the big dry the importance of water conservation measures anglesea environment report AUGUST 2006 Inside the ‘Best Practice’ Environment Report: Air Emissions Water Monitoring Water Conservation Animals of the Anglesea Heath: White-faced Heron Updates on Rainfall, Town Water Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Environmental improvement - progress towards 2006 targets Plus we talk to an employee about their contribution to improving the environment ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT AUGUST 2006 air Air Monitoring Stack Monitors Average Maximum Opacity g/m3 10-minute average 0.054 0.130 Stack SO2 kg/min 1-hour average Licence limit 111.34kg/min 67.50 76.21 Ambient Monitors SO2 1 hour ppb Average Maximum Community Centre 3 170 Primary School 4 246 Mt Ingoldsby 1 10 Scout Camp 10 168 Camp Wilkin 2 68 Camp Road 5 112 Ambient Monitors SO2 Maximum 1 hour averages (ppb) Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Community Centre 2 41 2 3 5 3 29 20 9 3 2 3 12 2 2 5 4 27 3 6 47 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 35 3 Primary School 1 8 0 0 10 0 36 114149 1 1 4 1281 0 246 2 115 25 25 24 6 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 41 27 Mt Ingoldsby 0 0 0 0 9 2 0 8 3 6 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 6 Scout Camp 59 6 14 5 19 4 68 61 134 7 77 10 6 65 73 39 154 73 168 5 81 140 43 5 4 6 56 54 48 70 5 Camp Wilkin 1 2 1 2 8 3 3 3 6 3 2 3 68 3 17 3 2 2 1 2 3 3 2 2 Camp Road 4 4 3 2 10 3 30 26 80 4 4 4 45 3 6 10 3 93 33 58 112 45 3 2 3 3 4 3 15 43 93 EPA Intervention Level 210 Alcoa Local Standard 170 1 2 0 0 14 2 0 6 10 9 10 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 36 2 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT AUGUST 2006 water Water Storage Barwon Water storage levels within the Geelong system at 29.1% capacity. Stage 1 restrictions apply. Water Discharge ML August Total Ashponds (SP1) 148 1156 Mine (SP4) 0 0.8 Water Monitoring SP1 SP4 SP3 14/08/2006 Ashpond Mine Final EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result pH 4-10 8.6 3-9 - 5-9 7.3 Susp. Solids 100 3 100 - 30 <2 Colour 50 3 50 - 50 4 Aluminium 10 0.2 10 - 5.5 < 0.1 Iron 10 0.6 0 - 4.0 < 0.1 Zinc 0.4 < 0.1 2.0 - 0.3 < 0.1 WATER WATER USAGE PER MONTH (ML) Date JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG Town Water 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5 1.6 0.8 1.0 1.1 9.0 Bore Water 279 243 285 237 210 218 238 240 1950 Mine Water 81 82 81 92 106 88 93 101 724 SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 300.0 3000 250.0 2500 200.0 2000 150.0 1500 100.0 1000 50.0 0.0 500 0 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT AUGUST 2006 water conservation In this, Victoria’s tenth year of low rainfall, with a growing population, climate change and degrading river systems, we need to change the way we use water. Water is scarce, we need to use it wisely. Alcoa Anglesea is proving successful in it’s bid to use its town water more wisely with a reduction from 35 ML in 2000 to 18 ML in 2005. This trend has continued into 2006, where our forecast for the year is 14ML of town water. These reductions have been achieved by process improvements plus water saving measures such as flow restrictors on taps, showers + basins, conversion of toilets to low grade water for flushing and improved work practices by employees. Further water conservation can be achieved if we consider water in the planning of our work: is the use of water necessary, and if it is, can it be substituted with a lower grade water? An example of using low grade water is the dust suppression program in the mine. Here, low grade water is used in preference to higher quality water suitable for other purposes. With local water storage levels currently at 29%, Stage 1 water restrictions were implemented by Barwon Water on July 1, 2006. These restrictions apply to our activities here at Alcoa Anglesea - the plant car wash was recently converted to using GS (treated bore) water and all town water hoses should have a trigger nozzle attached. These Stage 1 restrictions are in addition to the permanent water by-laws. Under these by-laws, the washing of concrete surfaces with town water, even with a hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, is not permitted. If using a broom is not sufficient, concrete surfaces should always be cleaned using low grade water. We need to find smarter ways to use and manage our water. We don’t want to be in the same space as parts of regional Victoria. Coliban Water, which provides Bendigo’s water supply, has just introduced Stage 4 water restrictions, with their reservoirs at 14% of capacity. These