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Item Open Access Contamination of Soil due to Leakages of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) at a Vandalized Electrical Transformer Site(2017) Nedzamba, R. M.; Gumbo, J. R.Worldwide and including in South Africa, the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been banned as these have been implicated in the destruction of the ozone layer. The lack of the protective ozone layer has been widely blamed for increase in global warming. Here we report on impact of PCBs from a human vandalized electrical transformer on the soil environment at the Rietvlei farm in Louis Trichardt. The particle analysis showed that the soil was sandy followed by loam and then clay. The soil pH was in the range 6.79 to 10.15. The soil moisture content was on average below 6.8%. The analysis of Mg, Al, Ca and K for Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) was carried out to determine the fertility of the soil. The average CEC of the soil sample was 7.48 meq/g and therefore the soil was fertile and but lacked organic nutrients. However at this site where the transformer oil was spilled it was observed that no grass was growing. The analysis of samples by the GC-MS and GCECD at Waterlab and SABS showed that there were ultra-traces of PCBs in the soil samples. Probably the absence of grass growing at the contaminated site was due to presence of the ultra-trace levels of PCBs. Thus there is a need to improve plant growth at the contaminated site in order to prevent easy water infiltration that might contaminate groundwater supplies. Makhado local municipality draws some of its water supplies from borehole just 1 m from the contaminated site.Item Open Access An evaluation of the effects of climate change on flood frequency in the Luvuvhu River Catchment, Limpopo Province, South Africa(WIT Press, 2014) Kundu, P. M.; Singo, R. L.; Odiyo, J. O.; Nkuna, R. N.Climate change poses a great risk to natural resources and agriculture in the Luvuvhu River Catchment. The catchment has experienced floods resulting from higher than normal rainfall associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone and cyclones, which have caused enormous damage to property and impacted negatively on fauna and flora and human livelihoods. In order to understand the dynamics involved in the effects of climate change in the catchment, annual maximum flow data was used to evaluate flood frequencies. The distribution models used in the study included the Generalized Extreme Value distributions, the Gumbel Extreme Value type I distribution, the Log-normal distribution and the Log Pearson type III distribution. The extreme value analysis showed that the Log-normal and Log-Pearson type III distributions provided the best fit, which could be used to derive the probability of occurrence of flood events. The results showed a general increase in the frequency of extreme events, accompanied by floods of higher magnitude.