Public consultation opens on Walvis Bay oil waste facility

The Walvis Bay community has been invited to a public consultation meeting on a proposed hydrocarbon and oil-based mud waste treatment facility planned for Farm 38.

The meeting is slated to take place today at 14:30 at the Narraville Community Hall.

The consultation process provides Walvis Bay residents with an opportunity to seek information about the proposed facility and raise environmental, social or economic concerns before the assessment is finalised.

Excel Dynamic Solutions (Pty) Ltd, which has been appointed by LION OilTech Waste Management (Pty) Ltd to conduct the environmental assessment, is inviting residents and other interested and affected parties to participate in the consultation process.

The proposed development would include a hydrocarbon and oil-based mud incinerator, a thermal desorption unit (TDU) and associated activities on a plot within Farm 38, about 12 km southeast of the centre of Walvis Bay.

The project's background information document (BID) says the environmental and social assessment process is intended to identify potential environmental and social impacts associated with the proposed project, assess their significance and develop appropriate mitigation measures.

The proposed facility would receive hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by offshore drilling campaigns, production platforms, support vessels, ports and onshore petroleum-related activities.

Waste streams could include oil-based drilling muds, water-based drilling muds, drill cuttings, contaminated soils, oily sludge, tank-bottom sludge, waste oils, contaminated containers and spent chemicals.

The TDU would use indirect heating to separate hydrocarbons and water from contaminated solids, with the aim of recovering reusable hydrocarbons and reducing hydrocarbon concentrations in treated solids.

The facility would also include incinerators for waste that cannot be recovered or recycled, as well as wastewater treatment systems, storage tanks, laboratories, workshops and other supporting infrastructure.

Pollution risks

The BID identifies potential impacts, including air emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, noise and vibration, dust, possible soil and groundwater contamination, marine pollution risks, increased traffic and occupational health and safety risks.

At the same time, the proponent has identified potential benefits, including employment, skills transfer, local procurement and increased capacity to treat petroleum-related hazardous waste locally.

LION OilTech estimates that approximately 40 to 60 people could be employed during construction, with about 30 to 35 people employed during operations.

The BID states that project activities will only commence once an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) and all required permits have been obtained.

Public participation forms part of the assessment process, with comments and concerns raised by interested and affected parties to be considered in the ESA and environmental management plan.

Members of the public who wish to participate or receive further information can register as interested and affected parties with Excel Dynamic Solutions before 2 October.

Wesco recently commissioned Namibia’s first thermal desorption unit, which is designed to treat hydrocarbon-contaminated waste, including oil-based drilling cuttings, oily sludge and contaminated soil. 

LION OilTech’s proposal would introduce another facility using similar technology, although its proposed development would combine thermal desorption with hydrocarbon and oil-based mud incinerators, wastewater treatment and other waste-management infrastructure.