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HomeNewsNakhodka MTP to Co-Found an Industry Environmental Association

Nakhodka MTP to Co-Found an Industry Environmental Association

04.09.2019

On September 4, 2019, Nakhodka Marine Trade Port CEO Vladimir Grigoriev joined the Environmental Aspects of Coal Transfer in the Far East discussion panel at the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. This event resulted in a resolution to establish an industry environmental association to supervise the implementation of the President of Russia’s decrees to ensure that the environmental conditions support health and well-being of the residents of the Russian Far East.

Representatives of the scientific community, experts from federal government and the leading port operators all agree that the key trigger in the development of the industry’s environmental regulations was the adoption of the new industry framework, NDT ITS-46 “Reduction of pollutant emissions and effluents during storage of goods (cargo)”, which is now the official standard used to evaluate the environmental safety initiatives in coal terminal operations.

Discussion participants also noted that major regional port operators were fully compliant with earlier environmental protection agreements with the Government of Primorsky Krai and local authorities and worked on a range of dust suppression initiatives.

Vladimir Grigoriev noted that Nakhodka MTP had installed dust screens and was using stationary and mobile water guns, and subjecting coal to special treatment to reduce dusting. On top of that, Nakhodka MTP enhanced the supervision of coal transfer technology and improved its monitoring system. The port now uses sensors for continuous measurement of dust content in the air, and cameras enabling regulatory authorities to monitor coal transfer online. Installation of cleaning systems and a rotary car dumper is underway.

The environmental initiatives taking place in Nakhodka are already bringing positive results, as demonstrated by measurements taken by the regulatory authorities, feedback from local residents, and the research of environmental conditions around the port conducted by the Far Eastern Federal University together with port leadership.

The discussion also covered the implementation of so-called “indoor coal transfer technology”. Discussion participants noted that this term has not been defined in federal statutes and lacks certainty. It is often understood as indoor coal storage, which could be a health and safety hazard as coal dust suspended in the air is highly explosive. Today, there are no completely indoor coal terminals anywhere in the world. Major European and Asian ports all store coal in open air using dust suppression technologies similar to those mandated by the new NDT framework and used by port operators under current agreements.

Following the discussion, its participants signed a resolution to establish an industry environmental association to ensure independent professional and public supervision of the Order of the President of Russia. The association will use the expertise of government authorities, educational institutions and public organizations. In addition to that, the industry community will carry on the research of the impact of port operations on the environment and the development of scientifically proven solutions to further update the NDT framework. There will be a special focus on the evaluation of residential health and safety risks associated with indoor coal storage, and on the active communication of environmental initiatives taken by port operators to the general public.

“Two years ago, the President mandated that coal transfer operations need to maintain favorable environmental conditions for the health and well-being of Nakhodka residents. Together with our colleagues, we have already done significant work to implement the environmentally safest technologies. This work brings evident results, as both experts and local residents note a significant reduction in the amount of dust in the city. We will keep working on these initiatives and ensure that we deliver on the President’s order. The creation of the industry environmental association will foster knowledge sharing among its participants and help pursue a scientific approach to future development of dust suppression technologies,” said Nakhodka MTP CEO Vladimir Grigoriev.