ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), a subsidiary of the global steel empire of Lakshmi Mittal, is facing allegations of violating pollution laws amid growing concerns about the impact on the population of the entire city where the company operates.
AMSA Environmental Manager Johan Hatting was summoned to the Vanderbijlpack Regional Court on June 26 on charges of violating South African Air Quality Law.
Vanderbijlpark is a city founded by the former state-owned steel company Iscor, and almost its entire population now depends on AMSA, created nearly two decades ago after Lakshmi Mittal acquired the troubled asset from the government.
“The criminal investigation was carried out following the ongoing inconsistencies found at the Vanderbijlpak site during an inspection by environmental management inspectors from the Department and the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development,” said Albi Modise, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Affairs .
For many years, authorities have monitored compliance in the ferroalloy sector. Modize said that three preliminary inspections were carried out at the site - in November 2008, October 2012 and August 2014 - followed by a number of enforcement actions.
Modise claimed that AMSA was given over ten years to make the necessary changes to comply with the law.
The area was declared a priority area in 2006 and is one of three priority areas identified nationally under the National Air Quality Law for Environmental Management due to concerns about increased pollution, Modise said.
AMSA faces fines of up to RR 15 million or imprisonment for those responsible if found guilty.
AMSA has also come under pressure from community activists in the surrounding areas who say residents have been hit not only by air pollution, but also by water and land pollution from South Africa's largest steel producer.
In July 2007, the then Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism stated that it would act against AMSA unless it makes changes within a reasonable period of time after the Department's report detailed serious environmental violations and non-compliance ArcelorMittal plant.
