BAOBAB TETE IRON ORE PROJECT, MOZAMBIQUE AIR QUALITY … Tete Iron Ore ENGLISH... · 2017. 6....

BAOBAB TETE IRON ORE PROJECT, MOZAMBIQUE

AIR QUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Prepared for:

Prepared by:

Coastal & Environmental Services Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd

P.O. Box 934

Grahamstown

6140

South Africa

MAPUTO

Neighbourhood Jardim,

Street do Jardim N.112, second floor

left.

+258 82 413 6038

Mozambique

P.O. Box 5260

Halfway House

1685

South Africa

2015

Air Quality Impact Assessment – October 2015

Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd i Tete Iron Ore Project

REPORT DETAILS

Report Title Baobab Tete Iron Ore Project | Air Quality Impact Assessment

Client Coastal & Environmental Services

Report Number 14CES02-02

Report Version Final Rev1

Date September 2015

Prepared by Natasha Shackleton, BSc Hons (Meteorology) (University of Pretoria)

Nicolette von Reiche, BEng Hons (Mech.) (University of Pretoria)

Notice

Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd is a consulting company located in Midrand, South Africa, specialising in all aspects of air quality, ranging from nearby neighbourhood concerns to regional air pollution impacts as well as noise impact assessments. The company originated in 1990 as Environmental Management Services, which amalgamated with its sister company, Matrix Environmental Consultants, in 2003.

Declaration Airshed is an independent consulting firm with no interest in the project other than to fulfil the contract between the client and the consultant for delivery of specialised services as stipulated in the terms of reference.

Copyright Warning

Unless otherwise noted, the copyright in all text and other matter (including the manner of presentation) is the exclusive property of Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd. It is a criminal offence to reproduce and/or use, without written consent, any matter, technical procedure and/or technique contained in this document.

REVISION RECORD

Version Date Section(s) Revised

Summary Description of Revision(s)

Final Rev1

October 2015

Final Rev2

October 2015

Section 5 Addition of O3 and haul route impacts

Final Rev3

November 2015

Section 5 Updated plots which exclude steel plant

infrastructure


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd ii Tete Iron Ore Project

AUTHORS Natasha Shackleton (nee Gresse) (Senior Air Quality Consultant) Natasha holds a BSc Honours degree in Meteorology and a BSc degree from the University of Pretoria. She is currently employed at Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd as a Senior Air Quality Consultant. Natasha's main focus is air quality impact studies. She has been an Air Quality Consultant for approximately 4 years and as such has been focused primarily on air quality management and impact assessment. Natasha has worked on air quality impact assessments and management plans in South Africa, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Madagascar. Nicolette von Reiche (nee Krause) (Principal Consultant) Nicolette holds a BEng Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering (Advance Heat and Mass Transfer, Advanced Fluid Mechanics, Numerical Thermo-flow, and Tribology) and a BEng Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria. She is currently employed at Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd as a Principal Consultant. Nicolette's main focuses are air quality and noise impact studies. She has over 9 years of experience in air quality and noise impact assessment and management. She has successfully completed air quality and noise impact assessments and management plans for projects in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Malawi, Angola, Nigeria and Suriname.


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd iii Tete Iron Ore Project

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The proposed Tete Iron Ore Project (TIOP) will be situated in Tete Province, Mozambique. The TIOP will consist of an opencast mine, beneficiation and smelting plant, steel plant and vanadium plant. Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd (Airshed) was appointed EOH Coastal and Environmental Services (CES) to conduct an air quality specialist study for the mine, beneficiation, vanadium and smelter plants for the TIOP. The main objective of the air quality study was to determine potential air quality related impacts associated with the proposed TIOP on the surrounding environment and human health. As is typical of an air quality impact assessment, the study included: a review of proposed project activities in order to identify sources of emissions and associated pollutants emitted; a study of regulatory requirements and health thresholds for identified key pollutants; a study of the receiving environment in the vicinity of the project; the compilation of a comprehensive emissions inventory for the operational phase of the project, atmospheric dispersion modelling to simulate ambient air pollutant concentrations and dustfall rates as a result of the TIOP, a screening assessment to determine compliance with air quality criteria; and the compilation of a comprehensive air quality specialist report detailing the study approach, limitations, assumption, results and recommendations of mitigation and management of air quality impacts. Pollutants included in the assessment are particulate matter (PM), diesel particulate matter (DPM), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Impacts associated with emissions were quantified, taking into account: unmitigated operations; mitigation measures that form part of the TIOP design; as well as emissions after additional mitigation. The main conclusion is that the proposed TIOP operations are not likely to result in exceedences of the selected criteria for PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO, DPM and VOCs at surrounding sensitive receptors. There are likely to be exceedences of the hourly Mozambican Ambient Air Quality Standards (AAQS) for NO2 outside the project boundary. There is the possibility of exceedences of the selected criteria outside the project boundary and at sensitive receptors on a cumulative basis of existing sources and the TIOP project. With water sprays in combination with chemicals on unpaved roads, waters sprays at drill rigs, crushers, screens, materials handling points and the waste rock dump (WRD) and tailings storage facility (TSF), adherence to international emission limits for vehicle exhaust, ambient pollutant concentrations as a result of the TIOP will reduce, and cumulative pollutant concentrations are more likely to be at levels within air quality criteria. The environmental significance of the project operations is moderate without mitigation applied; and, low with design and additional mitigation applied. Recommendations include:

Water sprays with chemical suppressants on unpaved road surfaces;

Water sprays at the drill rig, crushers, screens, materials handling points, WRD and TSF;

Compliance with emission standards for industrial diesel vehicles;

Vehicle exhaust emission testing as part of an inspection and maintenance program;

Diesel particulate filters (DPFs) on vehicles;

Dustfall as well as ambient PM10 and PM2.5 sampling; and

The installation of a meteorological station.


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd iv Tete Iron Ore Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Scope of Work ........................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Description of Project Activities from an Air Quality Perspective ............................. 1 1.4 Report Structure ..................................................................................................... 3

2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 4 2.1 The assessment ..................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Assumptions, Exclusions and Limitations ................................................................ 5 2.3 Impact Assessment Methodology ........................................................................... 6

3 REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA .............................................. 9 3.1 Ambient Air Quality Standards for Criteria Pollutants .............................................. 9 3.2 Inhalation Health Criteria and Unit Risk Factors for Non-criteria Pollutants ........... 12 3.3 Dust Control Regulations ...................................................................................... 13 3.4 Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change ................................................... 14 3.5 Adopted Evaluation Criteria for the TIOP .............................................................. 14

4 DESCRIPTION OF THE RECEIVING/BASELINE ENVIRONMENT ............................................. 16 4.1 Air Quality Sensitive Receptors ............................................................................. 16 4.2 Atmospheric Dispersion Potential ......................................................................... 17 4.3 Existing Sources of Air Pollution in the Area ......................................................... 23 4.4 Status Quo Ambient Air Quality ............................................................................. 25

5 EMISSIONS AND MODELLING RESULTS............................................................................ 27 5.1 Atmospheric Emissions ......................................................................................... 27 5.2 Screening of Simulated Human Health Impacts (Incremental and Cumulative) ..... 38 5.3 Analysis of Emissions‟ Impact on the Environment (Dustfall) (Incremental and Cumulative) ..................................................................................................................... 56

6 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS ............................................................................................. 60 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 60 6.2 Existing Land Use ................................................................................................. 60 6.3 Construction Phase ............................................................................................... 60 6.4 Operational Phase ................................................................................................ 61 6.5 Decommissioning Phase....................................................................................... 62

7 RECOMMENDED AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT MEASURES ................................................ 63 7.1 Air Quality Management Objectives ...................................................................... 63 7.2 Source Ranking .................................................................................................... 63 7.3 Source Specific Recommended Management and Mitigation Measures ............... 64 7.4 Performance Indicators ......................................................................................... 69 7.5 Monitoring ............................................................................................................. 70 7.6 Record-keeping, Environmental Reporting and Community Liaison ...................... 72

