Kunda Nordic Cement II

completed

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW SUMMARYProject Name ESTONIA: Kunda Nordic Expansion ProjectRegion EuropeSector Cement Project No. 009282_____________________________________________________________________1. Kunda Nordic is an existing IFC investment within the cement manufacturing sector. Kunda Nordic, located in the North East of Estonia, was privatized in the early nineties and has since undergone a capital upgrade program, which has resulted in a 98.5% reduction in dust emissions. Kunda Nordic’s production is now complying with the most recent World Bank guidelines. The proposed project involves: i) modernization and upgrading of the cement mills; ii) construction of a new power plant to replace an old municipal heating plant and supply both power and heating to the plant and the nearby Kunda town; iii) expansion of the harbor to account for increased export capacity needs from other industries; iv) and a final privatization of the plant’s ownership.2. This is a category B project according to IFC`s environmental review procedure because specific impacts may result which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria. The review of this project consisted of information submitted by the project sponsor and the technical appraisal and site review completed by Europe Department staff and Technical and Environmental Department staff. The following potential environmental, health and safety impacts of this project were analyzed: · air emissions;· wastewater treatment and discharge;· solid waste handling;· noise;· impacts on coastal waters;· socio-economic impacts;· employee health and safety.Information provided on how these potential impacts would be addressed in the Kunda Nordic Cement expansion project is summarized in the paragraphs that follow.3. Air emissions from Kunda Nordic’s cement plant has over the last five years been reduced with more than 98.5% and is now in compliance with World Bank guidelines as given in the 1998 Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook (PPAH). There are minor exceedings from the clinker coolers, but these exceedings are far outweighed by an extraordinary good performance of the main air pollution control systems which keep dust emissions around half of the allowed 50mg/Ncm. The new power plant will be natural gas driven, is designed according to TA-Luft (German standard), and comply with the PPAH guidelines. The new power plant will replace an old municipal power plant, which is mainly operated on oil shale and does not have any flue gas treatment. The construction of the new power plant will eliminate the last major air pollution source in Kunda.4. Kunda has wastewater discharge permits allowing for 25 mg BOD/l, 25 mg TSS/l, pH 6-9, l mg oil/l, and 0.1 mg phenol/l. Actual values are 2-3 mg BOD/l, 3-10 mg TSS/l, 0.044 mg oil/l, and 0.01 mg phenol/l. All these values are well within the local permits and the PPAH guidelines. The new project will not change this situation.5. In 1997 Kunda produced 65,400 tons of waste of which 63,400 tons were kiln dust. Kunda has established a new landfill for this waste. Of the 63,400 tons kiln dust, 12,000 tons were used for pH control on agricultural fields. It is expected that the amount of kiln dust used for prevention of soil acidification will go up significantly over the next years, and the need for landfilling will decrease proportionally.6. Kunda Nordic’s existing facilities comply with both local regulations and World Bank guidelines for noise. The suggested location for the new power plant is near the boarder of the factory site, and there is a limited distance to the nearest residences. Therefore, Kunda will perform noise testing near these residences, and ensure that the new co-generation plant will not bring the noise level above 45 dB(A) at night time, or alternatively does not raise the noise level more than 3 dB(A) should the noise level already be above for other reasons.7. The establishment of the Kunda New Port, in 1995 has not resulted in significant changes in the coastal zone. The project includes boosting of the handling capacity of this port by widening the existing pier and establishing extra docking capacity, including one or two Ro-Ro docks. The widening of the pier will expand the handling area from 5.1 ha to 12.2 ha and this will double the capacity. An EIA report prepared for the port expansion concludes that the planned widening of the pier will not have any significant impact on the coastal environment.8. Kunda Nordic’s operations have, according to its own evaluations, resulted in a net creation of around 200 new jobs in the Kunda region over the last five years. To this has to be added jobs related to export industries benefiting from the establishment of the Kunda New Port. By expanding the port capacity Kunda Nordic is going to further support local export oriented industries, and will hereby have an additional positive socio-economic effect.9. Kunda Nordic has an established occupational health and safety training programs based on the parent company’s operations in the Nordic countries10. IFC will monitor ongoing compliance with World Bank environmental, health and safety policies and guidelines during the lifetime of the project by evaluating reports submitted annually to IFC by Kunda Nordic and by conducting periodic supervision.11. Based on its review of available information regarding potential environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures, IFC concludes that Kunda Nordic’s proposed expansion project will meet World Bank environmental, health and safety policies and guidelines, and host country requirements.L:\wpeu\NIELS\ESTONIA\Kunda expansion\KUNDA expansion.ERS.docNovember 23, 1998 9:21 AM