The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating whether the Australian plant of a global explosives manufacturer may be operating in breach of licensing requirements amid confusion about the plant's production capacity.
Key points:
- Environment Protection Agency is trying to establish the plant’s production capability
- The explosives manufacturer may be operating in breach of licensing requirements in NSW
- Nine workers were killed in a blast at the company's Indian headquarters in December
Solar Mining Services (SMS) — a subsidiary of Solar Industries India — produces ammonium nitrate emulsion (ANE), a substance that enhances the size of an explosion.
Last month, nine workers died in an explosion at Solar Industries India's factory in Nagpur, a central district in Maharashtra state.
SMS established its Australian plant at a property called the Bogan Gate Explosives Reserve in central-west NSW in 2022 and has told the ABC it is operating beneath the threshold requiring an environment protection license.
"We do not have planning approval to produce more than 1,000 tonnes [of ammonium nitrate emulsion]," SMS executive director Vetkav Ramesh said.
"[We] have a letter from the EPA saying we don't need a licence for the 960t production."
The EPA has told the ABC the threshold pertains to a factory's capacity, not output.
Initial development application documents submitted by SMS to the local council and the EPA state the plant is designed to manufacture 10,000 to 25,000 tonnes a year.
Any factory with the capacity to produce more than 1,000 tonnes of the explosive a year requires the licence, which subjects an operation to specific regulation and enforced compliance by the watchdog.
An EPA spokesperson confirmed it had contacted the company "on a number of occasions" regarding its legal obligations.
"If Solar Mining Systems are operating a facility with capacity to produce more than 1,000 tonnes of ANE per year, they may require an environment protection licence," the spokesperson said.
"We are still holding discussions with Solar Mining Systems about the current capacity of the plant.
"The EPA is investigating and will consider further regulatory action if needed."
Request 'out of the blue'
Mr Ramesh said the EPA's suggestion that the company requires an environment protection licence had come "out of the blue".
He said the company's local safety record was "outstanding" when it came to ammonium nitrate production.
"No major accidents have occurred in Solar [ammonium nitrate emulsion] facilities in Australia and worldwide," he said.
The December blast at Solar Industries India's headquarters in Nagpur occurred in the factory's sieving and packing area and caused a concrete roof to collapse on the employees.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
A highly 'volatile' product
Michael Tooma is a leading health and safety lawyer with experience in ammonium nitrate regulation.
He said facilities handling and manufacturing products as hazardous the compound require tight regulatory "vetting".
"We know that ammonium nitrate is highly volatile. It even has security sensitivity," Mr Tooma said.
"It's known to be a terrorist's favourite bomb because it has devastating explosive capacity."
In the wake of high-profile ammonium nitrate disasters, such as the Port of Beirut during 2020 when 2,750 tonnes of stored ammonium nitrate detonated in Lebanon's capital, the NSW government has identified the need for law reform around the product's storage and handling.
"Other jurisdictions are further ahead in providing protections to the potential for things going wrong and the impact on critical infrastructure, residential areas and industrial complexes," Mr Tooma said.
Members of the Bogan Gate community recently flagged concerns about the proximity of the Bogan Gate Explosives Reserve to houses as well as its bushfire-prone site.
Mr Tooma said any resident living near an ammonium nitrate facility should rightly question whether there were adequate safety controls in place.
Editor's note 1/2/2024: A previous version of this article called ammonium nitrate emulsion a highly explosive compound. This has been amended to clarify it is a substance that enhances the size of an explosion.