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Mercury and Arsenic in Victorian Waters: a Legacy of Historical Gold Mining Publication 1637.1* December 2017 Report *This Replaces 1637 Issued November 2016

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Mercury and Arsenic in Victorian Waters: a Legacy of Historical Gold Mining Publication 1637.1* December 2017 Report *This Replaces 1637 Issued November 2016 Mercury and arsenic in Victorian waters: a legacy of historical gold mining Publication 1637.1* December 2017 Report *This replaces 1637 issued November 2016 Contents List of figures ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 List of tables .......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Mercury, arsenic, and gold mining ....................................................................................................................... 4 2. Objectives ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 3. Methods ........................................................................................................................................................................ 5 3.1 Study design ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 3.2 Sample site selection ........................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2.1 Spatial analysis: identifying mining ‘hotspots’ .................................................................................................. 5 3.3 Sediment collection and analysis ......................................................................................................................... 8 3.4 Biological sampling and analysis ......................................................................................................................... 9 3.4.1 Target organisms ............................................................................................................................................ 9 3.4.2 Sampling method: electrofishing ................................................................................................................... 10 3.4.3 Sampling method: bait trapping and netting .................................................................................................. 10 3.4.4 Animal handling and sample preparation ...................................................................................................... 11 3.4.5 Fish age determination .................................................................................................................................. 11 3.4.6 Tissue chemical analysis and quality control ................................................................................................. 12 3.4.7 Comparison of tissue metal concentrations with Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code ................... 12 4. Results ........................................................................................................................................................................ 12 4.1 Mercury and arsenic in sediments ..................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Mercury and arsenic in tissue ............................................................................................................................ 14 4.2.1 Loddon River ................................................................................................................................................. 14 4.2.2 Sailors Creek ................................................................................................................................................. 17 4.2.3 Big River ........................................................................................................................................................ 19 4.3 Mining density as a predictor of contamination .................................................................................................. 21 5. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................................... 21 6. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 22 7. Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................................... 22 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Appendix 1. Site location details and sediment chemistry data from all sites. ..................................................................... 26 1 RIVERMAP hotspots project List of figures Figure 1 - Spatial distribution of goldmines in Victoria obtained from MINSITE database ..................................................... 6 Figure 2 - Spatial distribution of Victorian goldmines obtained with Kernel density analysis ................................................. 6 Figure 3 - Kernel density analysis of Victorian goldmines along a section of the Goulburn River ......................................... 7 Figure 4 - AVIRA reaches highly valued for recreational angling that drain catchments containing historic gold mines. ...... 8 Figure 5 - Boat-based electrofishing on the Loddon River .................................................................................................. 10 Figure 6 - Pyramid trap used to sample crayfish ................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 7 -Transverse section of an otolith from a 3 year old redfin perch. ........................................................................... 11 Figure 8 – Gold mine locations and monitoring sites along the Loddon River. .................................................................... 14 Figure 9 - Mercury in tissue samples from fish and crayfish obtained from the Loddon River ............................................. 15 Figure 10 - Arsenic in tissue samples from fish and crayfish obtained from the Loddon River ............................................ 15 Figure 11 - Relationship between age and mercury concentration in common carp obtained from the Loddon River ........ 16 Figure 12 - Gold mine locations and monitoring sites on Sailors Creek. ............................................................................. 17 Figure 13 - Mercury in tissue samples from fish and crayfish obtained from Sailors Creek ................................................ 18 Figure 14 - Arsenic in tissue samples from fish and crayfish obtained from Sailors Creek. ................................................ 18 Figure 15 - Gold mine locations and monitoring sites on Big River. .................................................................................... 19 Figure 16 - Mercury in tissue samples from fish obtained from Big River. ........................................................................... 20 Figure 17 - Arsenic in tissue samples from fish obtained from Big River. ............................................................................ 20 List of tables Table 1 – An example of an AVIRA metric for recreational fishing ........................................................................................ 8 Table 2 –ISQG trigger values for mercury and arsenic in sediments .................................................................................... 9 Table 3 – Concentrations of total arsenic and total mercury in sediment samples. ............................................................. 12 2 RIVERMAP hotspots project Executive summary This report presents the results of a study carried out by Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) to assess the levels of mercury and arsenic in sediments and fauna. This investigation is part of EPA’s River Monitoring and Assessment Program (RiverMAP) The objective of this study was to evaluate mercury and arsenic contamination in aquatic ecosystems that have been historically exposed to gold mining activities. The study focused on priority waterways valued for recreational fishing to identify where human health risk assessment may be warranted. The following rivers and streams were monitored as part of RiverMAP’s water quality ‘hotspot’ investigation: • Avoca River • Big River • Buckland River • Coliban River • Livingstone Creek • Loddon River • Ovens River • Sailors Creek • Thougla Creek The results of the study show evidence of mercury and arsenic contamination in rivers and streams in historical gold mining regions. EPA’s monitoring revealed that many of the rivers and streams in the study contain concentrations of mercury and arsenic in the sediment that are above environmental guideline values. Sediments from nearly half of all sites monitored exceeded the Interim Sediment Quality Guideline (ISQG) ‘low trigger’
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