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23 January 2015
Oxford Village
Pipeline had defects >> Diesel line revealed to have had ‘inherent defects’ JEFF WICKS
T
HE ruptured diesel pipeline thatgushed200 000litresoffuel into a posh Hillcrest Estate was plagued by inherent defects. The antiquated Durban-Johannesburg Pipeline (DJP) was set to be decommissioned this year. The clean-up operation in the wake of the environmental disaster is expected to stretch over months and comes with a multi-million rand bill. TheWitnesscanrevealthatTransnet first discovered “inherent defects” in the steel used to construct the pipeline in 2003. Despite the accident and the potentialformore,Transnethasextended the operating life of the outmoded
fuel line, which runs beneath homes and farms in Pietermaritzburg and the Midlands, well into 2016. The extension, vital to provide a steady flow of fuel inland to the country’s economic hub, is due to the delayed completion of the New Multi Product Pipeline (NMPP), which comes with a price tag of R23,4 billion. According to an internal Transnet Pipelines Project report dated February 8, 2012, chief executive Charl Moller expands on the need for the new pipeline, citing that supply inland cannot be interrupted. “A need is the replacement of the oldest TPL petroleum pipeline, the Durban-Johannesburg Pipeline (DJP), commissioned in 1965, be-
cause of [an] inherent defect in pre1970 steels which was first mooted in 2003.” In moving to allay fears of further environmental disasters, and hiccups in supplying precious fuel inland, Transnet spokesperson Saret Knoetze said the inherent defects in the line did not make it dangerous. “… Nor does it make the pipeline inoperable. There are clearly defined tolerable operating design parameters. In addition we conduct various pipeline surveys and perform restoration if required,” she said. It remains unclear why the pipeline, which Knoetze insists was operated within parameters of its design, sheared along a weld-seam. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3.
Holly Slater and Gabi Postma.
PHOTO: KALISHA NAICKER
Ready for the academic year KALISHA NAICKER
kalisha.naicker@media24.com HILLCREST friends Holly Slater and Gabi Postma are very excited about starting Grade 7 – their last
year at St Mary’s DSG Senior Primary School before going to St Mary’s DSG High School in 2016. The pupils said that they are going to make sure this year counts.