Clean Air

The refinery is required to monitor and test air emissions and ambient air (air surrounding the refinery) in accordance with approved Victorian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) guidelines. The licence requires a combination of manual (periodic) stack sampling, continuous emission monitoring and ambient monitoring at various off-site locations.

The refinery’s ambient air monitoring program continues and has involved an investment of $1.1 million. The results, which are NATA* accredited, showed local industrial emissions had minimal impact on the air quality surrounding the Geelong refinery.

It is a finding consistent with the EPA's own monitoring that air quality in the Corio area is generally good and consistently meeting State and national air quality objectives.

These include the:

• Particulate emission reduction project. A new filter was installed on the Residue Catalytic Cracking Unit (RCCU) in mid 2007. This has significantly reduce particulate emissions.
• Volatile Organic Compounds emission reduction project. Internal Floating Covers will be installed on storage tanks during 2007-2011. These will reduce vapour emissions significantly.

Quarterly odour audits continue to help identify sources of odour on-site. Community members with calibrated noses (noses tested for sensitivity) help the refinery have calibrated noses on call 24-hours a day. Using the slogan ‘Be a roaming nose’, all refinery personnel were encouraged to sniff out odour issues. Shell also engaged consultants to model major potential sources of refinery odour.

*NATA= National Association of Testing Authorities

Production of cleaner fuels is another way Shell Geelong Refinery is improving air quality.

• In recent years, Shell has invested around $210 million on facilities in Geelong to produce cleaner fuels with lower sulphur and benzene levels.
• In November 2004 the refinery’s new ultra low sulphur diesel production facility opened, 14 months ahead of Federal Government clean fuel deadlines.
• This was followed by the opening of a benzene saturation facility that enables the refinery to reduce the benzene in petrol from 3% to 1% in compliance with the 2006 Clean Fuel Legislation.
• Across Australia, the use of low benzene fuel from the Geelong refinery is reducing benzene emissions from vehicles by at least 66 per cent.
• Benzene emissions from the Geelong refinery - which were already well within public health and environmental guidelines - have dropped by more than a quarter as a result of the production of low benzene fuel.