“Gavigudet” Attended the Public Deliberation of the EIA Report of “GeoSteel” LLC

Today, on February 28, in the Rustavi City Hall, the public deliberation of the EIA report on the change of the operating conditions of the metallurgical enterprise of “Geosteel” LLC was held.

The meeting was attended by the civil movement “Gavigudet”, the representatives of the enterprise, the National Environmental Agency, Rustavi City Hall, and the city council.

Our group provided the information, about the public deliberation of the EIA report in advance. (See the post).

The current activity of the “Geosteel” LLC is steel production.

As of today, the annual performance of the metallurgical enterprise of “Geosteel” LLC is 175,000 t/year of rebars with a diameter of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 28, 32 mm.

The main raw material of the metallurgical enterprise is iron scrap, moreover, there is used hot briquetted iron and/or other colored metal raw materials.

According to the project of changing the operating conditions of the enterprise, it is planned to increase the productivity from 175,000 t/year provided by the basic project to 300,000 t/year. The increase in the performance of the enterprise will not be connected to the change/increase of the production capacities, and the increase will occur by increasing the power of the supplied electricity, which will reduce the duration of melting. And by changing the mode of melting (steel melting will be carried out in a 24-hour mode, instead of the current 12-hour mode). Accordingly, increasing the performance does not require the arrangement of additional infrastructure and the construction or reconstruction works in connection with this.

In addition, it is worth noting that for today, in the enterprise, the following measures to improve the efficiency of air cleaning systems are already implemented:

– In the foundry workshop the existing fan of 480 000 m³/h performance has been replaced with a new fan of a capacity of 560 000 m³/h. The efficiency of
absorbing of gases produced during the melting process, was significantly improved and the intensity of unorganized emissions from the melting workshop was reduced.

– A modern spark-killer was installed in the workshop, as a result, the system was improved in terms of reducing emissions, and the service life of a bag filter has increased.

– The existing mechanical cooling system was replaced by a new Italian-made mechanical cooling system with improved characteristics. (description on p. 73)

– The additional exhaust fan was installed (efficiency: 70 000 nm³/h), which has improved primary absorb and increased the efficiency of the system.

In order to prepare notes and comments regarding the EIA report, our team traditionally discussed the document. We voiced our comments at the public deliberation and the members of the enterprise clarified some tasks at the meeting. Although we have sent our comments to the National Environmental Agency, and we want to share it with you:

– As it is mentioned in the document, the company plans to temporarily place the slag and set up a processing production area. It is interesting, if this area will be partially closed or fenced, because the population lives quite near and during wind, the risk of thin fractions of slag getting covered in dust, is quite high. Also, it is interesting, during wind, what measures are provided against the fraction dusting?

As the representatives of the enterprise noted, the territory of the slag dump is surrounded by a protective fence, and the construction of the second fence is also underway.

– Question with central and local government/city council representative – in the EIA, on page 15, we read that according to the 2014 government technical regulations, residential development is not allowed in the industrial zone 1, and in 2019, according to the resolution of the city council, in the south-eastern part of the city, where such enterprises with a heavy industry profile have been operating for more than 60-70 years, like Rustavi metallurgical plant, cement plant, metallurgical plant of “Geosteel” LLC and others have been assigned the status of “Industrial Zone 1”. In addition, in 2011, the government handed over the building, which was in the production zone, (which previously belonged to the Rustavi metallurgical plant) to internally displaced persons and then legalized it for permanent residence.

In this case, decisions made by the government contradict each other, and in this matter, a system error is mentioned. So, it is necessary that this issue gets proper attention to prevent similar cases in the future, and the citizens of Georgia should be provided with safe housing in the appropriate residential area.

– The increase in the performance of the enterprise will not be related to the change/increase of the production capacities, and the increase will be by increasing the power of supplied electricity. But we also read that the performance of the enterprise will increase by about 72%. Therefore, it is interesting, as a result of the increased performance, compared to the current situation how much the amount of the released harmful substances rises.

– As it is clear from the report, both types of furnaces operate in the enterprise – electric arc and induction, and these furnaces never work at the same time. What is the principle of their alternating work – when one of them is in repair work or depending on the specifics of the business? – As it is known, dust emission from an induction furnace is 6 times less than from an electric arc furnace – therefore, it is interesting why the use of a full induction furnace is not preferred.

According to the company representatives, although the emission from the induction furnace is less, the melting process in the electric arc furnace is faster, and the melted products have better quality. In addition, the operation of the induction furnace is more expensive.

– In the document, it is mentioned that only two enterprises (“Rustavi Steel” and “Georgian Alloys Group”) emissions were used in the modeling of background emissions. Based on the fact that “Georgian Alloys Group” LLC is not functioning anymore and “MN Group-2021” LLC is operating instead, we would like to ask the ministry to check whether the data of the “MN Group-2021” LLC are indeed used in the background emissions of the EIA document or not?

– The enterprise agrees to make the data of the continuous self-monitoring system public. We would also like to ask the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia to provide publicity and availability of information provided by this and other enterprises, for example, through a platform like air.gov.ge.

The representatives of the enterprise once again agreed that they are ready to provide their data to the population in the form that the Ministry can publish.

– If there are any comments, it is preferable to send the letters sent by us to the Ministry electronically to the company as well, so that the errors don’t occur again. If the documentation is flawed and the letter includes our comments, it is recommended that this letter be sent electronically to the following e-mail address: gavigudet@gmail.com. In case of disregarding the notes, it is preferable, to inform us of the reason for this.

– Coming from the fact, that the civil movement “Gavigudet” actively follows the ongoing administrative proceedings in the Ministry, regarding the existing/planned activities of enterprises in Rustavi, attends public deliberations and sends comments, it is preferable, that the relevant decision or conclusion issued on a specific activity, be sent to us as well.