Wheat exporter cuts dust levels

A plume of wheat dust released during a trial at Bunbury Port’s new Bunge wheat export berth has led to an investigation by the Department of Environmental Regulation.

The dust was released on July 17 during a trial of Bunge’s new facilities prior to its first shipment of 18,000 tonnes of wheat to the Philippines.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Regulation said a department investigation following a complaint about a dust emission found the Bunbury Port Authority was operating within its licence.

Bunbury Port Authority chief executive officer Kevin Schellack said Bunge advised the Bunbury Port Authority that it had implemented a number of additional controls to minimise future dust emissions.

He said Bunge would continue to undertake engineering improvements to the system prior to the next shipment of grain.

“This loading was the first shipment of grain through the berth and as such involved the commissioning of the loading system which unfortunately exposed some deficiencies in terms of dust control, ” Mr Schellack said.

The Bunbury Port Authority was in touch with Bunge last week and was monitoring dust levels.

“The port authority will continue to monitor Bunge’s operations to ensure a significantly improved standard with respect to dust control, ” Mr Schellack said.

“In addition, the port authority will meet regularly with Bunge to directly discuss issues raised by the community and observations by port personnel.”

The Department of Environmental Regulation’s spokeswoman said the department had asked the Bunbury Port Authority to adopt methods to reduce and prevent further dust emissions.

“When the department has received this feedback, it will then inspect the newly constructed silos, conveyors and ship loader, ” she said.

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