Environment, Health & Safety -
Minerals

Koch Minerals, LLC and its affiliates are among the world’s largest dry-bulk handlers of commodities such as petroleum coke, coal, limestone and sulfur. They apply a commitment to operating safely and in an environmentally sound manner at company terminals in the U.S. located on the West Coast, Upper Midwest and Gulf Coast

The companies’ operations teams continuously seek cost-effective ways to reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, and protect water. In addition, facilities work hard to be good neighbors in their communities. Koch Minerals companies seek suppliers, vendors and contractors who are committed to the same standards of excellence.

Accomplishments:

Four Koch Minerals sites have achieved STAR designation in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Programs for outstanding safety management programs and overall performance:

Koch Carbon, Long Beach, Calif.
Koch Carbon, Pittsburgh, Calif.
Koch Carbon, Corpus Christi, Texas
The C. Reiss Coal Company, Green Bay, Wis.

STAR recognition is the highest award in the Voluntary Protection Program, and requires an extensive review of a facility’s performance and management systems. Being designated as a STAR participant is a testament to sustained excellence in all areas of safety and health management systems.

Employees in Green Bay raise the VPP STAR flag over their facility.

Koch Carbon’s KCBX bulk terminal in Chicago has taken a number of steps to reduce air emissions. New environmentally friendly equipment has been purchased, such as a $1.3 million diesel-powered loader that makes moving product more efficient, while the engine technology produces fewer emissions. In 2008, reportable emissions were 6.5 percent less than in 2000, while production was 10.4 percent higher. Included in this emission reduction was a 31 percent reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic materials.

KCBX is actively reducing the environmental impact from its operations by using local environmental firms to dispose of used oil, aerosol cans and fluorescent light bulbs, as well as switching to nonhazardous solvents. Its storm water management program has been redesigned, improving the facility’s water containment system.

Along with the Field Museum and local school children, KCBX initiated a landscaping program that placed native plants along 100^th Street in Chicago. To ensure cleaner streets around the facility, the company installed a wheel wash for outbound trucks, and employees monitor the street frontage and remove litter left by motorists.

The C. Reiss Coal Company, which handles bulk materials such as coal and petroleum coke, has been successful at reducing dust originating from its Green Bay, Wis., facility. Since 2000, the facility has:

Reduced dust generation by discontinuing product screening which included the elimination of three screening machines, two conveyors and one product stacker;
Installed a dust suppression system and an anemometer to measure wind velocity and direction for more efficient use of the system;
Initiated sweeping of paved areas at the dock to control dust on days with no precipitation;
Hired a contractor to sweep State Street outside its facility twice daily when trucks are entering and leaving the site.

The Green Bay facility works cooperatively with the Brown County Household Hazardous Waste Facility to properly dispose of waste. It has been classified as a “small quantity generator” by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for its efforts.

C. Reiss Coal Company has developed specific systems to manage key health and safety risks, such as procedures for safely operating front-end loaders and lockout/tagout for all equipment at the site, among others. Audits – both internal and external – are conducted to help the team identify areas for improvement.

In November 2008, Koch Exploration Co.’s team in Aztec, N.M. was nominated by the Bureau of Land Management district office for its National Environmental Best Management Practices award. Companies are nominated based on their use of “environmental best management practices, which help achieve safe, environmentally responsible resource development, by preventing, avoiding, or mitigating adverse environmental or social impacts.”