grass tree manoeuvres a transplant of a different kind alcoa anglesea 2007 environment report may ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPOR T MAY 2007 REPORT air Air Monitoring Stack Monitors Average Maximum Opacity g/m3 10-minute average 0.060 0.210 Stack SO2 kg/min 1-hour average Licence limit 111.34kg/min 65.49 78.02 Ambient Monitors SO2 1 hour ppb Average Maximum Community Centre 3 143 Primary School 5 144 Mt Ingoldsby 1 36 Scout Camp 9 133 Camp Wilkin 3 202 Camp Road 9 159 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 21 118 12 4 1 2 23 2 2 2 1 3 3 7 2 55 9 2 2 43 143 9 8 17 3 2 Primary School 48 97 144 2 27 0 58 4 0 0 0 34 22 43 0 29 0 Mt Ingoldsby - - 0 2 1 1 3 36 2 16 2 Scout Camp 5 63 53 11 20 59 10 34 11 2 2 7 7 Camp Wilkin Camp Road EPA Intervention Level 210 EPA Air Quality Objective 200 Alcoa Local Standard 170 - 119132 3 - - - 1 0 1 1 5 - 3 - - - - - 0 5 63 135 44 39 125127 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 2 3 2 117131125111 90 11 103 0 1 1 5 133 25 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 64 2 57 1 15 57 1 1 1 - - 3 4 - - - - - - 3 5 55 86 70 76 159120 93 36 2 1 - 0 0 - - 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 22 9 202 2 0 2 21 92 37 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPOR T MAY 2007 REPORT water Water Storage Barwon Water storage levels for the Geelong system at 14.7% capacity. Stage 4 restrictions apply. Water Discharge ML May Total Ashponds (SP1) 131 701 Mine (SP4) 0 0 Water Monitoring SP1 SP4 SP3 14/05/2007 Ashpond Mine Final EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result pH 4-10 8.2 3-9 - 5-9 7.3 Susp. Solids 100 3 100 - 30 <2 Colour 50 4 50 - 50 4 Aluminium 10.00 0.17 10 - 5.50 0.033 Iron 10.00 0.34 0 - 4.00 0.11 Zinc 0.40 0.008 2.0 - 0.30 0.006 WATER WATER USAGE PER MONTH (ML) Date JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG Town Water 0.7 0.7 0.9 1.1 0.9 4.3 Bore Water 274 253 280 241 246 1294 Mine Water 81 71 76 83 80 391 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 REPOR T MAY 2007 REPORT grass tree transplant This year the mine rehabilitation process had a new twist, with twelve mature Austral Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea australis) transplanted into the rehabilitation area. Whilst not considered politically correct, Grass trees were once referred to as ‘black boys’. This reference actually comes from the name ‘balga grass’ from the Australian Aborigines, which is their word for black boy. The Aborigines probably called these plants ‘balga’ because after a wildfire, the bottom leaves burn away revealing a singed black trunk with long green reed-like leaves extending from the top of the trunk giving the appearance of black figures. Xanthorrhoea australis is a dominant understorey plant species within the Anglesea Heath. It forms a structural layer in an ecosystem that is sparsely occupied by trees and shrubs and creates important habitat for small mammals. It is an essential component to restore in our mine rehabilitation areas. Deemed a ‘recalcitrant species’ in our mine rehabilitation, Grass trees do not emerge on their own from the topsoil. Several techniques are utilised to restore this species. Seed is collected and broadcast directly onto the rehabilitation area and propagated seedlings are planted. However, whilst the seed for Xanthorrhoea germinates reasonably well, all species of Xanthorrhoea are very slow growing. Growing an average of 1 centimetre per year, to replace the mature 1 metreplus Grass tress would take more than our lifetime to replace. This is where the transplantation of established specimens is unparalleled. Mature grass trees can be successfully transplanted provided a large root ball is taken, they are given well drained conditions and are not allowed to dry out during the reestablishment period. Whilst the twelve Grass trees translocated this year represent only a fraction of the hundreds that are required per hectare, with a lifespan of up to 600 years, it certainly is a worthwhile investment for the future of the heathland ecosystem. ANIMALS OF THE