The province of Groningen gives ESD-SIC a new ultimatum. The chemical company in Delfzijl has been given six months to put a plan on the table to put an end to the stubborn odor nuisance within three years.
The province has been bickering with the company for years about reducing the nuisance that local residents experience for miles around. ESD-SIC has been making silicon carbide at the Farmsum industrial estate near Delfzijl since 1977, a hard raw material for grinding wheels and soot filters, among other things.
Production via extreme heating of petroleum coke causes a nuisance
Silicon carbide (SiC) is produced by heating petroleum coke to a temperature of 2500 degrees. This is done in ovens in the open air covered with foil. During the production process, the pressure under that coating can become so high that dust explosions or ‘blowers’ are created that spread dust particles for miles around.
Another major complaint from the surrounding area is the smell of rotten eggs that spreads around the factory because hydrogen sulfide is sometimes released during production. While the ‘blowers’ seem to be under control in recent years thanks to investments of millions in measures, odor nuisance remains a more persistent problem, according to the nuisance app that the province has set up for local residents.
The province summoned ESD-SIC last year to come up with plans to reduce odor nuisance ‘to an acceptable level’ after the blower problem. The company protested, but without success. The provincial government rejected the company’s retention and sent a new ultimatum this week.
The smell is so serious that the province does not count on a quick solution
In fact, the province wants to banish the smell within a year. But the company will be given extra time of up to two years because the measured exceedances of the odor standards are ‘so significant that we do not expect you to be able to take the full step (to clean up the smell, ed.) in the short term’, as stated in the letter to ESD.
It is unclear whether the company can and will comply with the province’s summons. The ESD management was not available on Friday to provide a definite answer. The company can further appeal against the new ultimatum and if that too is rejected, go to court.
It would not be the first time that ESD and the province have crossed legal swords. In recent years, they have repeatedly faced each other in court because of the nuisance caused by the factory. Last year, ESD-SIC successfully defeated a penalty of 750,000 euros that the province wanted to impose if the company did not put an end to the problem of the blazers.
New agreements were made at the negotiating table last year
Since then, the legal hatchet has been buried and the parties have moved to the negotiating table. At the end of last year, this resulted in a package of new agreements in the environmental permit. For example, ESD-SIC promised to monitor more closely the emissions of ‘substances of very high concern’ such as SiC fibres, heavy metals and PAHs. The company also agreed to a ‘minimization obligation’ to continuously reduce the emission of hazardous substances, ‘if possible to zero’.