8 RESIDUAL AIR QUALITY IMPACTS ................................................................................... 73 8.1 Additionally Mitigated Atmospheric Emissions ...................................................... 73 8.2 Screening of Simulated Additionally Mitigated Human Health Impacts .................. 74 8.3 Analysis of Additionally Mitigated Emissions‟ Impact on the Environment (Dustfall) 82 8.4 Impact Significance Rating .................................................................................... 82

9 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 83 9.1 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 83 9.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................ 83

10 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 84 11 APPENDIX 1 – EMISSION QUANTIFICATION METHODOLOGY .......................................... 86

11.1 Fugitive Dust Emission Estimation ........................................................................ 86 11.2 Vehicle Exhausts .................................................................................................. 91

12 APPENDIX 2 - DESCRIPTION OF SUITABLE POLLUTION ABATEMENT MEASURES ....................................................................................................................... 93


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd v Tete Iron Ore Project

12.1 General ................................................................................................................. 93 12.2 Vehicle Entrainment Dust from Unpaved Roads ................................................... 93 12.3 Crushing ............................................................................................................... 94 12.4 Materials handling ................................................................................................. 94 12.5 Vehicle exhaust emissions .................................................................................... 95

13 APPENDIX 3 – CURRICULUM VITAE ............................................................................. 97 14 APPENDIX 4 – DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ...................................................... 100


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd vi Tete Iron Ore Project

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Air emissions and pollutants associated with the opencast mining .......................... 2 Table 2: Air emissions and pollutants associated with beneficiation plant ............................. 2 Table 3: Air emissions and pollutants associated with smelter and vanadium plant .............. 2 Table 4: Ranking of evaluation criteria .................................................................................. 7 Table 5: Matrix used to determine the overall significance of the impact based on the likelihood and effect of the impact ......................................................................................... 8 Table 6: Description of Environmental Significance Ratings and associated range of scores 8 Table 7: Mozambican national ambient air quality standards (Decree no. 18/2004 and Decree no. 67/2010) ............................................................................................................. 9 Table 8: Mozambican standards emission for pollutants by industries (Decree no. 18/2004 and Decree no. 67/2010) ...................................................................................................... 9 Table 9: International assessment criteria for criteria pollutants .......................................... 11 Table 10: Chronic and acute inhalation screening criteria and cancer unit risk factors ........ 12 Table 11: Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (as applied by New York Department of Health) .... 12 Table 12: Bands of dustfall rates proposed for adoption (Botswana) ................................... 13 Table 13: South African National Dust Control Regulations ................................................ 14 Table 14: Proposed evaluation criteria for the TIOP ............................................................ 14 Table 15: Description and location of points of interest near TIOP ...................................... 16 Table 16: Minimum, maximum and average temperatures (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) ........ 22 Table 17: Monthly rainfall for TIOP (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) ............................................ 22 Table 18: Mines within Mozambique ................................................................................... 24 Table 19: Typical fugitive dust impacts and associated activities during construction of the TIOP‟s infrastructure ........................................................................................................... 27 Table 20: Emissions from unmitigated and mitigated construction activities ........................ 28 Table 21: Summary of estimated gaseous emission rates for the proposed operational phase ........................................................................................................................................... 31 Table 22: Activities, aspects and their associated assumptions for the proposed operations at TIOP ............................................................................................................................... 32 Table 23: Summary of estimated particulate emission rates for the proposed operational phase .................................................................................................................................. 36 Table 24: Activities and aspects identified for the closure phase of operations.................... 38 Table 25: Increased lifetime cancer risk at AQSRs for unmitigated operations .................... 52 Table 26: Air Quality Management Plan: construction phase of the proposed TIOP ............ 65 Table 27: Air Quality Management Plan: operational phase of the proposed TIOP mine ..... 66 Table 28: Air Quality Management Plan: decommissioning and closure phase (rehabilitation activities) for the proposed TIOP ......................................................................................... 68 Table 29: Mitigation measures recommended and accounted for in the residual air quality impact assessment ............................................................................................................. 73 Table 30: Summary of estimated particulate emission rates for the proposed additionally mitigated operational phase ................................................................................................ 73 Table 31: Increased lifetime cancer risk at AQSRs for additionally mitigated operations (vehicle exhausts with DPFs) .............................................................................................. 81 Table 32: The TIOP‟s incremental impact significance ........................................................ 82 Table 33: Emission factors for metallic minerals crushing and screening ............................ 87 Table 34: Vehicle exhaust emission factors ........................................................................ 92


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd vii Tete Iron Ore Project

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Location of the proposed TIOP and nearby villages ............................................... 1 Figure 2: TIOP layout ............................................................................................................ 2 Figure 3: Nearby AQSRs .................................................................................................... 16 Figure 4: Topography of study area .................................................................................... 18 Figure 5: Period average wind rose (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) ........................................... 19 Figure 6: Day-time and night-time wind roses (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) ............................ 19 Figure 7: Seasonal wind roses (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) .................................................. 20 Figure 8: Sub-seasonal wind roses (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) ............................................ 21 Figure 9: Diurnal monthly average temperature profile (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) .............. 22 Figure 10: Diurnal atmospheric stability (MM5 Data, 2011 - 2013) ...................................... 23 Figure 11: Unmitigated operational phase - Frequency of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for daily average PM2.5 concentrations ..................................................................................... 41 Figure 12: Unmitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM2.5 concentrations ............................................................................................. 42 Figure 13: Mitigated operational phase - Frequency of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for daily average PM2.5 concentrations ............................................................................................. 43 Figure 14: Mitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM2.5 concentrations ............................................................................................. 44 Figure 15: Unmitigated operational phase - Frequency of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for daily average PM10 concentrations ...................................................................................... 46 Figure 16: Unmitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM10 concentrations .............................................................................................. 47 Figure 17: Cumulative unmitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM10 concentrations ............................................................................. 48 Figure 18: Design mitigated operational phase - Frequency of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 and SA NAAQS for daily average PM10 concentrations ....................................................... 49 Figure 19: Design mitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM10 concentrations .................................................................................. 50 Figure 20: Cumulative design mitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM10 concentrations ...................................................................... 51 Figure 21: Unmitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the Mozambican AAQS for hourly NO2 concentrations ............................................................................................. 54 Figure 22: Unmitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the Mozambican AAQS for annual average NO2 concentrations ............................................................................... 55 Figure 23: Predicted unmitigated daily dustfall rates (SA NDCR and Botswana residential limit is 600 mg/m²/day) ........................................................................................................ 58 Figure 24: Predicted mitigated daily dustfall rates (SA NDCR and Botswana residential limit is 600 mg/m²/day) ............................................................................................................... 59 Figure 25: Proposed monitoring network for the proposed operations at the TIOP .............. 71 Figure 26: Additionally mitigated operational phase - Frequency of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for daily average PM2.5 concentrations ......................................................................... 75 Figure 27: Additionally mitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM2.5 concentrations ............................................................................. 76 Figure 28: Additionally mitigated operational phase - Frequency of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for daily average PM10 concentrations ......................................................................... 78 Figure 29: Additionally mitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM10 concentrations ............................................................................. 79 Figure 30: Cumulative additionally mitigated operational phase - Area of exceedance of the WHO IT-3 for annual average PM10 concentrations............................................................. 80 Figure 31: Relationship between particle sizes and threshold friction velocities using the calculation method proposed by Marticorena and Bergametti (1995) .................................. 90 Figure 32: Contours of normalised surface wind speeds (i.e. surface wind speed/ approach wind speed) (after US EPA, 1996) ...................................................................................... 91


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd viii Tete Iron Ore Project

Figure 33: Relationship between the moisture content of the material handled and the dust control efficiency (calculated based on the US-EPA predictive emission factor equation for continuous and batch drop operations) ............................................................................... 95


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd ix Tete Iron Ore Project

GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS

Airshed Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd

AMS American Meteorological Society

AQG(s) Air Quality Guideline(s)

AQSR(s) Air Quality Sensitive Receptor(s)

