Every person in control of a mine or activity must take reasonable measures to—
| (a) |
prevent water containing waste or any substance which causes or is likely to cause pollution of a water resource from entering any water resource, either by natural flow or by seepage, and must retain or collect such substance or water containing waste for use, re-use, evaporation or for purification and disposal in terms of the Act; |
| (b) |
design, modify, locate, construct and maintain all water systems, including residue deposits, in any area so as to prevent the pollution of any water resource through the operation or use thereof and to restrict the possibility of damage to the riparian or in-stream habitat through erosion or sedimentation, or the disturbance of vegetation, or the alteration of flow characteristics; |
| (c) |
cause effective measures to be taken to minimise the flow of any surface water or floodwater into mine workings, open-cast workings, other workings or subterranean caverns, through cracked or fissured formations, subsided ground, sinkholes, outcrop excavations, adits, entrances or any other openings; |
| (d) |
design, modify, construct, maintain and use any dam or any residue deposit or stockpile used for the disposal or storage of mineral tailings, slimes, ash or other hydraulic transported substances, so that the water or waste therein, or falling therein, will not result in the failure thereof or impair the stability thereof; |
| (e) |
prevent the erosion or leaching of materials from any residue deposit or stockpile from any area and contain material or substances so eroded or leached in such area by providing suitable barrier dams, evaporation dams or any other effective measures to prevent this material or substance from entering and polluting any water resources; |
| (f) |
ensure that water used in any process at a mine or activity is recycled as far as practicable, and any facility, sump, pumping installation, catchment dam or other impoundment used for recycling water, is of adequate design and capacity to prevent the spillage, seepage or release of water containing waste at any time; |
| (g) |
at all times keep any water system free from any matter or obstruction which may affect the efficiency thereof; and |
| (h) |
cause all domestic waste, including wash-water, which cannot be disposed of in a municipal sewage system, to be disposed of in terms of a licence under the Act. |
Witness Protection Act, 1998
