Heritage Cases

The entire landfill footprint area of approximately 19 259 m2 is fenced and fitted with a gate. However, the fence has been compromised by informal waste pickers re-mining the landfill for recyclables. A weighbridge has recently been installed at the gate, but it is in the wrong position and also not operating due to a lack of electricity. There is an old caged area south of the gate (Figure 3-1), where historically waste was incinerated in a fire place. This practice has stopped now and in the future the municipality intends to utilise the area for recycling. The waste disposal process on site consists of trenching with no liners. When the trench is full, it is covered with excavated material and a new trench dug underneath where the soil was previously placed. On the southern side, a new trench has been dug to accept waste. Adjacent to this is a recently closed and capped trench which is approximately 4 metres high. Illegal mining of this area means repairing of the capping is ongoing. When there is a shortage of material for capping, it is imported from residential developments in the area. Capping is a 200mm topsoil cover. Vegetation is allowed to recover itself. The facility is currently used for the disposal of general waste, garden waste and garden rubble sourced from residents and businesses in Barkly East and surrounding areas. It is estimated in the IDP 2014, that 4.5 t/day of household waste is disposed of in the Barkly East Landfill. There are no storm water management controls in place and potentially contaminated runoff is discharged from the property on the south east corner, where it has the potential to enter a stream some 300m away. The landfill will be assessed in terms of the current impact on the environment and the current operational status of the landfill compared to the minimum requirements (Application for Operation). The impacts assessed will cover operation and decommissioning, as the site already exists and operates. The WCMR state that all general domestic waste landfills need to, as a minimum, adhere to the lining requirements for a Class B landfill as described in Regulation 636 of the WCMR. If the landfill accepts wastes that are deemed hazardous as per the information in the Annexure to the WCMR, the landfill cell that accepts this waste needs to be lined in accordance with that of a Class A landfill. For closure and capping design purposes the disposal site will be assessed using the principles contained in the 1998 DWS’ (then Department of Water Affairs and Forestry) Minimum Requirements for Waste Disposal by Landfill document.