Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs said it was “appalled” by Sasol’s plans to apply for a postponement of the 2020 deadline for meeting minimum emission standards, which were promulgated in line with the Air Quality Act.
In a statement Friday, the Committee said it was opposed to Sasol’s intention to lodge postponement applications again, particularly for SO2 (sulphur dioxide) and H2S (hydrogen sulphide), where the company claims that it presently lacks credible viable solutions for dealing with these pollutants.
“The Committee had made it abundantly clear in its recent engagement with Sasol at its Secunda plant this past March that the Committee would like all South African major emitters to fully adhere to the Air Quality Act, especially in meeting the Minimum Emission Standards (MES), without any further delay,” said Chairperson, Phillemon Mapulane.
“We are of the view that Sasol would not need to apply for further postponements, if it had immediately sought to comply with the air quality legislation, insofar as meeting of the MES is concerned,” he said.
“However, sadly, the company chose to resist the legislation, or rather wished it away, Mapulane said.
He said it was only proper for the company to double its efforts in meeting the Minimum Emissions Standards.
Sasol said this past week that it would it would apply for a postponement for some of its plants to 2025 when it would be able to meet most of the new plant standards,” Moneyweb reported on Wednesday.
“The reason for postponements is in order to help us or give us time or provide the opportunity to implement the projects over a period of time,” said Sasol executive vice president for operations, Bernard Klingenberg was quoted as saying.
“The company said challenges in reducing sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide emissions could further delay compliance past 2025 and may require further reprieves”.
“There will be postponement applications again, particularly in SO2 (sulphur dioxide) and H2S (hydrogen sulphide), where today we don’t have credible viable solutions and we need to work on those,” said Klingenberg.
