EPA imposes mandatory audit on Qenos plant after 12 incidents in three years

Polyethylene and polymer manufacturer Qenos will be subject to a mandatory audit after multiple environmental incidents at its Matraville site over the last three years, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has announced.

The EPA’s Metropolitan Director Giselle Howard said since 2011 Qenos has breached or potentially breached sections of the Protection of the Environment Operations (POEO) Act and conditions of its environment protection licence 12 times.

“The breaches ranged from the repeated discharges of effluent and cooling water, to minor flaring events and records of increased particle emissions as a result of maintenance,” Howard said.

“Consistently poor environmental performance such as this is unacceptable to both the EPA and the community. These kinds of incidents all had the potential to cause harm to the environment and in instances where environmental harm did occur the EPA issued penalty notices to the company.

“The EPA considers that the repeated occurrences of these kinds of incidents at this site indicate that certain aspects of Qenos’ operating processes, particularly in regards to environmental protection and performance, are not being carried out satisfactorily. A mandatory audit forces the company to identify and improve these areas.”

As part of the mandatory audit, Qenos will be required to employ the services of a qualified environmental auditor approved by the EPA, who will carry out a detailed assessment. This assessment will involve site inspections and interviews with staff, as well as a review of all equipment, safety and maintenance records, processes and procedures.

“The aim of a mandatory audit is to improve the environmental performance of a licence holder where a history of non-compliance has been identified,” Howard said.

“This is just one of a number of tools the EPA can use to achieve environmental compliance, including additional penalty notices, official warnings, additional licence conditions, mandatory audits, enforceable undertakings, legally binding pollution-reduction programs and prosecutions.”

Qenos has six months to complete the audit and provide the audit report to the EPA with its findings and proposed actions to address any issues identified. If the company fails to comply with the audit’s requirements the EPA may have grounds to take further regulatory action.

For more information about the EPA’s regulatory tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy: www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm.