esaliberia.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web view1.0I N T R O D U C T I O N. The Monrovia City Corporation is presently undertaking improvement in the solid waste sanitation of the

Environmental Audit of the FiamahTransfer Station December 15, 2015

1.0 I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Monrovia City Corporation is presently undertaking improvement in the solid waste sanitation of the City of Monrovia and its environs through its Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under the Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation (EMUS) program.

The MCC had developed a sanitary land fill at Whein Town and two waste transfer stations under the said program and as a mean of collecting and disposing of solid waste from Monrovia City and its environs. The two transfer stations developed are, Fiamah transfer station and the other at Stockton creek off the Somalia Drive. These waste facilities are and operated by private sanitation entities hired by MCC. Therefore the MCC wishes to ensure that these contracted private entities operate the facilities in line with the Environmental Management Plans prepared for these facilities and also in accordance with the requirements outlined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia.

The MCC has therefore called for the environmental audit of the Fiamah transfer station so as to ascertain whether the facility was developed according to environmental standard. The audit is to ensure that the transfer station is socially acceptable and that the site operations conform to the necessary standards required. The audit is also done to serve as a warning so that problems arising from the site operations can be identified and mitigated within time.

Surface and ground water bodies within the perimeters or around the facility are to be monitored also while the audit is being conducted. These water bodies are continuously monitored so as to compare the qualities of said water bodies to the baseline conditions established to determine the adverse impact of the waste facility on the surrounding environment, especially ground water and surface water.

______________________________________________________________________Environmental Science Association of Liberia. 1


2.0 Description of Audit Site

The Environmental Audit was conducted at the Fiamah Transfer Station, one of the waste disposal facilities owned by the Monrovia City Corporation. The facility as stated earlier owned by MCC is contracted to Zoom Lion Liberia, a private waste management entity for management and operation. A vivid description of the facility is given below.

2.1 Fiamah Transfer Station

The Fiamah Community is located in the City of Monrovia, sandwiching the residential enclave of Sinkor and housing estates of Old and New Matadis. It is located approximately six (6) kilometers from the city center of Monrovia and accessible by the Fiamah-Matadi road.

This community is very populated. And there is very little or no pipe-borne water in the area. Residents utilize the well sampled for many domestic purposes, including drinking.

2.2 Physical Environment

2.2.1 Geology The audit sites are located in the geological region of Liberia known as the Pan African Age province. This region is composed of younger rocks as compared to other part of the country.

There is a zone of fluvial and deltaic deposit which exists along the coastal area. This unit is followed by two (2) units of beach sand deposits. These are nearly pure white quartz sand, averaging few millimeters in thickness. Figure 1 shows the geology of the waste facilities.

______________________________________________________________________Environmental Science Association of Liberia.

Stockton CreekTransfer Station

FiamahTransfer Station

Whein TownSanitary Landfill

Qf = Fluvial and Deltaic Deposits

Qb1 = Beach Sand Deposit Unit 1

Jd = Diabase Dykes

Op = Paynesville Sandstone

Figure 1: Geologic Map of the Project Site.

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2.2.2 TopographyLiberia can be divided into three distinct topographical areas. First, a flat coastal plain which extends up to 80 km inland, with creeks, lagoons, and mangrove swamps; second, an area of broken, forested hills with altitudes from 180–370 m, which covers most of the country; and third, an area of mountains in the northern highlands, with elevations reaching 1,384 m.

The Fiamah Transfer Station is located in the region of Liberia known as the flat Coastal Plain. It is the land region of the country just next to the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the site is located are less than 2 kilometers from the ocean. The area is a relatively flat terrain with an altitude of approximately 8 meters.

2.2.3 SoilThe main types of soils found in Liberia include: latosols, which are of low to medium fertility, sandy soils or regosols, which are infertile; shallow, coarse lithosols found in hilly and rugged terrain; highly fertile alluvial soils which are suitable for agriculture; and humus-rich swamp soils. In general, the soils are characterized by a shallow layer of humus content and high acidity as a result of deficiency in magnesiumand calcium.

The soil profile at the Fiamah Transfer Station is uniform. The transfer station is located within the zone of fluvial and deltaic deposit which is closer to the Atlantic Ocean, the soil is usually shallow. There is mostly one unit of soil, the sandy soil. Similar to the zone of beach deposit nearby, the soil profile is usually several meters thicker and is sometime underlain by Jurassic dykes or graniticgneisses.

