creepy crawlies studying Anglesea’s invertebrates alcoa anglesea 2009 environment report january ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT JANUARY 2009 air Air Monitoring Stack Monitors Average Maximum Opacity g/m3 10-minute average 0.092 0.337 Stack SO2 kg/min 1-hour average Licence limit 100kg/min 62.16 79.75 SO2 1 hour ppb Average Maximum Community Centre 0 17 Primary School 1 83 Mt Ingoldsby 1 37 Scout Camp 2 149 Camp Wilkin 0 73 Camp Road 2 205 Ambient Monitors 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 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 0 0 1 2 0 5 0 0 9 Primary School 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 4 17 11 0 0 1 6 34 83 17 1 9 0 1 66 15 61 0 Mt Ingoldsby 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 29 0 1 0 0 1 6 37 6 0 0 9 1 12 9 149 1 1 3 4 81 0 0 0 0 0 7 6 13 0 0 0 0 0 33 3 17 44 3 6 1 3 13 13 8 73 0 1 14 24 16 0 6 1 8 205 33 1 Scout Camp 9 0 0 1 Camp Wilkin 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 20 0 Camp Road 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 8 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 121 98 1 EPA Air Quality Objective 200 Alcoa Local Standard 170 1 0 0 7 17 0 24 11 2 1 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT JANUARY 2009 water Water Storage Barwon Water storage levels for the Geelong system at 23.4% capacity. Stage 4 restrictions apply with a Daylight Savings exemption to permit limited residential garden watering. Water Discharge ML January Total Ashponds (SP1) 139 139 Mine (SP4) 0 0 Water Monitoring SP1 SP4 SP3 23/01/2009 Ashpond Mine Final EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result EPA limit Lab Result pH 4-10 8.4 3-9 no 5-9 7.3 Susp. Solids 100 < 4.00 100 discharge 30 < 4.0 Colour 50 4.0 50 at 50 6.0 Aluminium 10 0.11 10 time 5.5 0.084 Iron 10 0.082 0 of 4.0 0.079 Zinc 0.4 < 0.01 2.0 sampling 0.30 0.013 WATER WATER USAGE PER MONTH (ML) Date JAN Town Water 2.5 2.5 Bore Water 288 288 Mine Water 46 46 FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT JANUARY 2009 creepy crawlies in the rehab Some people may think butterflies are beautiful …but what about wasps, spiders, earwigs, flies, moths, scorpions or mites? Whilst many of these small critters have a bad reputation, invertebrates account for the majority of the world’s animals and without them life as we know it would not be the same. Insects are involved in many of the natural processes we may take for granted such as improving the health and structure of soil, providing pollination and seed dispersal, and breaking down leaf litter into nutrients available to plants. These processes are very important in the rehabilitation process of land that has been mined, and without the functions performed by insects, rehabilitation cannot be successful. Julia Mckenzie, a vacation student from the University of Melbourne, has spent her summer holidays examining Alcoa’s rehabilitation sites for the presence of these creepy crawlies. The project has involved studying the invertebrate community at four rehabilitation sites aged 1, 3, 5, and 6 years old, to compare them with the invertebrate community in the surrounding heathland vegetation. In addition, a recently burnt site was examined to compare the differences between the disturbance of mining, with a disturbance that the environment is adapted too, such as fire. So far the rehabilitated sites appear to be progressing well with high numbers of invertebrates and many different types of creatures returning to the sites. Surprisingly, the number of invertebrates has even surpassed the numbers in the undisturbed heath. However, the species returning to the rehabilitation are not necessary the same and may be more tolerant to environmental change. The rehabilitation may need more time to develop as the sites are still relatively young and have a different vegetation structure to the surrounding heath. Further monitoring will be required to assess whether the rehabilitation sites begin to approach a likeness to the heathy woodland community and begin to perform the same functions as that ecosystem. The impact of fire through the heath is not as severe as the impact of mining, with a reasonable number of invertebrates and a wide variety of creatures returning to the site only six months after the fire occurred. This is confirming that natural processes, such as fire, are not as destructive to the ecosystem as human-driven processes, in this case mining. Due to human activities and the increasing impact of climate change, the preservation of biodiversity and invertebrate communities are extremely important. The environment relies on invertebrates just as we rely on the environment. For example, recent reductions in bee populations have alarmed the global agricultural industry as they rely on bees for pollination, and are concerned about the potential for global food shortages. Therefore, encouraging invertebrates onto the Alcoa rehabilitation sites is a very important part of a global need to support invertebrate communities and the wider environment. ANIMAL OF THE ANGLESEA HEATH ACROBAT ANTS (Crematogaster sp.) Size: Identification: Distribution: 5mm reddish brown with a distinct heart-shaped abdomen is an ecologically diverse genus of ants found worldwide Crematogaster workers are moderately aggressive and will attack when disturbed. They have well developed chemical defenses and are avoided by most other ants. Nests are found in a range of sites including in soil with or without coverings, in cracks in rocks, in dead wood and arboreally in trunks and twigs. Individual colonies are often composed of several small nests a few metres apart and may contain more than one queen. The entrances of these separate nests can sometimes be connected by well worn trails several centimetres deep. Crematogaster are generalist predators, foraging on the ground as well as on low vegetation and trees. ACROBAT ANTS ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT JANUARY 2009 LAND RAINFALL (mm) Month JAN 2009 Rainfall 5.0 5.0 1968-2008 Average 43.9 43.9 FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL WATER TOWN WATER USE (ML) 2000 2008 2009 JAN Process 23.9 15.5 2.5 2.5 Amenity 11.6 1.5 0.0 0.0 FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC AIR GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) TOTAL (Mt) & GHG EMISSION EFFICENCY (t/MWh) GHG Mt GHG t/MWh 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 1.23 1.27 1.50 1.45 1.47 1.31 1.49 1.40 1.42 1.46 1.24 1.19 1.21 1.21 1.20 1.21 1.20 1.18 1.20 1.23 ANGLESEA ENVIRONMENT REPORT JANUARY 2009 environmental improvement Environmental Management Targets January 2009 Total Forecast 2009 Target Reportable Environmental Incidents 0 0 0 0 Env Near Miss vs Env Incident Run Rate (ratio) 1 1 1 2.5 Monthly EHS ASAT Audit Completion (%) 100 100 100 90 Air Emission Targets January 2009 Total Forecast 2009 Target Ambient SO2 (no. readings > 200ppb) 1 1 12 0 Stack SO2 (no. hrs > 100kg/min) 0 0 0 0 SO2 Load Reductions (lost MWh) 1467 1467 17608 N/A GHG Efficiency (t CO2 e/MWh) 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.20 Opacity (10 min av > 0.25g/m normal operation) 0 0 0 0 Water Targets January 2009 Total Forecast 2009 Target Town Water (ML) 2.5 2.5 30 14.1 Bore Water (ML) 288 288 3456 4000 Waste Targets January 2009 Total Forecast 2009 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 2009 Total 2009 Target 2009 Area to Clear (ha) 0.0 0.0 2009 Area to Rehabilitate (ha) 0.0 0.0 OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR EMPLOYEE Julia, you have spent your summer holidays with us, what have you been up to? During my time here I have conducted an assessment of the invertebrate communities on the rehabilitation sites to determine whether the rehabilitation work has been successful thus far, and collect baseline data for long term monitoring. This has involved collecting invertebrates from the sites to identify back at the lab, and then performing statistical analysis to examine the differences between sites and the surrounding heathy woodland. What interested you in doing vacation work with Alcoa? In my opinion it is very exciting that Alcoa invests time and money into environmental research and remediation, and I wanted to be part of that. Getting out of Melbourne and living on the coast was also a big drawcard. What have you learnt during your time at Alcoa? Over these past few months I have developed skills and relevant experience in environmental research that will hopefully be useful for future employment. What are your plans now? In light of the current global situation the kind of work I’m looking for may not be available, so it may be a good time to either do a PhD, start volunteering or go travelling. ...JULIA MCKENZIE