Local Government, Environ-mental Affairs and Development Planning

1a) How many Directives have been issued?

In respect of the Milnerton Lagoon/Diep River, the Department issued one Directive to the City, as follows:

• a Pre-Directive;
• a Directive; and
• a Modified Directive (following an appeal received from the City), by Minister Bredell.

 

b) When were they issued?

• The Pre-Directive was issued on 26 March 2020;
• The Directive was issued on 21 September 2020; and
• The Modified Directive was issued on 22 January 2021.

 

c)    What were the requirements set out by the Department for the City with regards to Milnerton?

 

       The Directive and Modified Directive contains a range of short- and long-term measures (such as capital infrastructural works that must still be implemented), as follows:

• Expedite the investigation of illicit discharge into the stormwater drainage systems and surrounding water courses, and submit a report of the City’s findings and proposed actions to prevent ongoing pollution to the Department within 60 (sixty) calendar days of receipt of the Directive; (Compliance Status: Compliant)

• Submit the revised pollution incident protocols and contingency plans for the Facility, Koeberg and Sanddrift Pump Stations to the Department’s Directorate: Pollution and Chemical Management (“D: P&CM”) for review and comment, within 30 (thirty) calendar days of receipt of this Directive, to address future incidents which may occur while the upgrade of the aforementioned facilities are in progress. (Compliance Status: Compliant).

• Update to enable the expediting of the upgrade of the Potsdam WWTW Facility, which must be completed by 31 August 2025, in order to prevent/minimise further pollution of the lower Diep River/ Milnerton Lagoon; The DEA&DP must be kept informed of the progress of the implementation of this measure in the monthly reports that are bring submitted by the City (Compliance Status: Partially compliant – future timeframe)

• Update to enable the expediting of the upgrade of the Montague Gardens Bulk Sewer Gravity Reticulation Network and screening system by 30 June 2025, in order to prevent sewer network blockages and spillages into the Theo Marais Canal; The City must indicate to the DEA&DP the measures to be undertaken to reduce the blockages as a result of foreign objects entering the sewer reticulation network within 60 Calendar days of this Appeal Directive. (Compliance Status: Partially compliant – 60 days submitted, 2025 is future dated)

• Update to enable the expediting of the upgrade of the Du Noon and Doornbach Sewer Gravity Reticulation Network (which includes plan, design, and construction of stormwater to sewer diversion/s) by 31 December 2023, in order to prevent sewer network blockages and spillages into the lower Diep River via the stormwater drainage system and the two outflow channels; The DEA&DP must be kept informed of the progress of the implementation of this measure in the monthly reports that are bring submitted by the City. (Compliance status: Partially compliant)

• Update to enable the expediting of the upgrade of the Koeberg Road Pump Station (which includes plan, design, and construction of stormwater to sewer diversion/s) to be completed 1 June 2024, in order to prevent/minimise pollution into the lower Diep River/ Milnerton Lagoon via the stormwater drainage system inlets and underground pipes; This measure falls under the Montague Gardens Bulk Sewer Upgrade project to be completed between 1 July 2022 and 1 June 2024. Progress reports on the implementation of this measure must be included in the monthly reports submitted to the DEA&DP. (Compliance Status: Partially compliant).

 

• Submit the sewer pump station audit report to the Department’s Directorate: P&CM for review and comment, within 60 (sixty) calendar days of receipt of this Directive (Compliance Status: Compliant).

• Increase frequency of refuse collection and area cleaning -  submit a plan to the Department’s Directorates Waste Management and D: P&CM for approval, within 30 (thirty) calendar days of receipt of the Directive, to address the littering and solid waste pollution occurring through wind dispersion, illegal dumping and within the stormwater drainage systems (including the lack of proper waste collection services for “back yard dwellings”) within Du Noon, Doornbach and Joe Slovo Park. The plan must include clear action deliverables, proposed budgets and adequate timeframes (Compliance Status: Compliant).

• Conduct a thorough clean-up of the sludge within the Diep River at the Final Effluent discharge point of the Facility, within 14 (fourteen) calendar days of receipt of this Directive (Compliance Status: Compliant).

• Add an additional sampling point at Final Effluent discharge point of the Facility (at the point of entry into the Diep River), in order to reflect the water quality of the final effluent entering the environment (This condition has since been relaxed based on motivation from the DWS).

• Effectively seal-off all historical outlets and underground pipes leading from the Facility (including the maturation ponds) into the Diep River, within 30 (thirty) calendar days of receipt of this Directive and provide proof to the Department within 7 (seven) calendar days after completion. (This condition has been relaxed based on the DWS authorising the City to release effluent into the reedbeds, as sealing-off of the outlet would detrimentally impact the WwTW).

• The standby generators must immediately come online in the event of a power outage, and not have 15 – 30 mins delays, and provide proof to the Department within 7 (seven) calendar days after completion (Compliance Status: Compliant).

 

• Implement measures at strategic stormwater outlets to trap all the general waste from flowing into the Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon (e.g. nets at the mouths of stormwater outlets to capture the general waste, as implemented in the Soet River Catchment), within 30 (thirty) calendar days of receipt of this Directive, and provide proof to the Department within 7 (seven) calendar days after completion. These stormwater outlets must be cleaned regularly in order to prevent blockages (This condition has been non-complaint due the City’s procurement processes, thus delaying the installation of the nets. However, the City has recently advised that a service provider has been appointed and that the nets will be installed during the month of November 2022. As such, the Compliance Status is still non-compliant).

• Submit an Estuary Management Plan for the Milnerton Lagoon, which must address improving the estuary water quality, marine and coastal ecosystem functions and the overall management of the Milnerton Lagoon Estuary, to this Department for comment and the DEFF for approval, within 60 (sixty) calendar days of receipt of the Directive (Compliance Status: Compliant).

• Continue to submit to the Department the monthly update reports on the implementation of the Action Plan (Compliance Status: Compliant).
• Continue to conduct meetings or engagements with affected groups to communicate and inform the communities along the Diep River Catchment of the City’s short-, medium and long-term actions contained in the Action Plan, and provide them with copies of the update reports (Compliance Status: Compliant).

d) What successes have been achieved to date with regards to the requirements of the latest directive?

      The City is compliant with majority of the conditions of the Modified Directive apart from those conditions for which the time frames have future dates, as indicated above. To summarise, the City is compliant with nine conditions of the Modified Directive, non-compliant with one condition, two conditions have been relaxed based on motivation from the Department of Water and Sanitation, and partially compliant with four conditions. The partially compliant conditions have been classified as such, as the timeframes to meet these conditions are future dated and thus cannot be audited.

                        Regular meetings are held with the City and the Departments’ Directorates Environmental Law Enforcement and Pollution and Chemical Management to assess the status and progress with the City’s Action Plan and the Modified