like sand through an hourglass ...this is the soil to rehabilitate our mine alcoa anglesea 2008 environment report february ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT FEBRUARY 2008 air Air Monitoring Stack Monitors Average Maximum Opacity g/m3 10-minute average 0.069 0.099 Stack SO2 kg/min 1-hour average Licence limit 111.34kg/min 76.30 90.74 Ambient Monitors SO2 1 hour ppb Average Maximum Community Centre <1 23 Primary School 1 129 Mt Ingoldsby 4 26 Scout Camp 1 104 Camp Wilkin <1 26 Camp Road <1 106 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 Community Centre 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Primary School 0 4 2 6 5 4 - 17 - - 14 16 13 1 4 2 5 Mt Ingoldsby 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Scout Camp 0 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 - - - - - - - Camp Wilkin 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Camp Road 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 EPA Intervention Level 210 Alcoa Local Standard 170 0 0 23 0 1 1 0 1 1 - 1 1 13 12 - 10 3 9 11 9 4 26 7 9 2 3 129 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 - - - 6 1 104 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 2 2 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 1 1 106 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT FEBRUARY 2008 water Water Storage Barwon Water storage levels for the Geelong system at 30.5% capacity. Stage 4 restrictions apply with a Daylight Savings exemption to permit limited residential garden watering. Water Discharge ML February Total Ashponds (SP1) 122 257 Mine (SP4) 0 0 Water Monitoring SP1 SP4 SP3 05/02/2008 Ashpond Mine Final EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result pH 4-10 8.2 3-9 - 5-9 6.8 Susp. Solids 100 <4 100 - 30 <4 Colour 50 5 50 - 50 6 Aluminium 10.00 0.20 10 - 5.50 0.07 Iron 10.00 0.17 0 - 4.00 0.25 Zinc 0.40 0.01 2.0 - 0.30 0.21 WATER WATER USAGE PER MONTH (ML) Date JAN FEB MAR APR Town Water 1.4 0.9 2.3 Bore Water 279 304 583 Mine Water 53 24 77 MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT 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 FEBRUARY 2008 soil research Topsoil is considered a precious commodity at Alcoa Anglesea. Whilst overburden is in abundance, the thin sliver at the surface that we call topsoil is all we have to rehabilitate the open cut mine. Or is it? Is overburden just dirt or a valuable resource in disguise? This summer, Vacation Student Ellen Palmer has been out and about getting her hands dirty to answer that very question. What are the physical and chemical characteristics of the different layers within the soil profile compared to our topsoil? Can we get plants to grow in overburden? To test this theory rye corn seedlings were planted in two soils currently used in our mine rehabilitation process: topsoil and subsoil; as well as overburden: orange sandy clay, grey sand found near the coal seam and a combo of orange sandy clay + orange sand. The plants were separated into two watering regimes to test if water availability also affected plant growth. Half of the plants were watered every day (thanks Wayne and Ian for the weekend watering!) and the other half were watered every third day. And the results….rye corn successfully grew in all of the soil/overburden types. The plants grew the tallest in the topsoil and grew the least in the orange sandy clay. On average, the plants that were watered every day irrespective of the overburden type grew slightly more than the ones watered every three days. So topsoil’s the best…but don’t chuck out the rest just yet. The subsoil was the next best for plant growth despite a higher sand content, less nutrients and less organic matter compared to the topsoil. Sandy soils are known to retain fewer nutrients compared to those that contain large amounts of clay and organic matter. Subsoil is the next layer immediately below the topsoil in the natural soil profile. It is returned to the mine rehabilitation at a depth of 100mm. However in the gully systems the subsoil can reach depths of over one metre. This presents an opportunity to save the ‘extra’ as a media in which to grow plants for future rehabilitation activities. The orange sandy clay was not very beneficial to plant growth because its physical properties caused it to cement together as it dried. Soil tests also found that it had low amounts of Calcium which is an essential plant nutrient. This meant water and roots found it hard to move through the soil and the plants couldn’t find enough water or nutrients to grow very tall. The problems found in the orange sandy clay were alleviated when combined with orange sand. Adding more sand stopped the orange sandy clay from cementing which helped water and roots to move through the soil and allowed the plants to grow taller. The plants in the grey