restrictions include a ban all outside watering of gardens, lawns and sportsgrounds and only windows and headlights of cars may be washed. ANIMALS OF THE ANGLESEA HEATH White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) Size: Description: Distribution Habitat: Food: 70cm unlikely to be mistaken for any other heron, it’s grey plumage and prominent white face is distinct. It has a long slim neck, and a pointed grey-black bill. The legs are long and dull yellow in colour. the most commonly seen heron in Australia, they are found throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania and most coastal islands. They also occur in Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia and New Zealand can be found anywhere where there is water, from tidal mudflats and coastal reefs, waterways, lakes, and dams, to moist grasslands and gardens a variety of prey including fish, insects and amphibians obtained by standing or walking in shallow water watching for movement WHITE-FACED HERON ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT AUGUST 2006 LAND RAINFALL (mm) Month JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG 2006 Rainfall 46.2 19.6 7.3 37.1 129.4 17.0 40.8 26.0 323.4 1968-2005 Average 44.6 43.9 42.5 53.5 59.3 60.8 61.1 67.0 432.6 SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 100 7 0 0 .0 0 90 6 0 0 .0 0 80 5 0 0 .0 0 70 60 4 0 0 .0 0 50 3 0 0 .0 0 40 30 2 0 0 .0 0 20 1 0 0 .0 0 10 0 .0 0 0 WATER TOWN WATER USE (ML) 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Process 23.9 14.6 13.1 16.7 15.0 13.5 6 . 1 0.7 0.7 0.8 1.1 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.7 Amenity 11.6 6.6 2 . 9 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.2 0.4 0.4 1 .8 6.6 5.0 4.0 2.6 4 0 .0 1 .6 3 5 .0 1 .4 3 0 .0 1 .2 2 5 .0 1 .0 2 0 .0 0 .8 1 5 .0 0 .6 1 0 .0 0 .4 5 .0 0 .2 0 .0 0 .0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 JA N F E B M A R A P R M A Y JUN JU L A U G S E P O C T NO V D E C AIR GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) TOTAL (Mt) & GHG EMISSION EFFICENCY (t/MWh) 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 1.42 1.62 1.56 1.45 1.34 1.25 1.20 1.38 1.42 1.53 1.23 1.27 1.50 1.45 1.47 1.31 1 . 4 9 GHG Mt GHG t/MWh 1.34 1.35 1.33 1.32 1.31 1.33 1.38 1.34 1.30 1.30 1.24 1.19 1.21 1.21 1.20 1.21 1 . 1 9 2 1600000 1 .8 1400000 1 .6 1 .4 1 .2 1200000 1000000 1 800000 0 .8 600000 0 .6 400000 0 .4 200000 0 .2 0 0 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT AUGUST 2006 environmental improvement Environmental Management Targets August 2006 Total Forecast 2006 Target Reportable Environmental Incidents 0 0 0 0 Monthly EHS ASAT Audit Completion (%) 100 94 94 90 Air Emission Targets August 2006 Total Forecast 2006 Target Ambient SO2 ( no. readings > 210ppb) 1 3 5 0 Stack SO2 (no. hrs > 100kg/min) 0 0 0 0 SO2 Load Reductions 13 78 117 N/A 1.17 1.19 1.19 1.20 Opacity (10 min av > 0.25g/m normal operation) 0 0 0 0 Water Targets August 2006 Total Forecast 2006 Target Town Water (ML) 1.1 9.0 13.5 17.2 Bore Water (ML) 238 1950 2925 2440 Waste Targets August 2006 Total Forecast 2006 Target Waste to Landfill (t) 4.66 7.36 11.0 10.0 Solid Prescribed Waste to Landfill (t) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 GHG Efficiency (t CO2 e/MWh) 3 Mine Rehabilitation Targets 2006 Total 2006 Target 2006 Area Cleared (ha) 3.3 3.3 2006 Area Rehabilitated (ha) 7.5 > 3.3 2005 Mine Rehabilitation Species Richness (%) N/A 100 OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR EMPLOYEES.. J ohn, Alcoa Anglesea has made some significant water savings rrecently ecently ou wer e involved in much of ecently.. Y You were this work, so it must be a pleasing result? Yes it was, as it happened some of the gains were achieved by some very simple solutions. The fitting of flow restrictors to all amenity water outlets was one project that gave some very significant savings. How can employees best minimise water use? Make water conservation a part of the daily work routine, try high pressure washing instead of hosing things down for example. Water conservation should be a mind set, both here at Anglesea and at home. We are all encouraged to help with minimising water use across the site, the Water Lead Team is an ideal forum for people to table their ideas, this can be done by talking to either myself or any of the team members. Can we reduce our water usage further? Yes there are always new products and recycling processes being introduced. I feel that the largest gains to be made in the future will be in water recycling and storm water capture for reuse. Water conservation is now a part of everyday life and it is an evolving agenda. ...JOHN BINDOKAS