Agricultural company recognised
One of the country’s biggest agricultural companies has been recognised for ensuring its environmental protection capabilities are continually improving.
Corteva Agriscience received a Taranaki Regional Council environmental leadership in business award for the upgrade of a chemical storage compound at the company’s Paritutu site, near Port Taranaki. The United States-owned company, previously known as Dow AgroSciences, manufactures agricultural herbicides and insecticides at the site, which has been operating since the 1960s.
Dow AgroSciences became Corteva Agriscience in June this year after the merger between industrial giants DuPont, and Dow Chemicals in 2017.
The New Plymouth site produces farm herbicides such as Grazon Xtra and Tordon Pasture Boss. Raw materials used to produce herbicides and insecticides for the New Zealand and Australian agriculture market are transported to the site and stored in the chemical storage compound, which provides a secondary containment protection area.
Site manager Dave Clarke said the upgrade to the storage compound involved consultation with Nga¯ti Te Whiti hapu on the location of a nearby wahi tapu, or burial site. The former asphalt surface of the 2560 square-metre storage area was replaced with a sealed concrete surface resilient enough to withstand any potential leakage from damaged drums of raw materials.
The storage compound was designed to withstand a one-in-25 year flood event, Clarke said.
‘‘The company has regulatory requirements to comply with but introduced extra safeguards to further prevent any impact on the environment.
‘‘We’re constantly looking to improve our environmental management.’’