NOTICE IN TERMS OF SECTION 28(12) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998, IN RELATION TO ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA’ S OPERATIONS AT VANDERBIJLPARK

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA), groundWork, and local community members, issued an urgent notice to the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) on 26 September 2018. The notice demands that the DEA direct ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) to remedy ongoing air, water, and soil pollution at its Vanderbijlpark operations, following the DEA's failure to act on a previous section 28(12) notice from June 2018.

• The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) alleges that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) failed to respond to a 30-day notice issued on 18 June 2018, which requested that the DEA direct ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) to prevent and remedy pollution under section 28(12) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA).
• AMSA's Vanderbijlpark operations are reported to be causing significant air pollution, including an incident on 30 July 2018 involving brown smoke and odour. While AMSA initially denied evidence of emissions, it later released a memo on 13 August 2018 citing an "upset condition" that caused "pooling of liquid iron".
• AMSA is reportedly non-compliant with its water use licence (WUL) regarding sulphate limits in stormwater discharge as of March 2018 and failed to provide required reports to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for three months.
• AMSA has failed to operationalize its Coke Oven and Clean Gas and Water Plant (COCGW) for over 7 years, with no repairs since 2011. Consequently, a July 2018 external audit indicated that AMSA is not meeting its cumulative annual sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission reduction targets and is failing to reduce fugitive emissions at waste dust discharge and transportation.
• A November 2017 Land Contamination Site Assessment Report revealed a coal tar pool several metres thick in one borehole and groundwater pollution spreading offsite, potentially affecting two people living within 1 km. Despite this, the CER claims no remediation order has been issued by the DEA.
• The CER accuses the DEA of providing contradictory information regarding records of the November 2017 Land Contamination Site Assessment Report. A DEA official stated under oath on 18 June 2018 that records of the DEA's opinions and findings did not exist, yet a DEA letter dated 7 September 2018 indicated that the department had received the report and requested a Remediation Plan.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). NOTICE IN TERMS OF SECTION 28(12) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998, IN RELATION TO ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA’ S OPERATIONS AT VANDERBIJLPARK. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CER-to-DEA-re-AMSA-s2812-followup-26-September-2018.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. NOTICE IN TERMS OF SECTION 28(12) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998, IN RELATION TO ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA’ S OPERATIONS AT VANDERBIJLPARK. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CER-to-DEA-re-AMSA-s2812-followup-26-September-2018.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=NOTICE IN TERMS OF SECTION 28(12) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998, IN RELATION TO ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA’ S OPERATIONS AT VANDERBIJLPARK |date=26 September 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CER-to-DEA-re-AMSA-s2812-followup-26-September-2018.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018notice, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{NOTICE IN TERMS OF SECTION 28(12) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998, IN RELATION TO ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA’ S OPERATIONS AT VANDERBIJLPARK}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CER-to-DEA-re-AMSA-s2812-followup-26-September-2018.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }