COODE ISLAND
COMMUNITY
CONSULTATIVE
COMMITTEE
Adopted Minutes
Thursday, 10th
August, 2006
|
PRESENT |
|
|
Robin CICCC / |
Faye Simpson: |
|
Ian Thomas: Community |
Theo |
|
Deborah Community |
Quentin Cooke: Env. |
|
Michael Community |
George Horman Managing |
|
Bro Sheffield Community |
Carlo Fasolino |
ITEM 1. WELCOME
BY THE CHAIR, APOLOGIES & CONFIRMATION OF DRAFT AGENDA
Robin Welcomed
all in attendance.
Apologies
Geoff Cooke, Peter LaRose, Sue Chatterton
Confirmation
of draft agenda – adopted
ITEM 2. CONFIRMATION
OF DRAFT MINUTES MEETING 13th April, 2006
Robin: Draft minutes of 15 June, 2006 confirmed with minor amendment, as
follows:
Page
2, 3rd last para “…vapours will be sent to the combustor”, and
Page
3, 2nd last para: “Converting plastics into bio diesel didn’t fit
into the category that would be granted excise free status by the government.”
.
ITEM 3: REPORTS
FROM AGENCIES
TERMINALS PTY LTD
Presented by Carlo Fasolino and
George Horman
Carlo Presented
the Operations and Occurrence Report for June/July 2006 (attached). Drew
attention to the first shipment of Pygas which was made in July, and which went
smoothly. The actual transfer to the ship was quite slow (60 tonnes/hour), as
the product was in a temporary tank with a small pump. When the two larger
tanks are used, the transfer will be at a higher rate.
Reference
was made to the new requirements for customers of Terminals Pty Ltd to pay 38
cents per litre excise on hydrocarbons that are capable of being used in fuel.
Formerly companies only had to pay the excise if they declared the product as
being used in fuels. Now the excise is taken at the storage stage, and the
customer can claim it back if they can demonstrate that the product has been
used for something other than a fuel.
The last phase of the
clean-up of contamination from Terminal’s lease area east of Mackenzie Road
(now handed over to P&O Ports for container storage) is in progress. An EPA
accredited auditor has submitted a CUTEP (Clean Up To The Extent Practicable)
report to EPA. If EPA accepts the report, the auditor will then issue a
Statement of Environmental Audit that will permit the intended use of the site
and define continuing obligations such as the continuation of groundwater
monitoring. George Horman, Terminals Pty Ltd Australian Manager, advised (and
EPA confirmed) that the final review by EPA for the CUTEP is imminent.
Terminals will still have ongoing responsibility for the site east of Mackenzie
Road (now leased by P&O Ports) for monitoring and any further clean-up that
the monitoring may show is necessary.
There is a small pocket
where some residual chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants have been identified,
just north of where a large old benzene tank was located. It appears that this
may be the result of old pipe-cleaning (pigging) operations, causing
contamination in the groundwater under the cleaned up area.
George George
advised that the original testing of the east side for contamination,
undertaken by ERM at a cost of $380,000, assessed the amount of contaminated
ground at less than 20% of the site area, down to the water table (a depth of
about one and a half metres). In fact the amount of contaminated material
removed was almost double that at about 40%, and the final cost was about $9.7
million, of which Burns Philp (a previous owner of Terminals Pty Ltd) was
responsible for a contribution of $2.7 million.
George
also advised that from the beginning it was known that the contamination would
never be completely removed, as some contaminants are water soluble.
Quentin In answer to a question about
EPA options, Quentin advised that EPA could either accept that the clean up was
satisfactory, or require Terminals to do further clean-up work.
George In answer to a question by Faye
about treatment of the hot-spot of residual chlorinated contaminants, George
advised that monitoring would continue, and records of the monitoring would be
kept by both Terminals and EPA.
Quentin In response to a question from
Deborah about how long the soil being remediated had been like it was, Quentin
advised that it has only been in recent years that EPA has had its present
focus on groundwater. George and Carlo added that the contamination issue was
brought to light in the 1992 due diligence before the purchase of Plant C by
Powell Duffryn, and the later due diligence when Burns Philp offered the
facility for sale in 1997.
Carlo In
response to a question about whether the combustor temperature could be lowered
below the 750˚ (reported in the April 2006 minutes). Carlo advised that
although a further reduction in the operating temperature would use less gas
(saving energy, cost and greenhouse gasses), the problem was that carbon
monoxide levels would rise due to incomplete combustion. The committee advised
that it would like to see CO, SO2, NOx and any other identified
emissions from the combustor reported separately in the monthly report in the
future. Some advice from Terminals on the relative merits of reducing
greenhouse gases versus increasing CO (a toxic gas) was also requested.
Action:
Separate combustor emissions into constituent gases (particularly CO and NOx)
in future Monthly reports, and provide advice on the desirable compromise
between increased CO and decreased greenhouse gases (by Terminals).
George Advised that due to
unprecedented growth in Terminals business, the Engineering Division of
Terminals was being centralized in Melbourne. It is anticipated that additional
staff will be sourced in the short term.
Robin Advised that
the Terminals Geelong web site was now operational (www.tgccc.org). Ian evinced
some interest in the TGCCC meetings, and Robin will send him an agenda for the
October 9th Meeting.
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY
Presented by Quentin Cooke
Quentin: Stated that his main interest was
in the Maribyrnong Audit being undertaken. A 200 page draft report has been
prepared by Peter Nadebaum of GHD for EPA. The original concern was leaching of
pyretic fill commonly used as bunding along the river (upstream and downstream
from Coode Island), with the release of arsenic. It is likely that this is not
as big an issue as feared, with the main contamination coming from old
industrial sites (e.g those using sheep dips) on the western side of the
Maribyrnong River. Any groundwater contamination reaching the river is subject
to dilution from tidal flows.
Bro
asked if heavy metal contamination was really static at Coode Island, and
George and Quentin confirmed that to be the case. Groundwater flow rates at
Coode Island are of the order of 0.1metre per year, so it would take 100 years
to travel 10 metres.
Quentin Also stated that he was
working on the Terminals Geelong issues (approval process for bitumen and
bio-diesels).
CITY OF MARIBYRNONG
Presented by Theo Pykoulas
Theo: No new
planning developments. Concerning the implementation of the Emergency
Communications System after its successful trial, Council is awaiting a further
report from the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner of a trial in the
Yarra Ranges (with a focus on bushfires). Theo advised that following that
report, it was likely that the government would consider funding in the context
of the next budget.
ITEM 6 NEWSLETTER
Robin Robin Introduced
the item, referring to George’s email of 26 July 2006, and his own of 7 August
2006, and his summary of the purpose of the Newsletter (To inform the community
about the Terminals Coode Island facility, and the CICCC. The newsletter should
succinctly state the role of Terminals Coode Island Facility, and the role of
the CICCC. It should highlight the improvements already made to the
facility, and those planned. It should highlight the successes of the
CICCC, and the need for additional community members.)
Ian Suggested
adding to the purpose, after the words “after those planned” the additional
words “and areas where work needs to be done”. An example given included things
we haven’t been able to achieve yet, such as the Emergency Management
Communication System. The suggestion as well received.
Deborah Stated
that it is important that we aren’t seen as lackeys of Terminals. The Committee
must be seen as an independent group.
Michael Shared
his experience with talking to residents over the last few years. Many have no
idea that Coode Island exists, while others are happy with what’s been done.
There
was some discussion about whether the newsletter needs to talk about “the bad
old days”: some thought the focus should be the future, while others thought
the “bad old days” provide a benchmark for the improvements that have taken
place.
Theo Stated
that the Terminals leaflet at the time of the Safety Case provided useful
background information.
Ian Tabled
a number of newsletters from other chemical complexes.(e.g Whitehall Street
users group).
Faye Stated
that it was important for the newsletter to say how Terminals was mitigating
the risk to the community.
Bro Stated
that he endorsed George’s view that the newsletter should focus on an Open Day
to be held.
Discussion
of the Open Day agenda included the provision of Audio/Visual material on things
like the 1991 fires and explosion, the upgrading of the west side, jacking up
the tanks to inspect and improve the tank bottoms and foundations, transporting
and lifting the Eastern Side tanks over to the western side, remediation of the
east side.
Bro
offered to meet with George to further discuss the Open Day planning, an offer
that was welcomed by George.
George Suggested that he engage Karen
Sherlock of Cliftons (Terminals’ PR Consultants) to talk with members of the
committee, and to prepare a draft of the newsletter, using the material already
prepared and available.
The
Committee agreed to this initiative, subject to the draft being further
discussed at the next meeting.
Action:
George to commission a draft of the Newsletter from Cliftons, and circulate
the draft by the end of September.
Deborah Drew attention to the need to communicate
with young people, and offered to have her brother and his students put
together a newsletter in a way that would engage with the youth.
ITEM 5 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE
COMMUNITY
Carlo Projected
an overhead of a suggested Table of Contents of the Annual Report to the
Community (subsequently emailed to members of the Committee). A number of
modifications were made to the Table of Contents during discussion (and these
are reflected in the circulated draft). Bro suggested that achievements need to
be reported against the criteria (set in the EPA licence, for example).
Action:
Members to provide any further feedback on the draft contents to Carlo by 18
August 2006. Carlo to provide a draft of the whole Report prior to the next
meeting, for discussion and finalisation.
ITEM 9 OTHER BUSINESS
George Tabled his revised notes titled
Coode Island Public Communication, addressing the need for wider interaction
with the community on all the activities at Coode Island (not just Terminals).
George will develop a strategy to take this work forward.
NEXT
SCHEDULED MEETING: 10 August, 2006
Meeting
dates for 2006 – 12th October, 14th December 2006.
t
MEETING CLOSED: 9:20 pm