ANGLESEA HEATH SOUTHERN TOADLET (Pseudophryne semimarmorata) Pseudo Pseudo...false, phryne phryne...toad as it is not a true toad semi semi...half, marmorata marmorata...marbled refers to it’s semi-marbled belly Adult length: Description: 30mm dark olive green to chocolate brown on its back, with dark warts; the belly is marbled black and white with the undersides of the legs and throat are orange/red Distribution: Victoria, Tasmania and just into SA Habitat: this frog lives in sclerophyll forests, woodlands, heathlands and grasslands. It is usually found under leaf litter, logs and rocks in damp areas Call: a short, grating ‘ark’ repeated at regular intervals Did you know? strictly speaking there are no toads in Australia. the term toad and toadlet has arisen due to their superficial similarity to the warty toads of Europe. SOUTHERN TOADLET ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPOR T MAY 2007 REPORT LAND RAINFALL (mm) Month JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 2007 Rainfall 40.0 20.2 25.6 7.3 31.0 37.1 129.4 52.8 17.0 40.8 26.0 32.8 15.8 15.4 29.0 169.6 1968-2006 Average 44.6 43.3 41.5 42.5 53.1 53.5 61.2 60.8 59.3 61.1 67.0 69.3 73.6 54.1 44.2 243.7 130 7 0 0 .0 0 120 6 0 0 .0 0 110 100 5 0 0 .0 0 90 80 4 0 0 .0 0 70 60 3 0 0 .0 0 50 40 2 0 0 .0 0 30 20 1 0 0 .0 0 10 0 0 .0 0 WATER TOWN WATER USE (ML) FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Process 23.9 2000 2006 2007 JAN 11.0 3.8 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.1 0.8 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.6 1.3 1.5 1.5 Amenity2 . 0 11.6 3.8 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 4 0 .0 1 .8 3 5 .0 1 .6 3 0 .0 1 .4 2 5 .0 1 .2 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 2006 2007 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) GHG Mt GHG t/MWh 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 1.42 1.23 1.27 1.50 1.45 1.47 1.31 1.49 1.41 1.34 1.24 1.19 1.21 1.21 1.20 1.21 1.20 1.19 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 REPOR T MAY 2007 REPORT environmental improvement Environmental Management Targets May 2007 Total Forecast 2007 Target Reportable Environmental Incidents 0 0 0 0 Monthly EHS ASAT Audit Completion (%) 100 100 100 90 Air Emission Targets May 2007 Total Forecast 2007 Target Ambient SO2 ( no. readings > 210ppb) 0 0 0 0 Ambient SO2 ( no. readings > 200ppb) 1 1 2 0 Stack SO2 (no. hrs > 100kg/min) 0 0 0 0 SO2 Load Reductions (lost MWh) 1479 3844 9927 N/A GHG Efficiency (t CO2 e/MWh) 1.19 1.19 1.19 1.20 Opacity (10 min av > 0.25g/m3 normal operation) 0 0 0 0 Water Targets May 2007 Total Forecast 2007 Target Town Water (ML) 0.9 4.3 10.3 14.2 Bore Water (ML) 246 1294 3106 2667 Waste Targets May 2007 Total Forecast 2007 Target Waste to Landfill (t) 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.0 Solid Prescribed Waste to Landfill (t) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Mine Rehabilitation Targets 2007 Total 2007 Target 2007 Area Cleared (ha) 2.9 3.5 2007 Area Rehabilitated (ha) 5.0 > 3.5 2005 Mine Rehabilitation Species Richness (%) 103 100 OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR EMPLOYEES.. Craig, welcome back to Anglesea. A new starter you have a history with Alcoa and Anglesea? Yes, this is my second time at Anglesea. I was last here as an Apprentice Fitter in 1998 (I think) for about six months. After that I went back to the Point Henry Smelter to finish my Apprenticeship. I then went on to work in the Carbon Plant, Light Engineering Workshop and Potrooms while I completed my degree part time. I have been with Alcoa for just over twelve and a half years now. What is your role this time around? Graduate Mechanical Engineer. Sounds like you are already involved in a few environmental projects? Yes, I have two projects that come under the environmental umbrella. Installing a system to disperse effluent water from the septic system that services the Mine buildings and introducing a system to collect waste oil for it to be recycled, instead of it being added to the emulsion from the compressors and burnt in the boiler. ...CRAIG COOK