Air quality

Sources of emissions (A_05)

The main causes of a drop in the port's air quality are related to dust and particulate emissions.

The main emission hotspots and their relevance are broken down below⁴:

1. Industrial activities at concessions: Calculated as the number of concessions where the industrial activities imply emissions channelled to the atmosphere.
2. Emissions from vehicle engines
3. Emissions from moored vessels and cruise ships
4. Handling solid bulk suing conventional means: Calculated as the number of companies with stowage licence that move bulk by means of bucket/conventional hopper/lorry or bucket/stored-on-wharf/shovel/lorry or lorry/conventional-conveyor-belt.
5. Handling bulk using uncovered special systems: Calculated as the number of companies with uncovered or partially covered freight transport continuous systems.
6. Storage of solid bulk outdoors: Calculated as the number of concessions that store solid bulk outdoors.
7. Emissions from truck box with no canopy
8. Works
9. Cleaning and paint hulls: Calculated as the number of concessions that clean and paint hulls outdoors.
10. Other activities (specify which)

⁴ Order of relevance. Score the order of relevance of each hotspot from 1 upward, until all the significant hotspots present in the port or ports are covered.

Complaints or reports regarding emissions to the atmosphere (A_06)

Huelva Port Authority has a specific procedure for receiving and managing environmental complaints, which are channelled through the registry or by email through a special section of the website. Thus, suggestions or complaints are formally logged and then sent to the relevant department to be managed in a timely fashion, along with the relevant answer being sent to the user.

No formal complaint was received in that regard during 2021.

The port authority continues to monitor environmental aspects related to port operations and the concessions. It specifically monitors for episodes of possible atmospheric emissions in service area in order to establish the appropriate corrective and preventive measures, as necessary.

Measures adopted by Huelva Port Authority to control emissions (A_07)

The measures implemented were:

1. Installing a plant windbreaker screen along the Ingeniero Juan Gonzalo Wharf.
2. Best practices guides and voluntary environmental codes.
3. Direct supervision on the wharves by Port Authority technicians.
4. Sprinkling systems for bulk stockpiles and roads.
5. Wind speed information and warning systems.
6. Air quality forecasting system
7. Fixed sprinkling system in the storage area of the Ingeniero Juan Gonzalo and Ciudad de Palos wharves.
8. Mobile sprinkling system and intensive cleaning of spillages on roadways.

Air quality monitoring stations (A_08)

As regards controlling the air quality, operations are constantly monitored, particularly in the bulk grain loading and unloading areas (as these are the most significant pollution hotspots), establishing specific measures during the operations including sprinkler systems if necessary for the dusty operations.