ASG Atmospheric Studies Group

ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials

Baobab Baobab Resources Plc

CALEPA California Environmental Protection Agency

Capitol Capitol Resources Limitada

CES EOH Coastal and Environmental Services

CE Control Efficiency

CPVs Cancer Potency Values

DEA Department of Environmental Affairs

DEAT Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

DPF(s) Diesel Particulate Filter(s)

EC European Community

EHS Environmental, Health and Safety

EMS Environmental Management Systems

FOE Frequency of Exceedence

GIIP Good International Industry Practice

GLC(s) Ground Level Concentration(s)

GLCC Global Land Cover Characterisation

I&APs Interested and Affected Parties

IFC International Finance Corporation

IRIS Integrated Risk Information System

IT Interim Target

LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas

mamsl Meters above mean sea level

MEI Maximally Exposed Individual

MM5 Fifth-Generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model

Mtpa Million tonnes per annum

NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standard(s)

NCAR National Centre for Atmospheric Research

NDCR(s) National Dust Control Regulation(s)

NEM:AQA National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 2004

NPI National Pollutant Inventory

PM Particulate Matter

RELs Reference Exposure Levels


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd x Tete Iron Ore Project

RfC Reference Concentration

RoM Run of Mine

SA South African

SABS South African Bureau of Standards

SANS South African National Standards

SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

STCF Short Term Climate Forcers

TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

TIOP Tete Iron Ore Project

tpa Tonnes per annum

TSF Tailings Storage Facility

TSP Total Suspended Particulates

URFs Unit Risk Factors

US EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency

USGS United States Geological Survey

VKT Vehicle Kilometers Travelled

WB World Bank

WBG World Bank Group

WHO World Health Organisation

WRD Waste Rock Dump


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd xi Tete Iron Ore Project

GLOSSARY

Air pollution(a)

The presence of substances in the atmosphere, particularly those that do not occur naturally

Dispersion(a)

The spreading of atmospheric constituents, such as air pollutants

Dust(a)

Solid materials suspended in the atmosphere in the form of small irregular particles, many of which are microscopic in size

Instability(a)

A property of the steady state of a system such that certain disturbances or perturbations introduced into the steady state will increase in magnitude, the maximum perturbation amplitude always remaining larger than the initial amplitude

Mechanical mixing

(a)

Any mixing process that utilizes the kinetic energy of relative fluid motion

Oxides of nitrogen (NOx)

The sum of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) expressed as nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

Particulate matter (PM)

Total particulate matter, that is solid matter contained in the gas stream in the solid state as well as insoluble and soluble solid matter contained in entrained droplets in the gas stream

PM2.5 Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 µm

PM10 Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 µm

Stability(a)

The characteristic of a system if sufficiently small disturbances have only small effects, either decreasing in amplitude or oscillating periodically; it is asymptotically stable if the effect of small disturbances vanishes for long time periods

Notes:

(a) Definition from American Meteorological Society‟s glossary of meteorology (AMS, 2014)


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd xii Tete Iron Ore Project

SYMBOLS AND UNITS

°C Degree Celsius

C Carbon

CH4 Methane

C6H6 Benzene

CO Carbon monoxide

CO2 Carbon dioxide

DPM Diesel particulate matter

g Gram(s)

HC(s) Hydrocarbon(s)

H2S Hydrogen sulfide

kg Kilograms

1 kilogram 1 000 grams

kg/l Kilogram(s) per litre

km Kilometre(s)

km² Square kilometre(s)

m Meter(s)

m² Square meter(s)

m/s Meters per second

µg 1x10−6

grams

µg/m³ Micrograms per square meter

mg 0.001 grams

mg/m²/day Milligrams per square meter per day

m² Square meter

mm Millimetres

Mtpa 1 000 000 tonnes

N2O Nitrous oxide

NO Nitrogen oxide

NO2 Nitrogen dioxide

NOx Oxides of nitrogen

O3 Ozone

PAH Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Pb Lead

PM2.5 Inhalable particulate matter

PM10 Thoracic particulate matter

SO2 Sulphur dioxide

1 ton 1 000 000 grams

VOC(s) Volatile organic compound(s)


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd 1 Tete Iron Ore Project

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Capitol Resources Limitada (Capitol), a subsidiary of Baobab Resources Plc (Baobab) proposes to develop the Tete Iron Project (TIOP). The project will be located in Mozambique in Tete Province in the Chiúta and Moatize districts. The project will be located approximately 50 km north of Tete Town and there are numerous villages surrounding the project area (Figure 1). Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd (Airshed) was appointed by EOH Coastal and Environmental Services (CES) to conduct an air specialist study for the proposed TIOP (mining, beneficiation, vanadium and smelter plants). The main objective of the air quality study was to determine potential air quality related impacts associated with the proposed TIOP on the surrounding environment and human health. 1.2 Scope of Work As is typical of an air quality impact assessment, the following tasks were included in the study:

A review of proposed project activities in order to identify sources of emissions and associated pollutants emitted.

A study of regulatory requirements and health thresholds for identified key pollutants against which compliance needs to be assessed and health risks screened.

A study of the receiving environment in the vicinity of the project; including: o The identification of potential air quality sensitive receptors (AQSRs); o A study of the atmospheric dispersion potential of the area taking into

consideration local meteorology, land-use and topography; and o The analysis of all available ambient air quality information/data to determine

pre-development ambient pollutant levels and dustfall rates.

The compilation of a comprehensive emissions inventory which included: o Fugitive dust emissions from operational phase activities; o Combustion emissions (particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants)

during the operational phase;

Atmospheric dispersion modelling to simulate ambient air pollutant concentrations and dustfall rates as a result of the project.

A screening assessment to determine: o Compliance of priority pollutants with ambient air quality standards; o Potential health risks as a result of exposure to non-priority pollutants; and o Nuisance dustfall

The compilation of a comprehensive air quality specialist report detailing the study approach, limitations, assumption, results and recommendations of mitigation and management of air quality impacts.

1.3 Description of Project Activities from an Air Quality Perspective The layout for the TIOP is shown in Figure 2. The TIOP will consist of an opencast mine, beneficiation and smelting plant, steel plant and vanadium plant. The mining includes the removal of waste rock and ore, loading of ore and waste rock onto haul trucks, transportation of ore and waste along unpaved roads to the run of mine (RoM) pad and waste rock dump (WRD). The operations at the beneficiation plant include reclaiming and conveying of ore, the crushing, screening and processing of ore.



Figure 1: Location of the proposed TIOP and nearby villages



Figure 2: TIOP layout



For the opencast mine large hydraulic excavators will be used to mine the ore and waste rock. The waste rock will then be transported with haul trucks to the waste rock dump. The ore will be tipped into haul trucks and hauled to the RoM stockpile at the RoM pad. The RoM ore will then be transported via conveyor to the beneficiation plant. At the beneficiation plant the ore will be fed to crushers. The crushed ore will be sent through screens before being fed to the processing plant. Screening will be followed by wet process steps, unlikely to result in atmospheric emissions. The product will be stockpiled at the plant then transported via conveyor to the smelting facilities. The dry tailings will be stockpiled at the plant and then transported via trucks to the tailings storage facility (TSF). At the smelting plant, ore is heated, smelted, reheated and cast. At the vanadium plant, vanadium is recovered from Fe/V. Product will be transported via a dedicated haul route to the storage warehouse near the junction at the EN103. Only the on-site portion of this haul route has been modelled in this study. Impacts along the on-site portion of the haul road are low and this is likely to be the same throughout the entire route. The opencast mining broadly encompasses the following unit operating processes that may result in atmospheric emissions:

drilling and blasting of ore and waste rock;

excavation or ore and waste rock;

ore and waste rock transportation;

ore and waste rock stockpiling and handling; and,

erosion of stockpiles, WRD and TSF. The beneficiation plant operations broadly encompass the following unit operating processes that may result in atmospheric emissions:

crushing and screening of ore;

processing of ore;

concentrate handling and transportation; and

erosion of stockpiles. The smelter and vanadium plant operations broadly encompass the following unit operating processes that may result in atmospheric emissions:

rotary kilns;

smelter;

co-generation;

pig iron casting; and

vanadium recovery ladle. The potential air emissions that may result from the operations are dependent on the nature of the source material itself (Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3). Ozone (O3) is a pollutant that may potentially be emitted by vehicles, smelter and vanadium plants. O3 is formed as a result of chemical reactions between oxygen (O2) and VOCs or NOx. Due to the limited information on O3 formation related to the sources discussed below it has not been included in the tables.



