Anglesea eau october06

numero uno
peregrine chick going solo in 2006
anglesea environment report
OCTOBER 2006
Inside the ‘Best Practice’ Environment Report:
Air Emissions
Water Monitoring
Peregrine Falcons
Animals of the Anglesea Heath: Common Ringtail Possum
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 OCTOBER 2006
air
Air Monitoring
Stack Monitors
Average
Maximum
Opacity g/m3 10-minute average
0.061
0.338
Stack SO2 kg/min 1-hour average Licence limit 111.34kg/min 58.50
78.20
Ambient Monitors
SO2 1 hour ppb
Average
Maximum
Community Centre
3
81
Primary School
3
127
Mt Ingoldsby
1
122
Scout Camp
6
89
Camp Wilkin
1
121
Camp Road
5
125
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 37 3 3 81 3 4 7 3 4 4 33 2 -
-
-
-
1
2
3
3
3
Primary School
124 0
4
4
22 5
3
4
3
3
4
2
0
0
0
0
11 1
1
89 1
0
1 127 0
2
1
0
5
4
1
0
0
0 1
2 122 2
2
0
1
1
3
2
1
2
1
2
4
14 2
1
0
0
2
0
1
1
1
1
121 3 0
0
Mt Ingoldsby
2
Scout Camp
12 7
6
-
-
-
6
8
8
6
6
38 42 8
9
15 -
8
89 10 10 10 45 14 10 87 3
1
1
1
Camp Wilkin
24 1
1 121 1
1
1
1
1
2
1
0
1
0
1
4
3
1
1
2
2
Camp Road
67 4
4
5
83 4
5
6
92 109 4
2
4
5
6
3
3
5
4 5
EPA Intervention Level
210
Alcoa Local Standard
170
1
-
20 7
2
2
1
2
1
0
1
1
38 3
1
2
2
2
2
1
6 125 9
4
6
5
4
5
3
ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT OCTOBER 2006
water
Water Storage
Barwon Water storage levels within the Geelong system at 27.5% capacity. Stage 3 restrictions now apply.
Water Discharge
ML
October
Total
Ashponds (SP1)
128
1431
Mine (SP4)
0
0.8
Water Monitoring
SP1
SP4
SP3
17/10/2006
Ashpond
Mine
Final
EPA limit
Lab Result
EPA limit
Lab Result
EPA limit
Lab Result
pH
4-10
8.4
3-9
-
5-9
7.4
Susp. Solids
100
5
100
-
30
2
Colour
50
4
50
-
50
7
Aluminium
10
0.2
10
-
5.5
< 0.1
Iron
10
0.4
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
SEPT OCT
Town Water
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.5
1.6
0.8
1.0
1.1
0.9
1.6
11.5
Bore Water
279
243
285
237
210
218
238
240
236
262
2448
Mine Water
81
82
81
92
106
88
93
101
104
51
879
NOV
DEC
TOTAL
3 0 0 .0
3000
2 5 0 .0
2500
2 0 0 .0
2000
1 5 0 .0
1500
1 0 0 .0
1000
5 0 .0
0 .0
500
0
ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT OCTOBER 2006
peregrine falcons
For the third year in a row, Peregrine Falcons have
returned to Alcoa Anglesea to the nest box on top
of the water tower.
Despite laying four eggs this year, only one egg
successfully hatched. Whilst there is no
explanation for why this happened at Anglesea in
particular, there are several reasons why an egg
may not hatch - parents may be incompatible or a
parent may have left the nest during a storm
resulting in a drop in incubation temperture of the
eggs. Both of these scenarios appear unlikely for
Anglesea (parents bred successfully in 2005, no
rainstorms lately!!) and the presence of unhatched
eggs at other nests across the state this year
suggests the cause is wider spread and may be
the consequence of drought conditions.
In late October, volunteers from the Victorian
Peregrine Project took the travel tower to the
elevated home to check the chicks’ health,
measurements and banding. Weighing in at 870g,
it was confirmed Uno is one healthy chick.
One of the positives for having one chick instead of
four is the amount of food the chick receives
without any sibling competition. The more food
Uno receives, the stronger she will be giving her a
better chance of survival.
Grade 1 students from Anglesea Primary School
and members of ANGAIR witnessed the banding
and naming of the bird, with the name ‘Uno’
chosen, referring to the number one.
The other exciting Peregrine Falcon news for 2006
is the Alcoa Anglesea webcam.
In a Victorian first, Alcoa Anglesea has provided a
window in to the world of Peregrine Falcons by
installing a webcam on the water tower near the
nestbox and is broadcasting the images over the
internet.