2.2.4 Water Resources

GroundwaterThe groundwater system within the waste site consists of shallow aquifers. Groundwater can be encountered at depth as shallow as 1 or 2 meters and sometime at ground level, especially during the rainy season. The groundwater level usually drops during the dry season. This was observed during the survey from water wells in communities near the facility.

Surface waterThe major surface water body near the Transfer Station is a tributary of the Mesurado River, which runs at the back of the facility. The drained water from and near the station empty into this tributary and eventually into the Mesurado River.

Water QualityThe ground and surface water bodies near the waste sites are being monitored - sampled and analyzed - regularly to ensure that the presence of the facility do not have any adverse impact on the hydro-ecological system. Sampling and analyses are conducted every six (6) months at present.


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2.4.5 Biological Resources

VegetationThe Fiamah Transfer Station is cleared of all vegetation. The surface of the facility has been paved; hence growth of vegetation within the facility is prevented.

Animals

The Fiamah Transfer Station is fenced, thereby preventing animals from entering the facility. The site does however attract birds which pick through the waste for food.


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3.0 Audit Objectives

The MCC is determined to ensure that the operations of the Fiamah transfer station, which have been contracted to a private company, is managed and operated in accordance with the ESMP developed for the facility, as well as within the requirements of the laws and regulations of the EPA of Liberia and international environmental conventions and standards. Hence, the audit wishes to achieve the following objectives:-

1. Identify areas at the waste facility that are, or may become, out of compliance with the ESMP, national and international standards so that corrective or remedial action can be taken.

2. Provide benchmarks for environmental performance that will be used as part of the operator’s environmental management system for the purpose of reporting environmental performance to third parties, such as communities and other stakeholders.

3. Review conditions at the waste facility so as to reduce the potential for environmental harm or risk, enforcement action, or other consequences of inadequate environmental policy by eliminating the circumstances that give rise to non-compliance by providing the operator with knowledge necessary to meet the requirements of national and international standards.

4. Demonstrate that the operator of the waste facility is operating the facility with reasonable care and control.

5. Identify the need for preventive and corrective measures during the operations of the waste facility.

6. Provide a mechanism to identify risks so that the MCC can make informed decisions in the operations of the facility.


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4.0 Audit Methodology

The methodology of work undertaken for the audit was as follows:-

1. Develop the Scope & Criteria of the Audit: At the commencement of the audit, the auditor held discussions with the MCC and the waste facility operator to ensure that the scope of the audit and the criteria to be applied were defined.

2. Familiarization and Preliminary Document Review: This task involved familiarization with documents provided by the MCC/Poyry at the first audit, particularly the EMPs for the waste facility.

3. Preparation of Audit Checklists: Based on conditions set forth in the EMP for the waste facility, the Environmental Protection & Management Law of Liberia, EPA Guidelines and international best practices, a checklist was prepared for assessing compliance in the operations of the facility. The checklist was prepared with inclusion of comments of the client.

4. Sites Inspection: The Audit Team performed inspection of the waste facility, gained site-specific information from site personnel, and inspected activities at the site.

5. Review of Assessment & Reports: The Audit Team reviewed documents, reports and data at the waste facility.

6. Assessment of Risk to Surface and Groundwater: An assessment of risk was undertaken to determine the acceptability of the risk to protected beneficial uses of surface and groundwater near the waste facility. This included reviewing impact on the background quality by the operations of the facility, assessing the significance of the impact and the effectiveness of current measures in place at the sites to control and mitigate impacts to the surface and groundwater.

7. Draft Audit Report: A Draft Audit Report was prepared. The draft report reviewed the adequacy of the assessment and presents a discussion on the environmental quality of the waste facility under consideration. The draft report was submitted to MCC and operator of the facility for discussion.

8. Issue of Audit Report: Upon receipt of the comments on the draft, this final Audit Report was finalized and issued as follows:-

MCC – 3 bounded copies + 1 CD. ZoomLion – 5 bounded copies + 1 CD


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5.0 Audit Personnel

The audit of the waste facility was conducted by the Environmental Science Association of Liberia.

Person Role QualificationMr. Nelson S. Jallah Executive Director MSc. Environmental Science

The client, site operator and engineering representatives were also present during the audit.


