The United Sugar Company of Egypt (USCE) aimed to construct a beet-sugar production plant at Sokhna Port, as an extension of its existing raw sugar refinery. The company commissioned Environics to carry out the EIA for this project.
Environics conducted site and field visits, and document reviews to prepare the EIA, which covered the construction and operation phases of the project. The scope of the EIA included:
– Beet reception, storage, transport, and treatment;
– Production processes of extraction, pressing, drying, pelletizing, purification, compression, evaporation, filtration, condensation, crystallization, and others;
– Waste disposal and biological wastewater treatment.
The EIA comprised two separate studies: An Air Dispersion Modeling Study and a Traffic Impact Assessment Study.
The Air Dispersion Study applied Mathematical Modeling to estimate the cumulative impact of the USCE facility, within which the new sugar beet line was to be constructed. The study included: Description of the location and identification of sensitive receptors; Air emission sources and characteristics; Air pollution dispersion modeling; Climate and dispersion meteorology; Air pollution dispersion models; Model results and assessment criteria.
The Traffic Impact Assessment Study aimed at identifying the potential impacts of the additional traffic loads caused by the sugar beet facility, and proposing mitigation measures as needed. The study included: Results and data analyses of the traffic survey; Evaluation of the level of service of relevant roads; Evaluation of level of service with respect to weaving distances, and Conclusions and recommendations.