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Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation
Dissertation (MSc (Environmental Management))--University of Pretoria, 2017.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1867613537612857344 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Landman, Willem |
| author_browse | Landman, Willem |
| author_facet | Landman, Willem |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Dissertation (MSc (Environmental Management))--University of Pretoria, 2017. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/110020 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:43.693Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/110020 Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation Landman, Willem daltona@eskom.co.za Feig, Gregor Dalton, Amaris Contaminated land Trace metal enrichment Soil screening value Vulnerable receptor Hexavalent chromium Dissertation (MSc (Environmental Management))--University of Pretoria, 2017. A site assessment for contaminated land was conducted at the site of a coal fired power plant in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Due to the national and international relevance of the coal fired electricity sector and the various potential downstream vulnerable receptors to contaminated land, this study is deemed highly relevant. From scientific literature published on soil pollution and coal fired power plants, it was deemed that significant precedent exists to expect some soil contamination - notably enrichment of trace metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils around a coal fired power plant. The first phase of the study consisted of a preliminary site assessment. Within the preliminary site assessment a detailed site description was compiled which included a description on potential vulnerable receptors, underlying site geology and climatology and the various operations of a coal fired power plant within the specific context of contaminated land. To this effect a holistic approach was followed, whereby the various processes and operations and their constituents that were deemed to pose a risk within the context of possible soil pollution, were considered. These processes and operations notably included: 4 _ The flue stacks, within the context of particulate and gaseous deposition of contaminants onto adjacent soils; _ The ash dump and the coal stock yard within the context of deposition of fugitive dust onto adjacent soils; _ Various activities conducted within the main station precinct including coal and ash handling and the storage of fuel oil and diesel. Based on the findings of the preliminary site description it was concluded that there exists sufficient precedent, based both on activities conducted and receptors identified, to conduct a more detailed in situ site assessment. Subsequently a sampling strategy was designed. It was decided to use a hybrid between two well documented sampling approaches - stratified random sampling and judgemental sampling. Stratified random sampling served as the primary approach whereby the strata were selected based on the findings of the preliminary site assessment. The sampling strata were divided as follows: farmland to the east of the ash dump; lands directly adjacent to the ash dump; lands adjacent to the coal stock yard and lands within the main station precinct. Judgemental sampling served as the secondary sampling approach based on subjective knowledge of the site assessor to augment the random sampling. It was found that concentrations of As, Cu, Mn, Ni and Cr(VI) frequently exceeded soil screening values as stipulated in the National Norms and Standards for the Remediation of Contaminated Land and Soil Quality (DEA, 2014). Based on comparisons with background values obtained for these elements and visual analysis of elemental distribution patterns across strata it was concluded that the observed exceedances of Cu, Mn and Ni can be attributed to the naturally high background values. The observed exceedances of As and Pb can however be attributed to enrichment based on anthropogenic intervention - notably operations at the power plant and in certain instances, agricultural practices. The observed concentrations of Cr(VI) across the study area are deemed to be the most significant finding within this study. The concentrations of Cr(VI) observed in soils across the study area is attributed to activities at the power plant - notably oxidation of naturally occurring chromium in coal to its hexavalent state during combustion. Some mixing of geogenic and anthropogenic sources for observed Cr(VI) was however also postulated - notably the oxidation of mostly naturally occurring Cr(III) to Cr(VI) through manganese oxides and various carbonates. Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology MSc (Environmental Management) 2026-05-15T17:26:05Z 2026-05-15T17:26:05Z 17/07/12 2017 Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2263/110020 en application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Contaminated land Trace metal enrichment Soil screening value Vulnerable receptor Hexavalent chromium Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| title | Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| title_full | Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| title_fullStr | Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| title_short | Contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| title_sort | contaminated land as a result of coal fired power generation |
| topic | Contaminated land Trace metal enrichment Soil screening value Vulnerable receptor Hexavalent chromium |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/110020 |