THE Department of Environment is set to issue final directives to the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) in relation to pollution from the tank farm and the manganese ore dump in the Port Elizabeth harbour.

The impending move follows years of complaints from residents of Humewood and South End about dust pollution from the ore facility, and from environmentalists and users of the port concerned about an increasingly visible slick on the harbour waters.

It follows an initial report early last year by former environment director-general Dr Chippy Olver, warning of serious pollution in the port from these two facilities, and a subsequent probe by the Green Scorpions.

Unveiled in April this year, the Green Scorpions’ report said there was pollution of surface and groundwater, soil and the marine environment, apparently caused by the tank farm. It noted also that measures to prevent air pollution, and manage wash-offs from the manganese dumps were “insufficient”.

On the back of these findings, the department issued pre-directives to the TNPA and several key tenants, notably Shell, which manages the tank farm on behalf of a group of petroleum companies. These pre-directives gave the recipient parties 30 days to “provide reasons why final directives should not be issued to them”.

Green Scorpions pollution and waste management enforcement director Frances Craigie said yesterday both TNPA and Shell had since made a number of presentations to her team.

The delay in finalising the matter is related to its seriousness and the necessary outcome of having to assimilate and consider all this new material, she said.

“We are now finalising the directives.

“Just what the directives will say must still be finalised. It appears that these two parties have taken quite a lot of the (mitigation and prevention) steps which we called for – but not all of them.”

Meanwhile, a report by CEN environmental consultants, contracted by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, has confirmed the findings in the Green Scorpions and Olver reports.

The CEN report notes that, using Water Department figures as a guideline, the maximum acceptable concentration of manganese in the harbour waters is 0,1mg/l.

“The maximum value recorded in the Port Elizabeth harbour (16,8mg/l) is ... far higher than this.” CEN also called for a review by the authorities of the acceptability of expanding the manganese facility from a capacity of 460000 tons to 4,2 megatons – without first doing an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The public participation component of an EIA was particularly important in this case, it said.

“The provincial Economic Development and Environmental Affairs Department must urgently ... determine whether an EIA is required for the current upgrade and, if it is, all activities on site should immediately be stopped,” it said.

CEN called for the urgent introduction of an air quality monitoring system to improve quantitative data and help determine the effect of the manganese dump dust pollution on residents’ lungs.

However, it “proves the tank farm is causing pollution in excess of national and international water quality guidelines”.

This data includes findings that tanks are over-filled, that they are on average 45 years old, 10 years older than the acceptable life span. and that the jet-fuel pipeline to the airport failed seismic tests.

It includes data which shows that the floors of the tanks are “built with paving stones” and are not impervious to leakage.

It highlights the point from Olver’s report, that “the end result of leakage will be that the fuel ends up in the harbour”.