Arnsberg, Germany -- Plans by chemicals company Berleburger Schaumstoffwerk (BSW) to open an MDI and TDI prepolymerization plant in Arnsberg have been scaled down due to objections from local residents and environmental campaigners.
Almost a hundred people officially objected to the planning application but when campaigners attended a council meeting last month (DEC) they found the company had already revised its proposal.
In the original application, BSW requested permission for tanks of 8m3 to store the substances used to make up MDI and TDI but the revised plans contained a request for tanks of just 7m3.
The revised plans were outlined to the 25 objectors present at the hearing.
BSW CEO Rainer Poppel said the company could “get along with 1,000 litres.”
Poppel said his company had “gone through ups and downs in its 60 years but done nothing unlawful.”
The German authorities ruled that discussion would continue as BSW’s revision “merely constituted a partial withdrawal of the permit application [but] no significant change in the project.”
Benjamin Harms told the hearing that there would be “no structural change for the new facility” and that there would be no air pollutants produced without water.
He said that a carbon filter would eliminate any odours completely and that "minimal air pollution" could occur when filling the tank.
He also said that any error in substances’ recipe would result in professional disposal of the contents of what would remain a “closed mixer.”