Table 1: Air emissions and pollutants associated with the opencast mining

Details Activities Pollutants

Drilling and blasting of ore

and waste rock at pit

Drilling and blasting operations Mainly TSP, particulate matter

with an aerodynamic diameter of

less than 10 µm (PM10) and

particulate matter with an

aerodynamic diameter of less

than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), but blasting

emissions including oxides of

nitrogen (NOx), carbon dioxide

(CO2), carbon monoxide (CO),

sulphur dioxide (SO2), methane

(CH4), hydrogen sulphide (H2S)

and particulates

Excavation of ore and

waste rock at pit

Excavation TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

Ore and waste rock

transport along in-pit and

on-site haul roads

Wheel entrainment and exhaust

gas

Mainly TSP, PM10 and PM2.5, but

vehicle tailpipe emissions

including NOx, CO2, CO, SO2,

CH4, nitrous oxide (N2O), volatile

organic compounds (VOCs) and

particulates

Ore and waste rock transfer

in-pit, at dump and at the

RoM pad

Offloading, reclaiming and other

tipping operations

TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

Ore and waste rock storage Wind erosion TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

Table 2: Air emissions and pollutants associated with beneficiation plant


Crushers and screens Primary, secondary and tertiary

crushing and screening

TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

Ore at the plant Conveyer transfer operations TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

Concentrate loading and

transport

Tipping operations

Wheel entrainment and exhaust

gas

Mainly TSP, PM10 and PM2.5, but

vehicle tailpipe emissions

including NOx, CO2, CO, SO2,

CH4, N2O, VOCs and particulates

Crushed ore, concentrate

and tailings storage

Stacking and reclaiming

Wind erosion

TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

Table 3: Air emissions and pollutants associated with smelter and vanadium plant


Rotary kilns Direct reduction of magnetic

concentrate with limestone to

produce direct reduced iron (DRI)

TSP, PM10 and PM2.5, NOx, CO2,

CO, SO2, CH4 and N2O.

Smelter Conveyer transfer operations TSP, PM10 and PM2.5




Co-generation Power generation using off-gas TSP, PM10 and PM2.5, NOx, CO2,


Pig iron casting Reheating and pig iron casting TSP, PM10 and PM2.5, NOx, CO2,


Vanadium recovery ladle Vanadium recovery TSP, PM10 and PM2.5

1.4 Report Structure

This report is structured as follows:

Section 1 An introduction to the study including a description of the project and the scope of work.

Section 2 A detailed description of the study methodology is given in this section along with all limitations and assumptions relevant to it.

Section 3 A summary of applicable environmental air quality guidelines is presented.

Section 4 A description of the receiving environment is given. It addresses AQSRs, dispersion potential as well as baseline air quality.

Section 5 Emissions and modelling results should proposed mitigation measures be applied.

Section 6 The assessment of air quality impacts.

Section 7 Air quality impacts should additional mitigation measures be applied to certain sources.

Section 8 Recommendations of management and monitoring are provided.

Section 9 Conclusions and Recommendations

Section 10 References

Appendix 1 Includes emission quantification methodology.

Appendix 2 Includes a detailed description of suitable pollution abatement measures.

Appendix 3 Includes the Curriculum Vitae of specialist involved in the study.

Appendix 4 Declaration of independence.



2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 The assessment The approach to, and methodology followed in the completion of tasks completed as part of the scope of work are discussed in this section. 2.1.1 Project Information and Activity Review All project/process related information referred to in this study was provided by CES. 2.1.2 The Identification of Regulatory Requirements and Health Thresholds In the evaluation of ambient air quality impacts and dustfall rates reference was made to:

Mozambican air quality criteria (Decree no. 18/2004, of 2 June 2004 and Decree no. 67/2010);

World Health Organisation (WHO) ambient air quality criteria referred to by the World Bank Group (WBG) International Finance Corporation (IFC);

South African National Ambient Air Quality Standards (SA NAAQS) as set out in the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (Act No. 39 of 2004) (NEM:AQA) and National Dust Control Regulations (SA NDCR); and,

Health risk screening levels for non-criteria pollutants published by the various internationally recognised regulatory authorities.

2.1.3 Study of the Receiving Environment Physical environmental parameters that influence the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere include terrain, land cover and meteorology. Existing pre-development ambient air quality in the study area is also considered. Readily available terrain and land cover data was obtained from the Atmospheric Studies Group (ASG) via the United States Geological Survey (USGS) web site (ASG, 2011). Use was made of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) (90 m, 3 arc-sec) data and Global Land Cover Characterisation (GLCC) data for Africa. An understanding of the atmospheric dispersion potential of the area is essential to an air quality impact assessment. In the absence of on-site meteorological data (which is required for atmospheric dispersion modelling), use was made of simulated data for a period between 2011 and 2013. The MM5 (short for Fifth-Generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model) is a regional mesoscale model used for creating weather forecasts and climate projections. It is a community model maintained by Penn State University and the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). 2.1.4 Determining the Impact of the Project on the Receiving Environment The establishment of a comprehensive emission inventory formed the basis for the assessment of the air quality impacts from the Project‟s emissions on the receiving environment. In the quantification of emissions, use was made of emission factors which associate the quantity of a pollutant to the activity associated with the release of that pollutant. Emissions were calculated using emission factors and equations such as those published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and Australian Environment in their National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) Emission Estimation Technique Manuals (EETMs).



In the simulation of ambient air pollutant concentrations and dustfall rates use was made of the US EPA AERMOD atmospheric dispersion modelling suite. AERMOD is a Gaussian plume model best used for near-field applications where the steady-state meteorology assumption is most likely to apply. AERMOD is a model developed with the support of the AMS/EPA Regulatory Model Improvement Committee (AERMIC), whose objective has been to include state-of the-art science in regulatory models (Hanna, Egan, Purdum, & Wagler, 1999). AERMOD is a dispersion modelling system with three components, namely: AERMOD (AERMIC dispersion model), AERMAP (AERMOD terrain pre-processor), and AERMET (AERMOD meteorological pre-processor). 2.1.5 Compliance Assessment and Health Risk Screening Compliance was assessed by comparing simulated ambient criteria pollutant concentrations (CO, NO2, PM2.5, PM10 and SO2) and dustfall rates to selected ambient air quality and dustfall criteria. Health risk screening was done through the comparison of simulated non-criteria pollutant concentrations (diesel particulate matter (DPM) and VOCs) to selected inhalation screening levels. 2.1.6 The Development of an Air Quality Management Plan The findings of the above components informed recommendations of air quality management measures, including mitigation and monitoring. 2.2 Assumptions, Exclusions and Limitations A number of assumptions had to be made resulting in certain limitations associated with the results. The most important assumptions and limitations of the air quality impact assessment are:

Emissions were based on the process description and layout plan as provided by CES.

This study only considered atmospheric emissions and impacts associated with the mining, beneficiation, smelter and vanadium plants for the TIOP and not the other operations that may, in future, be located within the area.

No site specific particle size fraction, moisture or silt content data were available for various sources and use was made of US EPA default values and values from similar operations in southern Africa.

Only routine emissions for the proposed operations were simulated. Blasting was accounted for in the modelling, simulated as if operational for 1 hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All other operations will be continuous.

