EMS recommends guidelines to prevent effluent from Bamboo Bioproducts’ operation

WESTERN BUREAU:

ANNMARIE GOULBOURNE, manager at Environmental Management Services (EMS), said that specific recommendations have been given to the investors of Bamboo Bioproducts International (BBI) on their plan for the construction and operation of a bamboo pulp mill in Friendship, Westmoreland, to mitigate the impacts it will have on the environment.

The BBI, a British-based company with offices in Kingston, has plans to establish and operate a bamboo market pulp mill with an investment of approximately US$300 million on lands that once grew sugar cane.

Goulbourne, in presenting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the proposed operation, said effluents from the washing and drying of pulp will end up in the environment, including the Cabarita River.

However, she said that EMS’s recommendations have clear guidelines as to how a wastewater plant and a retention pond should be constructed to either prevent or minimise the impact.

“(Bamboo Bioproducts) are going to be washing and drying pulp, so there is going to be some discharges with dissolved compounds in them,” Goulbourne told Westmoreland stakeholders in a public presentation on the proposed build-out and operation of a bamboo mill in the parish.

“What’s recommended is a wastewater treatment plant that is properly designed to filter these contaminants, so that they are removed by a membrane filtration system and that continuous quality monitoring is employed on a regular basis to record the readings and ensure that it is functioning efficiently,” she explained.

According to the EMS, the construction of proper buffer zones between the treatment plant, retention pond and the river are among the recommendations given to the investors, to prevent effluent from reaching the environment.

“The vision is to take all of what is to be removed before it is released into the environment,” Goulbourne said.

MINIMISE THE IMPACT

Ron Slucky, chief operating officer at BBI, acknowledged that his company’s proposed bamboo pulp mill is going to have some impact on the river, and assured stakeholders that they will be doing everything necessary to minimise the impact, including going above and beyond the EMS’s recommendations.

In that regard, he said that his company has secured Suez, the world’s largest wastewater treatment company, to design and build out its wastewater treatment facility for the mill, using the latest technology from around the world to mitigate the impact on the river and the parish’s water table.

“We will have an impact but it is a minimal impact,” Slucky admitted, while responding to questions from Dwight Muschette, a resident of Westmoreland, on how the company plans to prevent effluent from entering the Cabarita River.

“We are using a three-stage premium process which uses the best technology there is anywhere in the world,” he explained. “We will have them on contract to build, own and operate this water treatment plant for this mill to world-class standards which will meet NEPA (National Environment and Planning Agency) requirements, international requirements, and European best available standards.”

Slucky said that his company acknowledged and understands the need for excellence in water treatment, particularly for this project, to minimise the impact on the Cabarita River.

“In terms of the assessed impact on the Cabarita River, it’s minimal. We don’t anticipate seeing any changes in the natural river, flora and fauna and/or any impacts downstream,” Slucky told stakeholders, including local residents from Friendship and adjoining communities.

The Cabarita River has had its fair share of contamination from the operation of the Frome Sugar Factory over many decades, where effluents from their operations were emptied into it, killing fish and causing hardship to residents downstream who relied on the river fish as a source of income, and also for domestic purposes.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com