Evn-Revised-SWGMBMP-May-2015
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COWAL GOLD MINE SURFACE WATER, GROUNDWATER, METEOROLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MONITORING PROGRAMME MAY 2015 Document No. SWGMBMP-L (00679340) Cowal Gold Mine – Surface Water, Groundwater, Meteorological and Biological Monitoring Programme Revision Status Register Section/Page/ Revision Number Amendment/Addition Distribution DP&I Approval Date Annexure All SWGMBMP-K Original Surface Water, NOW, DECCW, 10 March 2010 November 2009 Groundwater, DII (Fisheries) and Document No: 685120 Meteorological and DoP Biological Monitoring Programme Management Plan (SWGMBMP) Addendum Addendum dated Addendum to reflect the NOW, DECCW, 14 August 2012 November 2011 CGM Water Supply DII (Fisheries) and Document No: 685128 Modification approved by DP&I DP&I on 6 July 2011 (to include the eastern saline borefield as an additional water supply source). Addendum Addendum dated Addendum to incorporate NOW, DECCW, Approval of the August 2013 eastern saline borefield DII (Fisheries) and Addendum remained Document No: 685129 monitoring locations and to DP&I pending up until the incorporate operational NSW Minister for changes to surface water Planning granted and groundwater approval of the CGM’s monitoring programmes. modified Development Consent on 22 July 2014. All Revised SWGMBMP-L Revised to reflect the NOW, OEH, 19 November 2015 May 2015 approved CGM Extension DPI (Fisheries) and Document No: 679340 Modification and the DP&E Development Consent as modified on 22 July 2014. 00679340 Cowal Gold Mine – Surface Water, Groundwater, Meteorological and Biological Monitoring Programme TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE 1 1.2 STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT 5 2 STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS 6 2.1 DEVELOPMENT CONSENT CONDITIONS 6 2.2 ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION LICENCE CONDITIONS 8 2.3 RELEVANT LEGISLATION 8 2.4 PLANS/GUIDELINES 8 2.5 AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS 9 3 METEOROLOGICAL MONITORING 10 3.1 EXISTING METEOROLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT 10 3.2 METEOROLOGICAL MONITORING PROGRAMME 13 4 SURFACE WATER MONITORING 15 4.1 EIS BASELINE SURFACE WATER MONITORING 15 4.2 SURFACE WATER MONITORING LOCATIONS AND PARAMETERS 16 4.3 SURFACE WATER MONITORING PROGRAMME 20 4.3.1 Up-catchment Diversion System 23 4.3.2 Internal Catchment Drainage System 23 4.3.3 Pit/Void Water 23 4.3.4 Lake Cowal Monitoring 23 4.3.5 Other Waters in and around the Mine Site 24 5 GROUNDWATER MONITORING 26 5.1 EIS BASELINE GROUNDWATER MONITORING 27 5.2 GROUNDWATER MONITORING LOCATIONS AND PARAMETERS 28 5.3 GROUNDWATER MONITORING PROGRAMME 32 5.3.1 Open Pit Dewatering 34 5.3.2 Bland Creek Palaeochannel and Associated Water Supply Pipeline 34 5.3.3 Saline Groundwater Supply Borefields and Associated Water Supply Pipeline 36 5.3.4 Other Waters in and around the Mine Site 37 6 WATER SAMPLING EQUIPMENT, HANDLING, TRANSPORT AND QUALITY PROCEDURES 38 6.1 SAMPLE COLLECTION, HANDLING AND TRANSPORTATION 38 6.1.1 Lake Water 38 6.1.2 Lake Inflow Sites 38 6.1.3 Groundwater 38 6.1.4 Contained Water Storages 39 6.2 QUALITY CONTROL 39 7 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING 40 7.1 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING PROGRAMME 42 7.1.1 Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates 42 7.1.1.1 Change in Lake Water Quality 42 7.1.1.2 Removal/Modification of Habitat 42 7.1.1.3 Movement of Dust Away from Active Areas to Lake Environs 43 7.1.1.4 Lake Sediments 43 00679340.doc i Cowal Gold Mine – Surface Water, Groundwater, Meteorological and Biological Monitoring Programme TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) 8 INVESTIGATIVE TRIGGERS 45 8.1 SURFACE WATER MONITORING 46 8.2 GROUNDWATER MONITORING 46 8.3 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING 48 8.3.1 Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates 48 8.3.1.1 Change in Lake Water Quality 48 8.3.1.2 Removal/Modification of Habitat 48 8.3.1.3 Movement of Dust Away From Active Areas to Lake Environs 48 8.3.1.4 Lake Sediments 49 8.4 REVIEW PROCEDURE 49 9 DATA MANAGEMENT 52 10 POST-MINE OPERATIONS MONITORING PROGRAMMES 53 10.1 SURFACE WATER MONITORING PROGRAMME 53 10.2 GROUNDWATER MONITORING PROGRAMME 55 10.3 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING PROGRAMME 57 11 COMPLAINTS REGISTER 60 12 COMMUNITY CONSULTATION 61 13 INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT AND INDEPENDENT MONITORING PANEL 62 14 REPORTING AND REVIEW OF THIS SWGMBMP 64 14.1 ANNUAL REVIEW 64 14.2 EPL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 65 14.3 REVIEW OF THIS SWGMBMP 65 15 REFERENCES 67 16 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 69 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Requirements of the Development Consent Table 2 Meteorological Parameters Table 3 BOM Station Locations and Recording Periods Table 4 Historical Meteorological Data Summary Table 5 Summary of Lake Cowal Baseline Water Quality Table 6 Summary of Contained Water Storages Table 7 Surface Water Monitoring Parameters and Analytical Methods Table 8 Surface Water Monitoring Programme Table 9 Lake Cowal Inflow Monitoring Sites Table 10 NOW Lachlan River Stream Gauge Details Table 11 Bland Creek Palaeochannel Baseline Groundwater Analysis Table 12 Baseline Groundwater Monitoring Results (1995) – ML Area Table 13 Regional and ML Area Groundwater Monitoring Sites Table 14 Monitoring Bore Locations Table 15 Groundwater Monitoring Parameters and Analytical Methods 00679340.doc ii Cowal Gold Mine – Surface Water, Groundwater, Meteorological and Biological Monitoring Programme TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) LIST OF TABLES (Continued) Table 16 Groundwater Monitoring Programme Table 17 Regional NOW and Registered Private Bores Table 18 Sediment Contaminant Trigger Values Table 19 Data Management LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 CGM Locality Figure 2 General Arrangement of Approved CGM Figure 3 Regional Meteorological and Surface Water Flow Monitoring Locations Figure 4 Annual and Seasonal Windroses for the CGM (2012) Figure 5 ML 1535 Surface Water and Groundwater Monitoring Locations Figure 6 Lake Monitoring Locations Figure 7 Regional, BCPC and Eastern Saline Borefield Groundwater Monitoring Locations LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A Baseline Water Monitoring Locations Table A-1 Baseline Surface Water Monitoring Transects and Sites Figure A-1 Baseline Lake Monitoring Locations Figure A-2 Baseline Regional Groundwater Monitoring Locations Figure A-3 Baseline Local Groundwater Monitoring Locations – ML Area Figure A-4 Baseline BCPC Borefield Monitoring Locations Appendix B Bore Construction Details Appendix B-1 ML Area Bore Construction and Aquifer Interception Details Appendix B-2 Regional (Palaeochannel) Bore Construction and Aquifer Interception Details Appendix C Sediment Sampling Methodology LIST OF ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1 CGM Environmental Management System 00679340.doc iii Cowal Gold Mine – Surface Water, Groundwater, Meteorological and Biological Monitoring Programme 1 INTRODUCTION The Cowal Gold Mine (the CGM) is located approximately 38 kilometres (km) north of West Wyalong in New South Wales (NSW) (Figure 1). Barrick (Cowal) Pty Ltd (Barrick) is the owner and operator of the CGM. Barrick is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barrick (Australia Pacific) Pty Ltd. Development Consent for the CGM (including the Bland Creek Palaeochannel Borefield water supply pipeline) was granted by the NSW Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning under Part 4 of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 (EP&A Act) on 26 February 1999 (DA 14/98). Development Consent (DA 2011/64) for the operation of the eastern saline borefield was granted by the Forbes Shire Council (FSC) on 20 December 2010. Barrick was granted approval by the NSW Minister for Planning to modify the Development Consent (DA 14/98) for the CGM Extension Modification under Section 75W of the EP&A Act on 22 July 2014. The CGM Extension Modification involves the continuation and extension of open pit mining and processing operations at the CGM for an additional operational life of approximately 5 years (i.e. to 2024). The general arrangement of the approved CGM is provided in Figure 2. A copy of the Development Consent (DA 14/98) for the CGM (as modified on 22 July 2014) is available on the Barrick website (www.barrick.com). The original Surface Water, Groundwater, Meteorological and Biological Monitoring Programme Management Plan (SWGMBMP) for the CGM was prepared in November 2009 in accordance with the requirements of the Development Consent in consultation with the NSW Office of Water (NOW), the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) and Department of Industry and Investment (Fisheries) and was approved by the then NSW Department of Planning (DoP) in March 2010. Two Addenda to the SWGMBMP have been prepared (dated November 2011 and August 2013). The November 2011 Addendum was approved by the former DoP in August 2012 and approval of the August 2013 Addendum remained pending up until the NSW Minister for Planning granted approval of the CGM’s modified Development Consent on 22 July 2014. This revised SWGMBMP has been prepared to reflect the CGM Extension Modification and the modified Development Consent and relevant changes to other CGM environmental management plans. This revised SWGMBMP has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Development Consent Condition 4.5(b) (and other relevant Development Consent Conditions) (as modified on 22 July 2014) and incorporates the November 2011 and August 2013 Addenda (where relevant). As required by Development Consent Condition 4.5(b), the NOW, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries) (DPI Fisheries) have been consulted during the preparation of this SWGMBMP. 1.1 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE The objectives of this SWGMBMP are to: (i) fulfil the relevant Development Consent conditions; (ii) provide