Dispersion models do not contain all the features of a real environmental system but contain the feature of interest for the management issue or scientific problem to be solved (MFE, 2001). Gaussian plume models are generally regarded to have an uncertainty range between -50% to 200%. It has generally been found that the accuracy of off-the-shelf dispersion models improve with increased averaging periods. The accurate prediction of instantaneous peaks are the most difficult and are normally performed with more complicated dispersion models specifically fine-tuned and validated for the location. The duration of these short-term, peak concentrations are often only for a few minutes and on-site meteorological data are then essential.

The AERMOD cannot compute real time processes; average process throughputs were therefore used, even though the nature of operations may change over the life of operations.

Gaseous emissions would result from vehicles, diesel generators and blasting. Emission rates for combustion sources are dependent on the amount of fuel used and for the vehicle emissions the type and size of vehicles used. Only the fuel use



amount for vehicles was supplied and thus only vehicle exhaust emissions were estimated and modelled.

Generator will be a standby generator for emergencies only thus will not be continuously emitting like vehicle exhausts. They will be consequential only when operational.

Nitrogen monoxide (NO) is rapidly converted in the atmosphere into the much more toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The rate of this conversion process is determined by the rate of the physical processes of dispersion and mixing of the plume and the chemical reaction rates as well as the local atmospheric ozone concentration. 20% of NOx emissions from vehicle exhaust were assumed to be to NO2 (Howard, 1988).

The estimation of greenhouse gases did not form part of the scope of this study.

The construction, decommissioning and closure phases are assessed qualitatively. It was assumed that all processing operations will have ceased by the closure phase. The potential for impacts during this phase will depend on the extent of demolition and rehabilitation efforts during closure and on features which will remain. Information regarding the extent of demolition and/or rehabilitation procedures were limited and therefore not included in the emissions inventory or the dispersion modelling.

2.3 Impact Assessment Methodology Five factors need to be considered when assessing the significance of impacts, namely:

1. Relationship of the impact to temporal scales - the temporal scale defines the significance of the impact at various time scales, as an indication of the duration of the impact.

2. Relationship of the impact to spatial scales - the spatial scale defines the physical

extent of the impact. 3. The severity of the impact - the severity/beneficial scale is used in order to

scientifically evaluate how severe negative impacts would be, or how beneficial positive impacts would be on a particular affected system (for ecological impacts) or a particular affected party.

The severity of impacts can be evaluated with and without mitigation in order to demonstrate how serious the impact is when nothing is done about it. The word „mitigation‟ means not just „compensation‟, but includes concepts of containment and remedy. For beneficial impacts, optimization means anything that can enhance the benefits. However, mitigation or optimization must be practical, technically feasible and economically viable.

4. The likelihood of the impact occurring - the likelihood of impacts taking place as a

result of project actions differs between potential impacts. There is no doubt that some impacts would occur (e.g. loss of vegetation), but other impacts are not as likely to occur (e.g. vehicle accident), and may or may not result from the proposed development. Although some impacts may have a severe effect, the likelihood of them occurring may affect their overall significance.

Each criterion is ranked with scores assigned as presented in Table 4 to determine the overall significance of an activity. The criterion is then considered in two categories, viz. effect of the activity and the likelihood of the impact. The total scores recorded for the effect and likelihood are then read off the matrix presented in Table 5 and Table 6, to determine the overall significance of the impact. The overall significance is either negative or positive.



The environmental significance scale is an attempt to evaluate the importance of a particular impact. This evaluation needs to be undertaken in the relevant context, as an impact can either be ecological or social, or both. The evaluation of the significance of an impact relies heavily on the values of the person making the judgment. For this reason, impacts of especially a social nature need to reflect the values of the affected society. Prioritising The evaluation of the impacts, as described above is used to prioritise which impacts require mitigation measures. Negative impacts that are ranked as being of “VERY HIGH” and “HIGH” significance will be investigated further to determine how the impact can be minimised or what alternative activities or mitigation measures can be implemented. These impacts may also assist decision makers i.e. numerous HIGH negative impacts may bring about a negative decision. For impacts identified as having a negative impact of “MODERATE” significance, it is standard practice to investigate alternate activities and/or mitigation measures. The most effective and practical mitigations measures will then be proposed. For impacts ranked as “LOW” significance, no investigations or alternatives will be considered. Possible management measures will be investigated to ensure that the impacts remain of low significance.

Table 4: Ranking of evaluation criteria

EF

FE

CT

Temporal Scale Score

Short term Less than 5 years 1

Medium term Between 5-20 years 2

Long term Between 20 and 40 years (a generation) and from a human perspective also permanent 3

Permanent Over 40 years and resulting in a permanent and lasting change that will always be there 4

Spatial Scale

Localized At localized scale and a few hectares in extent 1

Study Area The proposed site and its immediate environs 2

Regional District and Provincial level 3

National Country 3

International Internationally 4

Severity Severity Benefit

Slight

Slight impacts on the affected system(s) or party(ies)

Slightly beneficial to the affected system(s) and party(ies) 1

Moderate

Moderate impacts on the affected system(s) or party(ies)

Moderately beneficial to the affected system(s) and party(ies) 2

Severe/ Beneficial

Severe impacts on the affected system(s) or party(ies)

A substantial benefit to the affected system(s) and party(ies) 4

Very Severe/ Beneficial

Very severe change to the affected system(s) or party(ies)

A very substantial benefit to the affected system(s) and party(ies) 8

L I K E L I H O O D

Likelihood



Unlikely The likelihood of these impacts occurring is slight 1

May Occur The likelihood of these impacts occurring is possible 2

Probable The likelihood of these impacts occurring is probable 3

Definite The likelihood is that this impact will definitely occur 4

* In certain cases it may not be possible to determine the severity of an impact thus it may be determined: Don‟t know/Can‟t know

Table 5: Matrix used to determine the overall significance of the impact based on the likelihood and effect of the impact

Lik

elih

oo

d

Effect

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

2 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

3 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Table 6: Description of Environmental Significance Ratings and associated range of scores

Significance Rate

Description Score

Low An acceptable impact for which mitigation is desirable but not essential. The impact by itself is insufficient even in combination with other low impacts to prevent the development being approved. These impacts will result in either positive or negative medium to short term effects on the social and/or natural environment.

4-8

Moderate An important impact which requires mitigation. The impact is insufficient by itself to prevent the implementation of the project but which in conjunction with other impacts may prevent its implementation. These impacts will usually result in either a positive or negative medium to long-term effect on the social and/or natural environment.

9-12

High A serious impact, if not mitigated, may prevent the implementation of the project (if it is a negative impact). These impacts would be considered by society as constituting a major and usually a long-term change to the (natural &/or social) environment and result in severe effects or beneficial effects.

13-16

Very High A very serious impact which, if negative, may be sufficient by itself to prevent implementation of the project. The impact may result in permanent change. Very often these impacts cannot be mitigated and usually result in very severe effects, or very beneficial effects.

17-20



3 REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 3.1 Ambient Air Quality Standards for Criteria Pollutants 3.1.1 National To the authors‟ knowledge, only ambient air quality standards for SO2, NO2, CO, ozone (O3), TSP and lead (Pb) (Table 7) and TSP emission standards (Table 8) are established in Mozambique legislation. These have been specified in Decree no. 18/2004, of 2 June 2004 and Decree no. 67/2010, dated December 31 2010 (amendments to Appendix I and inclusion of Appendices 1A and 1B to Decree no. 18/2004). The TSP standards are given as concentrations.

