Port News: Renewing our coal air dust consent

LPC is in the process of renewing our Coal Air Dust Resource Consent with Environment Canterbury (ECan), and after submitting it in August 2021, it is ready to be publically notified. Our current consent was granted in 1997 and will expire this year.

What is public notification?

We lodged our consent application in August 2021 and it has now been notified by Environment Canterbury (ECan). We volunteered to publicly notify our application to make sure locals could have their say. We also consulted with nearby residents and held a drop-in session where the community could ask our team questions and share their feedback.

Submissions close on Wednesday 14 December at 5pm and more information on how to make a submission can be found on ECan’s website.

LPC will hold another drop-in session to talk to the community about the consent and answer any questions you may have. This will be held on Wednesday 23 November, from 6.00-7.30pm at the Lyttelton Recreation Centre (25 Winchester Street).

What coal does LPC export?

Approximately 95% of the coal we store at LPC is called “coking coal”. When most people think of coal, they think of thermal coal – which is burned for heat and is widely associated with the effects of climate change. Coking coal, however, is actually one of the ingredients used to make steel. New Zealand coking coal is considered some of the best in the world and significantly contributes to our regional economy.

How does this impact our community?

An issue with coal storage and handling is the dust that can get blown off the yard on windy days. We minimise coal dust in a range of ways, for example spraying water on the yard using a water truck and sprinkler system when high-risk weather is identified.

Since our previous consent was issued, new national standards for air quality have also come into effect as part of the Resource Management Act (RMA). The new standards require detailed assessments to be completed as part of the application. We’re pleased to say that data collected by a highly sensitive live monitoring station found that all dust levels, including coal dust, are sitting well below the National Environmental Standards.

We appreciate this process can be quite technical and we’re happy to answer any questions you may have! More information and detailed FAQs are available on our website here, or get in touch with us by emailing LPCcommunications@LPC.co.nz.

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