By Max Hatzoglou
Brimbank council has approved AkzoNobel’s plans to construct an acoustic wall along the Barwon Avenue perimeter of the plant to reduce noise from the paint manufacturing factory.
Residents living near the 66-year-old Sunshine North paint factory have been complaining about excessive noise and odour since late 2019.
AkzoNobel announced the approval of the acoustic wall in its latest community update distributed on April 1 with engineering plans now being finalised.
As previously reported by Star Weekly, AkzoNobel indicated it would be able to reduce the noise problem before the odour.
Construction works for the acoustic wall are now being put out to tender with an eight to 10 week construction schedule expected.
The wall is expected to be completed by July or August this year.
During construction of the acoustic wall minimal disruption expected, although AkzoNobel did warn that there could be day-time noise during this period.
In the 30th community update, AkzoNobel said the odour management plan, completed by independent design and construction consultant Golder, was submitted to the EPA and remains under review.
AkzoNobel said it was working with relevant stakeholders to reduce the odour from the factory.
“AkzoNobel is working with its air quality consultants and engineers to identify viable mitigation measures for higher-emission sources within the paint plant,” AkzoNobel told residents in its community update.
“Another (Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer) RTO is the likely solution, but the high volume of air requiring treatment is a technical challenge.
“The engineers are looking at a solution called a concentrator, which concentrates the VOCs that need to be treated.
“Temporary solutions are being implemented in the interim, including keeping vessels closed as much as possible and installing condensers on some of the higher-emitting outlets to reduce their emissions.”
AkzoNobel is set to provide further updates in the coming weeks.