Table 7: Mozambican national ambient air quality standards (Decree no. 18/2004 and Decree no. 67/2010)

Pollutant Symbol Ambient Air Quality Standards (µg/m³)

1 hour 8 hour 24 hour Annual

Sulphur dioxide SO2 800 - 100 40

Nitrogen dioxide NO2 190 - - 10

Carbon monoxide CO 30 000 10 000 - -

Ozone O3 160 120 50 70

Total Suspended Particulates TSP - - 150 60

Lead Pb 3 - - 0.5 – 1.5

Table 8: Mozambican standards emission for pollutants by industries (Decree no. 18/2004 and Decree no. 67/2010)

Pollutant Symbol Emission Standards (mg/Nm³)

Total Suspended Particulates TSP 20 where there is presence of toxic metals 50

in others

3.1.2 International Typically, when no local ambient air quality criteria exists, or are in the process of being developed, reference is made to international criteria. In addition, if a project has to comply with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards then the standards stipulate that when there is a difference in limits, the most stringent will be applicable. This serves to provide an indication of the severity of the potential impacts from proposed activities. The most widely referenced international air quality criteria are those published by the WBG, the WHO and the European Community (EC). The South African ambient air quality standards are also referenced since it is regarded representative indicators for Mozambique due to the similar environmental, social and economic characteristics between the two countries. 3.1.2.1 IFC Health and Safety Guidelines



The technical reference documents published in the IFC Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines provide general and industry specific examples of Good International Industry Practice (GIIP). The General EHS Guidelines are designed to be used together with the relevant Industry Sector EHS Guidelines. The EHS Guidelines‟ general approach to air quality (IFC, 2007) states that projects should prevent or minimize impacts by ensuring that:

Emissions do not result in pollutant concentrations that reach or exceed the relevant

national ambient air quality guidelines and standards, or in their absence, the current

World Health Organisation (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) or other

internationally recognised sources;

Emissions do not contribute a significant portion to the attainment of relevant

ambient AQG or standards. The Guideline suggests 25% of the applicable ambient

air quality standards to allow additional, future development in the same airshed.

The General HSE Guidelines state that at project level, impacts should be estimated through qualitative or quantitative assessments by the use of baseline air quality assessments and atmospheric dispersion models. The dispersion model should be internationally recognised and able to take into account local atmospheric, climatic and air quality data as well as the effects of downwash, wakes or eddy effects generated by structures and terrain features (IFC, 2007). The General HSE Guidelines also provides guidance with respect to:

projects located in degraded airsheds or ecologically sensitive areas;

points sources and stack heights;

emissions from small combustion facilities (3 to 50 MWth rated heat input capacity);

fugitive sources;

ozone depleting substances;

land based mobile sources;

greenhouse gases;

monitoring; and

air emissions prevention and control technologies

In addition to the General EHS Guidelines, the IFC also provides industry specific EHS Guidelines. The EHS Guidelines for smelting and refining is only relevant to smelting and refining of lead, zinc, copper, nickel, and aluminium. 3.1.2.2 WHO Air Quality Guidelines Air quality guidelines (AQGs) have been published by the WHO in 1987 and were revised in 1997. Since the completion of the second edition of the Air Quality Guidelines for Europe which included new research from low-and middle-income countries where air pollution levels are at their highest, the WHO has undertaken to review the accumulated scientific evidence and to consider its implications for its AQGs. The result of this work is document in „Air Quality Guidelines – Global Update 2005‟ in the form of revised guideline values for selected criteria air pollutants, which are applicable across all WHO regions. Given that air pollution levels in developing countries frequently far exceed the recommended WHO AQGs, interim target (IT) levels were included in the update. These are



in excess of the WHO AQGs themselves, to promote steady progress towards meeting the WHO AQGs (WHO, 2005). There are between two to three interim targets starting at WHO interim target-1 (IT-1) as the most lenient and IT-2 or IT-3 as more stringent targets before reaching the AQGs. SA NAAQS are for instance in line with IT-3 targets for PM2.5 and PM10 and IT-1 for SO2. It should be noted that the WHO permits a frequency of exceedance of 1% per year (4 days per year) for 24 hour average PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. In the absence of interim targets for NO2, reference is made to the AQG value. These are provided in Table 9 for pollutants considered in this study. 3.1.2.3 SA National Ambient Air Quality Standards The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) was engaged to assist the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA, then known as the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism or DEAT) in the facilitation of the development of ambient air quality standards. This included the establishment of a technical committee to oversee the development of standards. Standards were determined based on international best practice for PM10, PM2.5, dustfall, SO2, NO2, O3, CO, Pb and benzene (C6H6). The final revised SA NAAQS were published in the Government Gazette on 24 of December 2009 and included a margin of tolerance (i.e. frequency of exceedance) and implementation timelines linked to it. SA NAAQS for PM2.5 were published on 29 July 2012. As mentioned previously, SA NAAQS closely follow WHO interim targets, which are targets for developing countries, for PM2.5, PM10 and SO2. The SA NAAQS for ambient NO2 concentrations are equivalent to the WHO AQGs. SA NAAQS referred to in this study are also given in Table 9.

Table 9: International assessment criteria for criteria pollutants

Pollutant Averaging

Period

Limit Values Frequency of Exceedance

Concentration (µg/m³)

Reference Occurrences

per Year Reference

CO 1 hour 30 000 WHO AQG & SA

NAAQS 88 SA NAAQS

NO2

1 hour 200 WHO AQG & SA NAAQS

88 SA NAAQS

1 year 40 WHO AQG & SA NAAQS

n/a n/a

PM2.5 24 hour 37.5 WHO IT-3 4 WHO

1 year 15 WHO IT-3 n/a n/a

PM10 24 hour 75

WHO IT-3 & SA NAAQS

4 WHO & SA NAAQS

1 year 30 WHO IT-3 n/a n/a

SO2

1 hour 350 SA NAAQS 88 SA NAAQS

24 hour 125 WHO IT-1 & SA

NAAQS 4 SA NAAQS

1 year 50 SA NAAQS n/a n/a

O3 8 hours 120 SA NAAQS 11 SA NAAQS

C6H6 1 year 5 SA NAAQS n/a n/a

Notes:

(a) n/a – not applicable

(b) n/s – not specified



3.2 Inhalation Health Criteria and Unit Risk Factors for Non-criteria Pollutants The potential for health impacts associated with non-criteria pollutants emitted from mobile diesel combustion sources are assessed according to guidelines published by the following institutions:

WHO AQGs and cancer unit risk factors (URFs);

Inhalation reference concentrations (RfCs) and URFs published by the US EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

Reference Exposure Levels (RELs) and Cancer Potency Values (CPVs) published by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CALEPA)

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Chronic inhalation criteria and URFs/CPVs for pollutants considered in the study are summarised in Table 10 (WHO, 2000). Increased lifetime cancer risk is calculated by applying the unit risk factors to predicted long term (annual average) pollutant concentrations.

Table 10: Chronic and acute inhalation screening criteria and cancer unit risk factors

Pollutant

Chronic Screening Criteria

(µg/m3)

Acute Screening Criteria

(µg/m3)

Inhalation URF/CPV

(µg/m3)-1

Diesel Exhaust as DPM 5 (US EPA IRIS) Not Specified 3x10-04

(CALEPA)

VOC (Diesel fuel used as indicator)

100 (TCEQ) Not Specified Not Specified

The identification of an acceptable cancer risk level has been debated for many years and it possibly will still continue as societal norms and values change. Some people would easily accept higher risks than others, even if it were not within their own control; others prefer to take very low risks. An acceptable risk is a question of societal acceptance and will therefore vary from society to society. In spite of the difficulty to provide a definitive “acceptable risk level”, the estimation of a risk associated with an activity provides the means for a comparison of the activity to other everyday hazards, and therefore allowing risk-management policy decisions. Technical risk assessments seldom set the regulatory agenda because of the different ways in which the non-technical public perceives risks. Consequently, science does not directly provide an answer to the question. Whilst it is perhaps inappropriate to make a judgment about how much risk should be acceptable, through reviewing acceptable risk levels selected by other well-known organizations, it would appear that the US EPA‟s application is the most suitable, i.e. “If the risk to the maximally exposed individual (MEI) is no more than 1x10-6, then no further action is required. If not, the MEI risk must be reduced to no more than 1x10-4, regardless of feasibility and cost, while protecting as many individuals as possible in the general population against risks exceeding 1x10-6”.Some authorities tend to avoid the specification of a single acceptable risk level. Instead a “risk-ranking system” is preferred. For example, the New York Department of Health produced a qualitative ranking of cancer risk estimates, from very low to very high (Table 11). Therefore if the qualitative descriptor was "low", then the excess lifetime cancer risk from that exposure is in the range of greater than one per million to less than one per ten thousand.