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6.0 Prevailing Weather Conditions

The climate of Liberia is tropical with average temperatures ranging from 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit). There are negligible differences between day and night and between seasons, with temperatures never exceeding 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit).

The climatic condition of the country give rise two seasons – the wet from May to October and the dry from November to April. The averages annual rainfall is 170 inches (4.320 mm.) inland. During the wet or rainy season the average humidity on the coastal belt is 78%, but from December to March it drops to 30% when the Harmattan winds blow from the Sahara.

The audit reported herein was conducted on January 9, 2014, which falls during the dry season. The prevailing weather conditions on the day of the audit are indicated below:-

Fiamah Transfer Station

Weather Summary Log

DateTemp 0C Humidit

y (%)

Dew Point 0C

Rain (mm)

Wind Description

Max Min Speed (km/h)

Bearing Showery,

warm: Most cloudy02/07/201

3 33.7 26.2 92 26.9 0 3.2 WSW


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7.0 Summary of Findings

The findings of the audit conducted at the Fiamah facility is being summarized in this chapter.

The following were revealed from the conduct of the audit at the Fiamah facility:

(1) That the senior staff of the operator are courant with the Environmental & Social Management Plan (ESMP) and Operation Manual for the facility. The Auditor determined that the senior staffs has not disseminated the said documents with junior staff of the facility nor provided training on the documents. Hence, junior staffs are not au courant with environmental issues pertaining to the facility.

(2) In relation to knowledge of national environmental guidelines/standards/policies for operation of the facility: the Auditor established that some of the staffs of the Operator have no knowledge of same. The Operator will need to conduct workshop(s) to educate all of its staffs on national and international environmental policies/regulations pertaining to the handling of solid waste.

(3) In relation to odor control at the facility, it was established that the Operator brings equipment and chemicals to fumigate the facility when pungent odor is reported by the neighborhood. The equipment and chemicals are not kept on site.

(4) In relation to implementing Health & Safety standards at the facility, the Auditor established that the Operator is partially compliant. Reasons been that there are safety procedures and plans on site for staff. There are no emergency response plans and staffs lack safety training for level of responsibility. There is a mini first aid kit and fire extinguishers on site.

The Auditor established that the Operator was fully or partially compliant with all other environmental issues.


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8.0 Recommendations& Implementation Timetable

It was established from the audit that the issue of obtaining an Environmental Permit from the Environmental Protection Agency for the operation of the facility had not been clarified. The MCC and/or the Operator are requested to resolve this issue with the EPA.

The Operator will need to improve recording and maintenance of important information pertaining to the operations of the facility. The Operator is also requested to employ qualified staff with environmental knowledge for the continued operation of the facility. Further, the Operator had either failed or partially implemented recommendations of the previous audit.

It is therefore recommended that the Operator will implement the following measures within the time frame presented so as to ensure that partially or non-compliance acts or activities recorded during the audit are compliant. The timeframe is advisory and should be agreed upon by the Operator, the MCC and other regulatory agencies of the government.

Audit Aspect Auditor’s Recommendation Implementing Entity

Auditor’s Recommended Implementation Timeframe

Permitting That the MCC/Operator will liaise with the EPA to ensure that the Environmental Permit is issued for the facility.

MCC/Operator 3 months

ESMP, National & international environmental policies

That the staff of the Operator be trained relative to the ESMP for the facility; and national and international environmental policies for the operation of solid waste facility.

The Operator 3 months

Odour Control That the Operator will improve their performance relative toodour control at the facility and keep equipment/ chemical on site

The Operator 1 month

Health & Safety Standards

That the Operator will ensure that staff are educated on national Health & Safety Standard and measures implemented to ensure adherence to these standards The Operator 3 months

MCC and/or the Operators will also ensure that the following are implemented:-

1. Monthly operational reports are recorded and properly maintained.2. That accident/incident/site violations/complaints registry is available at the sites.3. That safety report and safety representative structures are in place.4. That medical aid and medical incident reports are properly kept.5. That community consultative meeting are held and minutes recorded.6. That proper site organ gram is prepared for the site.

______________________________________________________________________Environmental Science Association of Liberia. 10

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A P P E N D I X

Appendix 1: Audit Checklist for Fiamah


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Documents

esaliberia.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web view1.0I N T R O D U C T I O N. The Monrovia City Corporation is presently undertaking improvement in the solid waste sanitation of the