Australian Atomic Energy Commission Research Establishment Lucas Heights
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AAEC/E305 to o ro W L> td AUSTRALIAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT LUCAS HEIGHTS THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS AREA FACT FINDING STUDY FOUR AAEC REPORTS by N. F. CONWAY D. R. DAVY M. S. GILES P.J.F. NEWTON (ed.) D. A. POLLARD* *NSW Department of Fisheries June 1974 ISBN 0 642 99634 2 AUSTRALIAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT LUCAS HEIGHTS THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS AREA FACT FINDING STUDY FOUR AAEC REPORTS by N. F. CONWAY D. R. DAVY M. S. GILES P.J.F. NEWTON (ed.) D. A. POLLARD* *NSW Department of Fisheries ABSTRACT The work described in this series of reports is part of the Joint Government-Industry Fact Finding Study carried out in the 'Uranium Province' of the Alligator Rivers Area, Northern Territory, during 1971-73. The primary objective was to determine the sensitivity of the exist- ing environment to the range of potential pollutants arising from a uranium extractive industry. A comprehensive ichthyography is given of species collected in the area. Results are reported of experimental and bioassay studies on selected flora and fauna exposed to heavy metals, raffinate and Alamine-336. Studies are also recorded on the chemical and radiological qualities of natural waters, the solubility of uranium in sediments, and the fate of dissolved trace elements in the drainage systems. The radiological aspects of the area are discussed with specific reference to exposure routes, biological concentration factors, and the significance of natural and man made changes in levels of radiation to man and other biota in the region. Radon levels in costeans, core-sheds and bore water are recorded and discussed. KEYWORDS CONTENTS The following descriptors have been selected from the INIS Thesaurus to describe the subject content of this report for information retrieval purposes. For further details please The Alligator Rivers Area (frontispiece) refer to IAEA-INIS-12 (INIS: Manual for Indexing) and IAEA-INIS-13 (INIS: Thesaurus) pub- lished in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency. FOREWORD by D. R. Davy REPORT I Report I AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS; DIET; ECOLOGY; FISHES; FRESH WATER; THE FRESHWATER FISHES OF THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS 'URANIUM NORTHERN TERRITORY; RIVERS; URANIUM PROVINCE' AREA (TOP END, NORTHERN TERRITORY), WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE MAGELA CREEK CATCHMENT (EAST ALLIGATOR RIVER SYSTEM) by D. A. Pollard Report II BIOASSAY; BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; CONTAMINATION; COPPER CHLORIDES; DOSE LIMITS; ECOLOGY; FISHES; GRAMINEAE; GROUND WATER; LEAD NITRATES; NORTHERN TERRITORY; REPORT II POLLUTION; POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS; RIVERS; TOXICITY; TOXICITY STUDIES ON AQUATIC ORGANISMS AND GRASS-SEDGE TROPICAL REGIONS; ZINC SULFATES COMMUNITIES IN THE MAGELA CREEK AREA by M. S. Giles Report III ANIMALS; AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS; COBALT; CONTAMINATION; COPPER; ECOLOGY; ELEMENTS; FISHES; FRESH WATER; GRAMINEAE; REPORT HI ENVIRONMENT STUDIES, NORTHERN TERRITORY URANIUM PROVINCE 1971-73 LEAD; MOLLUSCS; NORTHERN TERRITORY; RADIATION DOSES; RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION; RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION; by D. R. Davy and N. F. Conway RADIUM; RAIN; RIVERS; SOILS; TRACE ELEMENTS; UPTAKE; URANIUM; VEGETABLES; ZINC REPORT IV ENVIRONMENTAL LEVELS OF RADON-222 by D. R. Davy Report IV ATMOSPHERES; DAUGHTER PRODUCTS; GROUND WATER; MINING; NORTHERN TERRITORY; RADIATION HAZARDS; RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION; RADON; SAFETY; SAMPLING; URANIUM; WEATHER National Library of Australia card number and ISBN 0 642 99634 2 FOREWORD In November 1971, at the invitation of the then Northern Territory Cooper Creek Administration, the Australian Atomic Energy Commission initiated an environmental study in the Alligator Rivers area. The primary purpose of this study was to define standards for mining effluents which would limit environ- mental deterioration to acceptable levels, and it was essentially a study of OENPELLI water quality. The standards obtained would allow the requirements for waste MISSION treatment and containment to be specified. Subsequently, this project was incorporated into the much broader Joint Government-Industry Pactfinding Study and, while retaining its original purpose, has greatly benefited from the wider association. The AAEC is also indebted to the Joint Study organisation for its financial support in this work. MUDGINBARRI H.S. At all levels of government, the need for environmental assessment in the early phases of the planning of major new developments is now fully appreciated. The requirements for such assessment have frequently been set out in the form Buffalo & Bowerbird Waterhole of guidelines, or embodied in legislation requiring developers to prepare NOURLANGIE Jay ell \ Leichhardt Springs \(Baroalb environmental impact statements. \ Springs Mt. Brockman Lightning Dreaming In broad terms, an environmental impact statement has three sections. Nourl angle c \ Rock Mickey Creek in Sawcut Gorge The first section deals with the proposed development and the need for it in terms of national objectives. The second section describes the environment DEAF ADDER which is the subject of the proposed development. It should provide not only GORGE an adequate record of its existing state, with respect to all the indicators that may reasonably be invoked, but also should examine its sensitivity to changing conditions, with respect to the same set of indicators. The last • section of the impact statement examines the options open to the developer in JIM JIM FALLS implementing his plans, including the option for non-development. It has to provide the cost-benefit analyses of these options, assessed in terms of the environmental endpoints. UDP Falls on Waterfall Creek Preparation of information for the first and last section of the impact statement is the prerogative of the developers, since they should possess the necessary expertise. The collection of information for the middle section of the impact statement became the terms of reference for the Joint Government- Industry Factfinding Study. It is difficult to characterise an environment in isolation from likely proposals for development. Foremost in our minds were the possibilities of an intensified pastoral industry based on buffalo domestication, uranium THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS AREA mining, and the growth in tourism stemming from the construction of the Arnhem highway. Since the AAEC programme was an attempt to assess water quality and the effect of development on it, the four reports presented here relate to specific aspects of this study. In the first report Dr. D.A. Pollard of the NSW State Fisheries presents taxonomic descriptions of the fishes of the THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS AREA FACT FINDING STUDY Alligator Rivers. The cooperation of the NSW Chief Secretary's Department in allowing Pollard to participate in this work was very much appreciated. For logistic convenience, much of the fish sampling described by Pollard was undertaken in conjunction with the early phases of the toxico- logical study presented by M.S. Giles. Giles1 work deals with the sensitivity of fish species and also algae and vegetation to a range of chemical toxicants. For the combinations studied, fishes were the most sensitive in all cases. The third report, by D.R. Davy and N.F. Conway, examines the water quality of the area to determine the geographical extent of the environment to which Giles" results might reasonably be taken to apply. It is concluded that they are applicable to the whole study area. This report also REPORT I examines the fate, in a geobotanical, geochemical sense, of suspended and dissolved radioactive and non-radioactive elements that are carried in the river systems. THE FRESHWATER FISHES OF THE ALLIGATOR RIVERS The Alligator Rivers area is rich in uranium mineralisation. Not unexpectedly, natural levels of radioactivity are higher than in many other 'URANIUM PROVINCE' AREA (TOP END, NORTHERN areas of Australia. The pathways by which waterborne radioactivity lead to TERRITORY), WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE the exposure of man are characteristics of the local environment. These MAGELA CREEK CATCHMENT pathways are evaluated by Davy and Conway. The fourth report presents the limited data collected on prevailing (EAST ALLIGATOR RIVER SYSTEM) radon levels in the atmosphere. The study team ^gratefully acknowledges the full cooperation and hospitality extended to them by officers of the Department of the Northern Territory, and the mining and pastoral, companies represented in the study area. D. A. POLLARD D.R. DAVY (Study Leader) New South Wales State Fisheries, Sydney CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1-1 2. SCOPE OF SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS 1-1 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 1-3 4. COLLECTING LOCALITIES 1-3 4.1 East Alligator River System 1-4 4.2 South Alligator River System 1-8 5. SPECIES COLLECTED FROM LOCALITIES IN THE MAGELA CREEK CATCHMENT 1-9 6. ADDITIONAL SPECIES COLLECTED FROM OTHER LOCALITIES IN THE EAST ALLIGATOR AND SOUTH ALLIGATOR RIVER SYSTEMS 1-62 7. DISCUSSION 1-69 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1-70 9. REFERENCES 1-71 FISH SPECIES CONSIDERED IN DETAIL FAMILY MEGALOPIDAE - Megalops cyprinoides (Tarpon, Ox-eye Herring; Garlarlpa) 1-9 FAMILY CLUPEIDAE - Fluvialosa erebi (Leichhardtian Bony Bream, Freshwater Herring; Mahbiba) ' I-11 FAMILY OSTEOGLOSSIDAE - Scleropages jardini (Northern Spotted Barramundi, Saratoga; Goolooecheer) 1-13 FAMILY ARIIDAE - Hexanematichthys leptaspis (Lesser Salmon Catfish, Freshwater Fork-tailed Catfish; Manmaka'jua'ri) 1-15 FAMILY PLOTOSIDAE - Neosilurus spp. (Freshwater Tandans, Eel- tailed Catfishes; Mahgool) 1-17 FAMILY SYNBRANCHIDAE - Synbranchus bengalensis (One-gilled Eel, Swamp Eel)