The webcam at www.alcoa.com/falcons will
provide a new view of day-to-day life in the
Peregrine Falcon nest,with images refreshing at
one minute intervals.
PLANTS OF THE ANGLESEA HEATH
COMMON RINGTAIL POSSUM (Pseudocheirus peregrinus)
Pseudocheirus....from the Greek, pseudo, ‘fake’ and
Pseudocheirus
cheirus, ‘hand’ referring to the front feet that has fused
fingers (syndactyl) like two thumbs per hand to help it climb
peregrinus
peregrinus... from the latin, meaning ‘wandering’ or
‘foreign’, usually refers to a migratory habit, like the
Peregrine Falcons of the northern hemisphere
Size:
body 30-35cm tail 30-35cm
weight 550 - 1100g
Description:
short grey-brown fur with white underneath
has a long white tipped prehensile tail,
underside of the tail is hairless for grip
Distribution
eastern states of mainland Australia,
Tasmania and south west Western Australia
Habitat:
a variety of rainforest, forest, woodland and
scrub habitats
Food:
vegetarian consuming mainly leaves but also
some flowers, fruits and buds
photo: juvenile ringtail possum found at mine workshop
COMMON RINGTAIL POSSUM
ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT OCTOBER 2006
LAND
RAINFALL (mm)
Month
JAN
FEB MAR APR
MAY JUNE JULY AUG
SEPT OCT
2006 Rainfall
46.2
19.6 7.3
37.1
129.4 17.0
40.8
26.0
32.8
15.8
372.0
1968-2005 Average
44.6
43.9 42.5
53.5
59.3 60.8
61.1
67.0
69.3
73.6
575.5
NOV
DEC
TOTAL
7 0 0 .0 0
100
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 8 . 0 0.7
0.7
0.8
1.1
0.9
0.6
0.6
0.7
0.6
1.3
Amenity
11.6 6.6
3 . 4 0.3
0.3
0.2
0.4
0.7
0.2
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
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
200 0
200 1
200 2
2003
2 004
2 005
2 006
JA N
F E B
M A R
A P R
M A Y
JU N
JU L
A U G
S E P
O C T
N O 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 . 6 0
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 . 2 0
2
160 0000
1 .8
140 0000
1 .6
1 .4
1 .2
120 0000
100 0000
1
800 000
0 .8
600 000
0 .6
400 000
0 .4
0 .2
0
200 000
0
ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT OCTOBER 2006
environmental improvement
Environmental Management Targets
October
2006 Total
Forecast
2006 Target
Reportable Environmental Incidents
0
0
0
0
Monthly EHS ASAT Audit Completion (%)
80
93
93
90
Air Emission Targets
October
2006 Total
Forecast
2006 Target
Ambient SO2 ( no. readings > 210ppb)
0
4
5
0
Stack SO2 (no. hrs > 100kg/min)
0
0
0
0
SO2 Load Reductions
8
106
127
N/A
1.23
1.20
1.20
1.20
Opacity (10 min av > 0.25g/m normal operation)
0
0
0
0
Water Targets
October
2006 Total
Forecast
2006 Target
Town Water (ML)
1.6
11.5
13.8
17.2
Bore Water (ML)
262
2448
2938
2440
Waste Targets
October
2006 Total
Forecast
2006 Target
Waste to Landfill (t)
1.76
9.12
10.9
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..
V ictor
ictorian Per
egrine Pr
oject
ictor,, how important is the V
Victorian
Peregrine
Project
for the conservation of the Peregrine Falcon in Victoria?
Very important. The project has just been acknowledged at a
international conference in Mexico as the most extensive volunteer
program in the world for the Peregrine Falcon, both in it’s scope of
yearly activities and how long it has been running (16 years).
That must be nice to hear after year’
s of personal
year’s
dedication and effort?
It certainly is. It’s great that the program has been recognised at an
international level.
How important is the nest box at Alcoa Anglesea?
The use of artificial nest boxes such as the one at Alcoa Anglesea
suggests that the natural nest sites for Peregrine Falcons are at
saturation level or that there simply isn’t enough natural nest sites to
go around. As more natural nest sites along the coast are lost to
development and human disturbance, the more critical these artificial
sites become to the future of the Peregrine Falcons.
How does the future look for the Peregrine Falcon?
We were lucky in Australia that the Peregrine Falcon population didn’t
decline as far as populations in other parts of the world in the 60’s
and 70’s. The agriculture in Australia was less intensive and the use of
pesticides such as DDT was not as widespread. This has enabled the
Peregrine Falcon populations in Australia to recover more quickly.
...VICTOR HURLEY