Table 11: Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (as applied by New York Department of Health)

Risk Ratio Qualitative Descriptor



Risk Ratio Qualitative Descriptor

Equal to or less than one in a million Very low

Greater than one in a million to less than one in ten thousand

Low

One in ten thousand to less than one in a thousand Moderate

One in a thousand to less than one in ten High

Equal to or greater than one in ten Very high

3.3 Dust Control Regulations Mozambique does not have dust control regulations. Botswana has recently published dust deposition evaluation criteria (BOS 498:2013). According to these limits, an enterprise may submit a request to the authorities to operate within the Band 3 (action band) for a limited period, providing that this is essential in terms of the practical operation of the enterprise (for example the final removal of a tailings deposit) and provided that the best available control technology is applied for the duration. No margin of tolerance will be granted for operations that result in dustfall rates in the Band 4 (alert band). This four-band scale is presented in Table 12. South Africa has published the National Dust Control Regulations in November 2013 (Government Gazette No. 36974) with the purpose to prescribe general measures for the control of dust in all areas including residential and light commercial areas. The acceptable dustfall rates as measured using the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) D1739:1970 (ASTM Standard D1739-70, 1998) or equivalent at and beyond the boundary of the premises where dust originates are given in Table 13. It is important to note that dustfall is assessed for nuisance impact and not inhalation health impact.

Table 12: Bands of dustfall rates proposed for adoption (Botswana)

Band

Number

Band Description

Label

30 Day Average Dustfall

Rate

(mg/m2-day)

Comment

1 RESIDENTIAL D < 600 Permissible for residential and light

commercial

2 INDUSTRIAL 600 < D < 1 200 Permissible for heavy commercial

and industrial

3 ACTION 1 200 < D < 2 400

Requires investigation and

remediation if two sequential

months lie in this band, or more

than three occur in a year.

4 ALERT 2 400 < D

Immediate action and remediation

required following the first

exceedence. Incident report to be

submitted to relevant authority.



Table 13: South African National Dust Control Regulations

Restriction Area Dustfall Rate

(mg/m2-day)

Permitted Frequency of

Exceedence

Residential area D < 600

Two within a year, not sequential

months

Non-residential area 600 < D < 1 200

Two within a year, not sequential

months

3.4 Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change Mozambique is a developing (non-Annex 1) country in terms of the Kyoto protocol and therefore has no obligation to report its greenhouse gas emissions under the protocol. However, this project is being done to meet IFC performance standards thus a threshold of 25 000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per annum has been set. This amount is inclusive of direct and certain indirect project emissions. Direct emissions will be from the facilities operations within the project boundary. Indirect emissions are associated with the off-site production of energy to be used by the project. This is covered separately in the ESIAR. 3.5 Adopted Evaluation Criteria for the TIOP The WBG references the WHO guidelines but indicates that any other internationally recognized criteria can be used such as the US EPA or the EC. SA NAAQS are referenced because these were developed after a thorough review of all international criteria and selected based on the socio, economic and ecological conditions of the country. It was found that merely adopting the WHO guidelines would result in potential non-compliance in many areas due to industrialised areas already established in the country. The WHO also states that these AQGs and interim targets should be used to guide standard-setting processes and should aim to achieve the lowest concentrations possible in the context of local constraints, capabilities, and public health priorities. These guidelines are also aimed at urban environments within developed countries (WHO, 2005). The SA NAAQS for SO2 over a 24-hour average is the same as the EC limit and the WHO IT-1 of 125 µg/m³. The Australian ambient air quality standard is more lenient, viz. 209 µg/m³ for 24-hour averages, whereas the WHO IT-2 (50 µg/m³) and WHO AQG (20 µg/m³) are more stringent. It is also best practice (as per WBG) that a specific industry only contributes 25% of the applicable air quality standards to allow for additional, future sustainable development in the same airshed. For VOCs the TCEQ value is used. O3 is not included as there no detailed emission estimation techniques to determine the O3 from the operations were available and thus O3 could not be determined and evaluated. Also, due to the limited international guidelines for dust fallout, the South African guidelines are referenced.

Table 14: Proposed evaluation criteria for the TIOP

Pollutant Averaging Period Selected

Criteria Source

PM10

24-hour Mean

(µg/m³) 75

(a) WHO-IT3 & SA NAAQS

Annual Mean (µg/m³) 30 WHO-IT3



Pollutant Averaging Period Selected

Criteria Source

PM2.5

24-hour Mean

(µg/m³) 37.5 WHO-IT3

Annual Mean (µg/m³) 15 WHO-IT3

SO2

1-hour Mean (µg/m³) 350(b)

EC Limit & SA Standard

24-hour Mean

(µg/m³) 125

(a)

WHO-IT2 (seen as 40% of the SA and EC

limits)

24-hour Mean

(µg/m³) 100 Mozambican AAQS

Annual Mean (µg/m³) 40 Mozambican AAQS

NO2

1-hour Mean (µg/m³) 200(b)

WHO AQG & SA NAAQS

1-hour Mean (µg/m³) 190 Mozambican AAQS

Annual Mean (µg/m³) 10 Mozambican AAQS

CO 1-hour Mean (µg/m³) 30 000(b)

WHO AQG, SA NAAQS & Mozambican

AAQS

DPM Annual Mean (µg/m³) 5 US EPA IRIS RfC

VOCs Annual Mean (µg/m³) 100 TCEQ

Dust

fallout

30-day average

(mg/m2/day)

600(c)

SA NDCR and Botswana residential limit

Notes:

(a) Not to be exceeded more than 4 times per calendar year (SA NAAQS).

(b) Not to be exceeded more than 88 times per calendar year (SA NAAQS).

(c) Two exceedences within a year, not sequential months


Airshed Planning Professionals (Pty) Ltd 16 Baobab Tete Iron Ore Project

4 DESCRIPTION OF THE RECEIVING/BASELINE ENVIRONMENT 4.1 Air Quality Sensitive Receptors The TIOP will be situated approximately 50 km north of the town of Tete. Current land uses within the vicinity of the Project area are farming and residential. There are a number of residences in the vicinity of the project site. Individual houses (Table 15) and villages were included in this study as AQSRs (Figure 1).

Figure 3: Nearby AQSRs

Table 15: Description and location of points of interest near TIOP

Points of Interest near TIOP

ID Type WGS-84 UTM; UTM Zone 36S

X Coordinate (m) Y Coordinate (m)

7 Rural Houses 583241 8263178

9 Rural Houses 584340 8263044

10 Rural Houses 584564 8263031

11 Rural Houses 585057 8263042

12 Rural Houses 584683 8263830

13 Rural Houses 584506 8263944

14 Rural Houses 584665 8264063

15 Rural Houses 584908 8264174

Air Quality Specialist Impact Assessment – October 2015

Coastal & Environmental Services 17 Baobab, Tete Iron Ore Project

Points of Interest near TIOP

ID Type WGS-84 UTM; UTM Zone 36S

X Coordinate (m) Y Coordinate (m)

16 Rural Houses 584533 8264177

17 Rural Houses 584820 8264294

18 Rural Houses 580165 8264183

19 Rural Houses 579839 8262958

20 Rural Houses 579857 8263488

22 Rural Houses 580815 8258954

23 Rural Houses 580245 8259189

25 Rural Houses 580447 8258628

29 Rural Houses 583045 8263231

30 Agricultural Fields 583523 8264178

32 Rural Houses 583202 8265230

4.2 Atmospheric Dispersion Potential Physical and meteorological mechanisms govern the dispersion, transformation, and eventual removal of pollutants from the atmosphere. The analysis of hourly average meteorological data is necessary to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the dispersion potential of the site. Parameters useful in describing the dispersion and dilution potential of the site i.e. wind speed, wind direction, temperature and atmospheric stability, are subsequently discussed. 4.2.1 Topography and Land-use Terrain around the site is gently undulating, progressively becoming interspersed with hills. The terrain elevation surrounding the site ranges between 262 and 451 meters above mean sea level (mamsl). Topographical data was included in dispersion simulations. The topography of the study area is shown in Figure 4: Topography of study area.



