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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 333 asked in the Legislative Council on 5 September 2017 by Hon Robin Chapple

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 817- View tabled paper


Question

I refer to works approval W4701/2010/1 for Yara Pilbara Nitrates’ ammonium nitrate plant which states, in part, under paragraph 4.1.1, "The Works Approval Holder shall, at least three months prior to commencing commissioning, submit a commissioning plan for approval by the Director", and ask:

(a) from where is this commissioning plan available;
(b) if it is not available, why not;
(c) has a commissioning plan been completed or submitted;
(d) has Yara produced a report on scrubber efficiency and ammonium nitrate particulate release for the commissioning process;
(e) will the Minister please table the commissioning plan and associated report from Yara, where applicable; and
(f) if the commissioning plan has been completed and submitted, but is unable to be tabled or made available to the general public, why not?
Answered on 1 November 2017

(a)-(c) The commissioning plan was submitted by Yara Pilbara Nitrates Pty Ltd in accordance with condition 4.1.1 of Works Approval W4701/2010/1. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) does not generally publish commissioning plans as they form part of the Department’s ongoing assessment and deliberative processes, and they often contain commercially sensitive information. However DWER, in consultation with Yara, has advised that the commissioning plan can be tabled here today [see tabled paper no].

(d) Yara has produced a commissioning report in accordance with condition 5.1.4 of Works Approval W4701/2001/1. The report includes information on the environmental performance of equipment installed compared against the design specification or targets set out in the works approval, including the results of particulate monitoring conducted, from which a scrubber efficiency can be determined.

(e) – (f) As mentioned before, the commissioning plan is tabled. The commissioning report is not tabled as it may contain information which is confidential and commercially sensitive. The DWER will consult with Yara to specifically identify which, if any, sections of the report need to be redacted in accordance with legal requirements. The DWER intends to publicly release the report with its decision on the licence amendment application and has advised that it will send the report and related decision documents to the Member for Mining and Pastoral Region at that time.

Should the consultation with Yara and any required redaction be completed prior to the decision on the licence amendment application, I will provide the report to the Member for Mining and Pastoral Region at that time.