Global · Case study

Neptune Terminals, Port of Vancouver (Canada), Bulk Terminal Dust Suppression

Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaOngoing

The Port of Vancouver, Canada's largest port, hosts bulk terminals, run by terminal operators that lease port land, handling coal, potash, sulfur, grain, and other commodities (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, n.d.a).

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority reviews proposed projects through its project and environmental review (PER) process and sets permit conditions to avoid or mitigate impacts (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, n.d.c). For example, Neptune Terminals holds PER permit 21-068 to replace potash ship loading equipment and committed to keep site-wide dust suppression and monitoring in place during construction (Neptune Terminals, n.d.c).

Dust suppression at Neptune Terminals, which handles steelmaking coal and potash, includes high spray poles around the coal storage area, water added to coal along conveyors and on stacker reclaimers, a water spray truck for perimeter dust control, a wet scrubber at railcar unloading, and covered sheds, covered conveyors and shrouded cascade chutes at ship loaders for potash. Neptune scheduled an upgrade of its spray pole system for completion in late 2020 (Neptune Terminals, n.d.a).

The port authority works with regional government and other partners to monitor contaminants in the air (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, n.d.b). Neptune monitors PM10, PM2.5 and dustfall at one onsite and two offsite community stations, in a program designed with Metro Vancouver, the regional air quality regulator (Neptune Terminals, n.d.b). Neptune submits the reports to Metro Vancouver under its permit and publishes them online.

Transferability

For DMC ports, the Neptune Terminals case shows terminal-level dust suppression working alongside port authority project permitting.

The controls described are Neptune's own and should not be read as applying to all Vancouver terminals.

Transferable elements include, among others, application of multiple complementary dust control technologies, ambient monitoring aligned with regulatory and community expectations, and public reporting of monitoring results.

Sources

All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.