Figure 4: Topography of study area

4.2.2 Surface Wind Field The wind field determines both the distance of downward transport and the rate of dilution of pollutants. The generation of mechanical turbulence is a function of the wind speed, in combination with the surface roughness. The wind field for the study area is described with the use of wind roses. Wind roses comprise 16 spokes, which represent the directions from which winds blew during a specific period. The colours used in the wind roses below, reflect the different categories of wind speeds; the yellow area, for example, representing winds in between 2.5 and 3 m/s. The dotted circles provide information regarding the frequency of occurrence of wind speed and direction categories. The frequency with which calms occurred, i.e. periods during which the wind speed was below 1 m/s are also indicated. The period wind rose for the period January 2011 to December 2013 is shown in Figure 5. Day-time and night-time wind roses for the period January 2011 to December 2013 are provided in Figure 6. Seasonal wind roses for the period January 2011 to December 2013 are shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8. The wind field was dominated by winds from the south-east and east-south-east. Less frequent winds also occurred from the northerly sectors. Calm conditions occurred 9.8% of the time. During the day, more frequent winds at higher wind speeds occurred from the easterly sectors with almost 17.3% calm conditions. Night-time airflow had less frequent winds from the north-westerly sectors and at lower wind speeds with winds most frequently occurring from the south-south-easterly sectors. The percentage calm conditions decreased to 2.3%. All seasons reflect the average prevailing wind direction as from the east-south-east to the south-south-east.



Figure 5: Period average wind rose (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013)

Day-time Night-ime

Figure 6: Day-time and night-time wind roses (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013)



Wet Season (Nov - Apr)

Dry Season (May – Oct)

Figure 7: Seasonal wind roses (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013)



(Warm) Wet Season (Nov – Apr)

(Cool) Dry Season (May – Aug)

(Warm) Dry Season (Sep – Oct)

Figure 8: Sub-seasonal wind roses (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) 4.2.3 Temperature Air temperature is important, both for determining the effect of plume buoyancy (the larger the temperature difference between the plume and the ambient air, the higher a pollution plume is able to rise), and determining the development of the mixing and inversion layers. Minimum, maximum and mean temperatures for the project area, as obtained from MM5 data, are shown in Table 16: Minimum, maximum and average temperatures (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013). Diurnal monthly average temperatures shown provided in Figure 9. Maximum, minimum and average temperatures were 32.6°C, 2.6°C and 20.8°C, respectively. The month of June experienced lowest temperature of 2.6°C whereas the maximum temperature of 32.6°C occurred in January. Temperatures reach their minimum just before sunrise and there maximum between midday and sunset.



Table 16: Minimum, maximum and average temperatures (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013)

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Maximum 35.9 35.8 34.5 33.8 30.6 29.9 28.5 32.2 35.4 37.5 36.9 36.6

Minimum 19.1 18.9 17.6 13.9 11.5 10.6 9.8 10.1 13.5 13.2 16.1 18.8

Average 27.4 26.8 26.1 23.1 20.6 19.0 17.6 20.3 23.5 25.1 26.9 27.7

Figure 9: Diurnal monthly average temperature profile (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013) 4.2.4 Rainfall Rainfall represents an effective removal mechanism of atmospheric pollutants and is therefore frequently considered during air pollution studies. In the project area, rain typically occurs primarily as storms and individual rainfall events can be intense. This creates an uneven rainfall distribution over the wet season (November to April). Dust is generated by strong winds that sometimes accompany these storms. This dust generally occurs in areas with dry soils and sparse vegetation. The greatest amount of rain falls during January (Table 17: Monthly rainfall for TIOP (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013)).

Table 17: Monthly rainfall for TIOP (MM5 data, 2011 to 2013)

Monthly Rainfall (mm/hr)

Jan Feb March Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

665.3 157.2 16.7 39.8 12.1 18.2 17.1 18.7 3.3 66.2 96.9 136.1

4.2.5 Atmospheric Stability and Mixing Depth The new generation air dispersion models differ from the models traditionally used in a number of aspects, the most important of which are the description of atmospheric stability as a continuum rather than discrete classes. The atmospheric boundary layer properties are therefore described by two parameters; the boundary layer depth and the Monin-Obukhov length, rather than in terms of the single parameter Pasquill Class.



The Monin-Obukhov length (LMo) provides a measure of the importance of buoyancy generated by the heating of the ground and mechanical mixing generated by the frictional effect of the earth‟s surface. Physically, it can be thought of as representing the depth of the boundary layer within which mechanical mixing is the dominant form of turbulence generation (CERC, 2004). The atmospheric boundary layer constitutes the first few hundred metres of the atmosphere. During daytime, the atmospheric boundary layer is characterised by thermal turbulence due to the heating of the earth‟s surface. Night-times are characterised by weak vertical mixing and the predominance of a stable layer. These conditions are normally associated with low wind speeds and lower dilution potential. Diurnal variation in atmospheric stability, as calculated from on-site data, and described by the inverse Monin-Obukhov length and the boundary layer depth is provided in Figure 10. The highest concentrations for ground level, or near-ground level releases from non-wind dependent sources would occur during weak wind speeds and stable (night-time) atmospheric conditions. For elevated releases, unstable conditions can result in very high concentrations of poorly diluted emissions close to the stack. This is called looping and occurs mostly during daytime hours. Neutral conditions disperse the plume fairly equally in both the vertical and horizontal planes and the plume shape is referred to as coning. Stable conditions prevent the plume from mixing vertically, although it can still spread horizontally and is called fanning (Tiwary & Colls, 2010). For ground level releases the highest ground level concentrations occur during stable night-time conditions.

Figure 10: Diurnal atmospheric stability (MM5 Data, 2011 - 2013) 4.3 Existing Sources of Air Pollution in the Area Land use in the region includes rural settlements, subsistence farming, mining and wilderness. Expected sources of atmospheric emissions include:

Gaseous and particulate emissions from other mining operations;

Miscellaneous fugitive dust sources including vehicle entrainment on roads and wind-blown dust from open areas;



Gaseous and particulate emissions from vehicle exhaust emissions;

Gaseous and particulate emissions from household fuel burning; and

Gaseous and particulate emissions from biomass burning (e.g. slash and burn agricultural practices).

4.3.1 Mining Operations There are numerous existing and proposed mines located in Mozambique (Table 18). The mines located or to be located in Tete Province include Rio Doce‟s (Vale‟s) Moatize Phase 2 Coal Project, International Coal Ventures Limited‟s Benga Coal Project, International Coal Ventures Limited‟s Zambeze Project, Riversdale Mining Limited‟s Mozambi Coal, Mozambi Coal‟s Tete West and Coal of India‟s Moatize Project (INE, n.d.). Fugitive emissions sources from opencast and underground mining operations mainly comprise of land clearing operations (i.e. scraping, dozing and excavating), materials handling operations (i.e. tipping, off-loading and loading, conveyor transfer points), vehicle entrainment from haul roads, wind erosion from open areas and drilling and blasting. These activities mainly result in fugitive dust releases with small amounts of NOx, CO, SO2, methane and CO2 being released during blasting operations.

Table 18: Mines within Mozambique

Main companies Project name

Mozambi Coal Songo

Mozambi Coal Muturara

Mozambi Coal Tete West

International Coal Ventures Limited Zambeze

International Coal Ventures Limited /Tata Steel Limited Benga Coal

Rio Doce (Vale) Moatize Phase 2 Coal

Co

BAOBAB TETE IRON ORE PROJECT, MOZAMBIQUE AIR QUALITY … Tete Iron Ore ENGLISH... · 2017. 6....

Documents

Transcript of BAOBAB TETE IRON ORE PROJECT, MOZAMBIQUE AIR QUALITY … Tete Iron Ore ENGLISH... · 2017. 6....