OBJECTION TO TETRA4’s WATER USE LICENCE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR CLUSTER 2 EXPANSION

The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing MEJCON-SA and MACUA, submitted a formal objection on May 9, 2023, against Tetra4 (Pty) LTD's application to amend its Water Use Licence (WUL) for the Cluster 2 expansion of gas and helium production near Virginia, Free State. The objection argues that the Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) fails to adequately assess risks of groundwater contamination, radioactive waste, municipal water stress, and the compounding effects of climate change on a region critical for South African food security.

• The proposed Cluster 2 expansion involves a significant scale-up of operations, including the addition of up to 300 production wells and 400 exploratory wells, aiming to produce up to 45 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The project also requires the construction of a liquefaction plant, compressor stations, and approximately 480 km of access roads.
• The project poses a high risk to a 'sole source aquifer' that provides essential drinking and agricultural water to rural communities. The objection highlights that over 15,000 historical exploration wells exist in the area, many of which are unsealed and could serve as conduits for contaminants to migrate from deep saline aquifers into the shallow potable aquifer.
• Tetra4 is accused of failing to evaluate the radioactivity of the target geologic formations. The objection notes that the Witwatersrand formation is known to contain uranium and that helium is produced via radioactive processes, yet the IWWMP lacks radium or radioactivity measurements, leaving potential health risks like cancer from radium-226 and radium-228 unassessed.
• The IWWMP's waste management strategy is described as inadequate, specifically regarding the storage of hazardous drilling waste in open pits. The applicant has not disclosed the specific chemical properties of the rock strata in the waste, and there is a lack of detail on how wastewater is transported to evaporation ponds or treated for radioactivity before offsite disposal.
• The project's water requirements may underestimate municipal demand by omitting water for dust suppression on 480 km of roads. This is critical as the Matjhabeng municipality is experiencing a water crisis characterized by infrastructure failure and a Green Drop score for wastewater treatment that declined from 58% in 2013 to 26%.
• The objection asserts that the IWWMP ignores climate change impacts in a region designated as a climate change 'hotspot'. Specifically, a 3°C warming scenario could lead to the collapse of maize crops and make the livestock industry unviable in the Free State, which produces over 35% of South Africa's maize.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2023). OBJECTION TO TETRA4’s WATER USE LICENCE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR CLUSTER 2 EXPANSION. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-MACUA-Objection-to-Tetra4-IWWMP-9-May-2023_FINAL.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. OBJECTION TO TETRA4’s WATER USE LICENCE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR CLUSTER 2 EXPANSION. 2023. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-MACUA-Objection-to-Tetra4-IWWMP-9-May-2023_FINAL.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=OBJECTION TO TETRA4’s WATER USE LICENCE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR CLUSTER 2 EXPANSION |date=9 May 2023 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-MACUA-Objection-to-Tetra4-IWWMP-9-May-2023_FINAL.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2023objection, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{OBJECTION TO TETRA4’s WATER USE LICENCE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR CLUSTER 2 EXPANSION}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-MACUA-Objection-to-Tetra4-IWWMP-9-May-2023_FINAL.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }