Boral bids for 24-hour work plant

AUSTRALIA’S biggest building materials company has applied to the Environment Protection Authority to run a 24-hour grinding mill in Geelong’s north.

If the Boral facility is given the go-ahead at the proposed North Shore site, it would have the capacity to produce 1.3 million tonnes of cement products per year.

The Lascelles Wharf facility would enable the company to unload clinker — the rough, chunky foundation that makes up cement — from ships to be delivered to the production site via covered belt conveyors.

“(The new site) is directly adjacent to the wharf complex, which would allow efficient unloading of clinker from ships,” a Boral spokesman said when the company first raised the concept late last year.

“Importantly, the site is also surrounded by other large industrial premises, meaning it is well separated and largely hidden from residential areas.”

Boral has also proposed constructing new equipment, including an enclosed ball mill and covered store, outdoor product stockpiles and clinker unloading and delivery infrastructure.

EPA development assessments manager Tim Faragher said Boral Cement required an works approval before starting any construction works on the clinker grinding mill.

“(Work approvals) are required for industrial and waste management activities that have the potential for significant environmental impact,” Mr Faragher said.

“EPA issues licences to sites that pose an environmental risk due to the nature of their activities.

“These sites are required by law to obtain permission for those activities and must operate within the limits of their licence and comply with license conditions.”

The EPA now has four months to make a decision on Boral’s application.