NSW Ports, Bunding and Spill Containment at the Port Botany Bulk Liquids Berths

Port Botany is the main bulk liquid and gas port in New South Wales. Its bulk liquid precinct handles over 5.5 million kilolitres of bulk liquids and gas each year (NSW Ports, n.d.a). NSW Ports operates two common user berths, Bulk Liquids Berth 1 (BLB1) and Bulk Liquids Berth 2 (BLB2). The berths sit next to Vopak Site B and the Elgas LPG caverns. They handle refined fuels, gases and chemicals, including LPG, diesel, biodiesel, ethanol, jet fuel and caustic soda. BLB2 received planning approval on 20 March 2008.

Berth operations follow a public Operational Environmental Management Plan (OEMP) prepared under New South Wales law, including the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW Ports, 2025). The OEMP covers both berths. The nearby tank storage is run by separately licensed operators (Quantem, Elgas and Vopak), each of which must keep its own environmental management plan, so this case covers the berths only (NSW Ports, 2025).

Approach

Bunded working platform. The working platform is bunded and closed off while bulk liquid is pumped. An inner bund at the manifold area holds minor spills or leaks of petroleum or chemicals. Stormwater collected in the bunds passes through an oil separator and gross pollutant trap before discharge to Botany Bay (NSW Ports, 2025).

Hose and pipe integrity. All hoses are pressure tested each year and tested with nitrogen before each use. New gaskets are used for each transfer. Start-up includes staged pressurization and monitoring to detect leaks (NSW Ports, 2025).

Supervised transfers with isolation. An operator is stationed in the vicinity of the transfer point to respond to incidents and isolate the transfer. Manual shutdown valves sit at each end of the flexible hose, and an emergency shutdown is installed at the base of the marine loading arm (NSW Ports, 2025).

Spill response. Minor spills on the wharf are cleaned up with spill kits kept at the end of the wharf. Spills to water are reported to the Port Authority of New South Wales VTS centre, which has trained staff and oil booms on duty 24 hours a day. Berth staff and terminal operators take part in annual emergency exercises (NSW Ports, 2025).

Inspection, reporting and audit. Spill containment systems are inspected daily or as needed. Incidents with significant off-site impacts must be notified within 12 hours under the BLB2 planning approval. Independent environmental audits are held every three years with the hazard audits, and the OEMP is reviewed every three years (NSW Ports, 2025).

Results

NSW Ports publishes the BLB2 compliance record online, including compliance tracking reports from 2011 to 2015 and independent environmental audits for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2020 and 2023 (NSW Ports, n.d.b). The OEMP has been kept current, reaching version 4.2 in April 2025 (NSW Ports, 2025).