of PM10 and sulfur dioxide emissions. We were also concerned about the fact that MSVS claimed that the additional emissions from the new kilns would be set off by future projects that would reduce emissions, but would not provide detail of the future projects so that we could evaluate the claim that emissions from this expansion would be off-set or that the emission reduction projects would in fact take place. MSVS cannot be allowed to expand for its own economic benefit without addressing the air pollution for which it is responsible. We are very unhappy about the fact that Mittal is appealing a condition which is there to protect the environment and our health. It makes us doubt whether they are serious about environmental management and improvement.”

Siziwe Khanyile of groundWork states that “in the conditions in the RoD, MSVS is bound to develop and commit to a comprehensive ERS and to actually implement it. We applaud GDACE for taking the bold step to include conditions that address existing pollution and that uphold the principles in our environmental laws. Polluters should not gain economic benefit from expansion of polluting industries without having to commit to significant reductions in the pollution.”

The community groups whose comments on the EIA have been vindicated by the RoD, today appealed to the CEO of Mittal SA to abandon the appeal against the progressive conditions. In a letter addressed to Mittal’s CEO, Mr Reato, the groups warn that they interpret the appeal as a resistance by Mittal SA to be bound to emission reductions in any enforceable manner, even where the reductions required are no more than what Mittal SA has publicly committed to. They question how committed Mittal SA really is to environmental improvement and to setting right the historical environmental degradation caused by MSVS and to achieving world class standards in environmental performance.

Ellen Nicol, attorney for groundWork and the community groups, says: “As a result of the declaration of the Vaal Triangle as a priority area in terms of the Air Quality Act, government must develop an air quality management plan that will address the serious air pollution problem of the area. Allowing MSVS to increase its emissions at this time would have made a mockery of the DEAT’s priority area process. The conditions in the RoD for the two additional dri kilns is a significant indication that government is serious about achieving reductions in emissions in the Vaal Triangle, and these things have to be written into legal documents and not left up to the voluntary commitment of industry.”

Foot notes:

[1] The Legal Resources Centre is an independent, client-based, non-profit public interest law clinic which uses law as an instrument of justice. It works for the development of a fully democratic society based on the principle of substantive equality, by providing free legal services for the vulnerable and marginalised, including the poor, homeless, and landless people and communities of South Africa who suffer discrimination by reason of race, class, gender, disability or by reason of social, economic, and historical circumstances. (http://www.lrc.co.za/home/)

[2] Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance, Boipatong Environmental Working Group, Steel Valley Crisis Committee, African Genesis Heritage Environmental Club, Sasolburg Air Quality Monitoring Committee and Friends of Steel Valley

[3] groundWork (www.groundwork.org.za)

[4] MSVS is the largest industrial emitter of particulates and the third largest industrial source of sulfur dioxide in the Vaal Triangle. Using available 2004 emission data, MSVS emits 8990 tons particulates per year and 23 203 tons SO2 per year. MSVS is estimated to be responsible for 20.89% of the particulate emissions from the industrial, mining and energy generation sector in the Vaal Triangle. In residential areas surrounding MSVS ambient standards for particulate matter and sulfur dioxide is regularly exceeded, with emissions from MSVS often the single source most responsible for the exceedence of the standard. A comparison of MSVS emissions to that allowed for Mittal’s plant at Burns Harbor, Indiana, USA, shows that the MSVS sinter plant emits PM10 at a proportional rate more than 5 times what is permitted of the sinter plant at the Burns Harbor facility and SO2 at a proportional rate nearly 12.4 times what is permitted at the Burns Harbor facility. The MSVS coke plant emits PM10 at a proportional rate more than 16 times what is permitted of the coke plant at the Burns Harbor facility and SO2 at a proportional rate nearly 26.9 times what is permitted at the Burns Harbor facility.