Abstract
The eastern basin acid mine drainage short-term treatment (STT) launched in February 2017, involves a high-density sludge management system and the purpose of the treatment is to discharge improved quality of water into the Blesbokspruit, a tributary of the Vaal River in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. When the plant was launched, stakeholders became aware of changes that were made to the STT after the public consultation process of the environmental impact assessment (EIA), as required by law, involving a new sludge disposal site for which an EIA was conducted. As an emergency measure, the mine void was selected as the alternative site, without an EIA having been conducted for this site, and without knowing the potential impacts on the quality of surrounding water. This concern by some stakeholders was coupled with the fact that the neutralised water discharged into the Blesbokspruit contains high sulphate levels, which negatively impacts on the water quality. This paper explains how the water quality of the Blesbokspruit was socially constructed by stakeholders in the context of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and its treatment. Social constructionism was used as the framing for this study to explain how water is intrinsically social. What counts as truth about water varied, depending on who was talking about it, their purpose and their interests. The paper explains how these social constructions are entrenched in power relations regarding AMD and its treatment and looks at how power was used to influence decisions and to improve water quality of the Blesbokspruit.
Presenters
Suvania NaidooQuality Assurance Coordinator, Academic Quality Assurance and Enhancement Unit, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
ACID MINE DRAINAGE, SHORT-TERM TREATMENT, WATER QUALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
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