sand found near the coal seam actually grew better when they were watered less. It was also found to contain the least amount of nutrients of all the soil types. When it was watered every day the few nutrients that were in it may have washed away causing plants to grow less while the soil that was watered every third day was able to keep some of the nutrients allowing the plants to grow taller. Whilst nothing can truly replace the diversity of the natural seedbank within the topsoil, its availability is limited. If another layer of the overburden can sustain plant growth there is potential for areas to be revegetated and rehabilitated. These results indicate that by combining overburden with topsoil we may be able to make the topsoil stretch further or by combining different overburden types together we have a soil capable of sustaining plant life. ANIMALS OF THE ANGLESEA HEATH GOLDEN ORB SPIDER (Nephila edulis) Size: Colour: Distribution: Habitat: females body 2 - 4 cm, male 5mm silvery-grey to plum coloured bodies and brown-black, often yellow banded legs. Males red-brown to brown in colour Orb weaving spiders are found throughout Australia dry open forests and woodlands, coastal sand dune shrubland and mangrove habitat The Golden Orb Weavers build large, semi-permanent orb webs. The strong silk has a golden sheen. These spiders remain in their webs day and night and gain some protection from bird attack by the presence of a ‘barrier network’ of threads on one or both sides of the orb web. Sometimes their strong webs manage to trap small birds or bats, and the spider will wrap them and feed upon them. More common prey items include flies, beetles, locusts, wood moths and cicadas. GOLDEN ORB SPIDER ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT FEBRUARY 2008 LAND RAINFALL (mm) Month JAN FEB MAR APR 2008 Rainfall 19.8 35.8 55.6 1968-2007 Average 44.5 42.7 87.2 MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 7 00.00 130 120 6 00.00 110 100 5 00.00 90 80 4 00.00 70 60 3 00.00 50 40 2 00.00 30 20 1 00.00 10 0 0 .0 0 WATER TOWN WATER USE (ML) 2000 2007 2008 JAN FEB Process 23.9 12.8 2.1 1.3 0.8 Amenity 11.6 1.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 4 0 .0 2 .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 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 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) GHG Mt GHG t/MWh 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 1.42 1.23 1.27 1.50 1.45 1.47 1.31 1.49 1.40 1.40 1.34 1.24 1.19 1.21 1.21 1.20 1.21 1.20 1.18 1.16 2 1600000 1 .8 1400000 1 .6 1 .4 1 .2 1200000 1000000 1 800000 0 .8 600000 0 .6 400000 0 .4 0 .2 0 200000 0 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT FEBRUARY 2008 environmental improvement Environmental Management Targets February 2008 Total Forecast 2008 Target Reportable Environmental Incidents 0 0 0 0 Monthly EHS ASAT Audit Completion (%) 100 100 100 90 Air Emission Targets February 2008 Total Forecast 2008 Target Ambient SO2 ( no. readings > 210ppb) 0 0 0 0 Stack SO2 (no. hrs > 100kg/min) 0 0 0 0 SO2 Load Reductions (lost MWh) 17 24.5 147 N/A GHG Efficiency (t CO2 e/MWh) 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.20 Opacity (10 min av > 0.25g/m normal operation) 0 0 0 0 Water Targets February 2008 Total Forecast 2008 Target Town Water (ML) 0.9 2.3 13.8 14.2 Bore Water (ML) 304 583 3498 2370 Waste Targets February 2008 Total Forecast 2008 Target Waste to Landfill (t) 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 Solid Prescribed Waste to Landfill (t) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3 Mine Rehabilitation Targets 2008 Total 2008 Target 2008 Area to Clear (ha) 0.0 0.0 2008 Area to Rehabilitate (ha) 0.0 0.0 2007 Mine Rehabilitation Species Richness (%) N/A 100 OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR EMPLOYEE Ellen, welcome to Anglesea...you have spent your summer holidays with us, what have you been up to? I have been at Anglesea for a 12-week Vacation Student Placement. I am currently conducting a research project into the physical and chemical properties of the soils within the mining area that may support plant growth. I have also been working on the development of a database for the information collected by the yearly botanical monitoring of the mine rehabilitation areas. What interested you in doing vacation work with Alcoa? Alcoa has a good reputation. It’s also a local organisation that offers work experience relevant to my field of studies so I decided to apply. What have you achieved during your work experience at Alcoa? I’ve gained quality experience, met new people, and applied the knowledge gained from my studies. What are your plans after your research project is complete? Hopefully get another job in the same sort of field. I want to get as much experience as possible. ...ELLEN PALMER