EIS 968 Environmental impact statement for proposed sand, soil and gravel extraction at Bredbo in the Shire of Cooma-Monaro NSW DEPT PEIApy 1NDUSpp1 IIIIIIiu!IIIIIihIIIIih////I/II//II/ll/II///IIjI ABOi 9636 ENVIRONMENTkL IKPACT STAThMENT for proposed Sand, Soil and Gravel Extraction at Bredbo in the Shire of Cooma-Monaro prepared for Lee Aggregates Pty.Ltd. by D.P.JAMES APRIL 1991 Lee Aggregates Pty.Ltd.. D.P.JAMES & COMPANY P.O.Box 397, P.O.Box 170, WANNIASSA, 2903. KOGARAH, 2217. (062)92.3961. (02)588.2614. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I C ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT Prepared by D.P.Jaines on behalf of Lee Aggregates Pty.Ltd., P.O.Box 397, Wanniassa, 2903, A.C.T. This is the second edition of this environmental impact statement and is dated April 1991. The first edition is dated June 1988. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected in the second edition, which has been laser printed. '000d-~; 9 April 1991. D.P.James, ARMIT, AMIQ, AIMM. 5/2 Hardie Street, P0 Box 653, 1 NEUTRAL BAY 2089 1- (02)904 1515. / j I 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 General 1.2 Summary of Proposed Development I 1.3 Development Objectives I 2. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT 2.1 Zoning 22 Landforin 2.3 Land Use I 2.4 Climate & Flooding 2.5 Air Quality 2.6 Water Quality I 2.6.1 Murrunthidgee River 2.7 Noise 2.8 Flora I 2.9 Fauna 2.10 Traffic 2.11 Economic Aspects 2.12 Social & Cultural Aspects Ii 2.13 Archaeology 2.14 Soil & Water Conservation Matters I 2.15 Extractive Industry I ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS & PROTECTION MEASURE 3.1 Land Use 3.2 Climate & Flooding 3.3 Air Quality F 3.4 Water Quality 3.4.1 Murrumbidgee River 3.5 Noise I 3.6 Flora 3.7 Fauna 3.8 Traffic I 3.9 Energy I JUSTIFICATION ALTERNATIVES I 5.1 Development Alternatives 5.2 "No Development" Alternative I U U I I I page 3 I PROPOSKD DEVELOPMENT I 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Extraction Sequence 6.3 Winning & Processing I 6.4 Hours of Operation 6.5 Employment 6.6 Services 6.7 Pollution Control I 6.7.1 Air 6.7.2 Water 6.7.3 Noise I 6.8 Traffic 6.9 Reserves 6.10 Drainage & Erosion Control I 6.11 Rehabilitation I ASSESSMENT & CONCLUSIONS CONSULTATIONS I REFERENCES I APPENDICES 1 The Land 2 Noise Impact Statement 3 Rehabilitation I 4 Extractive Industry I Figure 1 Location of the Land. Figure 2 Material Processing: plant layout and equipment details I Figure 3 Road and Traffic Details. Table 1 Summary of Weather Data. I Table 2 River Gauging Stations. ATTACHED PLANS I PLAN 1 Existing Landform PLAN 2 Operational and Final Landform Details I I I I I I I page 4 . I I I ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT ACT, I 1979(Section 77(3)(d)) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT I This Statement has been prepared on behalf of Lee Aggregates Pty.Ltd. P.O.Box 397, I Wanniassa, 2903, A.C.T. being the applicant making the development I application referred to below. This Statement accompanies the development application made in I respect of the development described as follows: I Extraction of Sand, Soil and Gravel The development application relates to land described as follows: Portions 1, la, 28 and 29 in the Parish of Billiflngra I and Portion 1 in the Parish of York, all the County of Beresford in the Shire of Cooma-Nonaro. The contents of this Statement, as required by Clause 34 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation, 1980, are set I forth in the accompanying pages. I, Derek Patrick JAMES, of Kogarah, hereby certify that I have I prepared the contents of this statement in accordance with Clauses 34 and 35 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation, I 1980. D.P.James, ARMIT, AMIQ, AIMM. I 15/46 Robertson Street, 5ignature KOGARAH, 2217. mY I date I I I p page 5 I I U I I 17 Ban I shed I I I I I I I I I Figure 1. Location of the land. Taken from CMA topographical I maps, scale 1:25,000, Bredbo (8726-3-S) and Murrumbucca (8725-4-N). I I I I I I . I 1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1 General Introduction. This document forms part of a Development Application to Cooma- I Monaro Shire Council for approval to extract soil, sand and gravel from the land described in Appendix 1. The actual development site is only part of the land ; Figure 1 shows the location of the land I and the development site and Plan 1 shows the existing topography. The land is on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River about 5 kms south of Bredbo on the Monaro Highway. At present the land is used I for agriculture and for extractive industry. This Application is to expand and upgrade the existing extractive industry. I Consultation with the Director of the Department of Environment and Planning, see Section 9, resulted in that the following matters were required to be specifically addressed: 1.Justification of the need for the proposal with an account of the resources and the projected demand. 2. Impact on the Murrumbidgee River. 3. Interaction of quarry traffic with traffic on Monaro I Highway. 4. Results of investigations of sediment movement in the Murrumbidgee River over an annual seasonal cycle, related I to the proposal. 5. Assessment of cumulative impact of the proposed extraction on the Murrumbidgee River. Summary of Proposed Development. 1.2 Full details of the development are given in Section 6 below. The development is to extract sand and gravel from the bed and banks of the Murrumbidgee River and soil from the banks and flood plain of the same River. The locations of the extraction sites are shownin Figure 1 and in Plan 1. As part of the extraction on the left bank of the River a new river channel will be cut into the flood plain and the river returned to its previous bed. Soil will be extracted by rubber-tyred front-end loader, type I Komatsu W90/2 and loaded into a diesel powered mobile screen, a Finlay Hydrascreen model 50/30E. By screening in this way homogeneous products will be formed. In some cases soil will be 1 mixed with sand to form a range of open textured soil products. Blending of such mixtures is done by passing the partly mixed materials through the powered screen. Sand and gravel will be extracted by the same front-end loader and loaded into trucks for Li transport to the processing plant. Processing details are given in Figure 2. Processing consists of two circuits: I CIRCUIT 1 contains an Austral triple deck screen to wash and separate the gravel followed by a Finlay Hydrasanda to wash and de- I water the sand. This circuit is to produce round river gravel. I I I page 7 CIRCUIT 2 consists of Circuit 1 plus an impact crusher before the I Austral screen. This circuit is to produce crushed river gravel. Wash water will be re-circulated and stored in 2 dams. Initial and I make-up water will be obtained from the River. If necessary a flocculant will be used to clarify the wash water. The plant is electrically driven via a Volvo Penta diesel powered generator. I Products will be delivered by road. Initial production is estimated to be 55,000 tonnes per annum. 1.3 Development Objectives. The development has the following objectives: I 1. To expand the size and scope of the existing development. 2. To continue to remove extractive material, namely soil, I sand and gravel, from the land. To process on the land extractive material into various soil, sand and gravel products for sale in the local and regional markets. To carry out the development in an environmentally sensitive manner. I I I I I I I I I I 11 I page 8 I I I I I I I I I I I I F Feed. A Austral triple deck screen * T Tainmerjack crusher * H Finlay Hydrasanda sand plant * I P Water pump * V Volvo penta diesel electric generator, 198 KVA. Dl Dam 1. wash water. I D2 Dam 2. wash water. P1 Product stockpile, gravel: coarse. P2 Product stockpile, gravel: medium. P3 Product stockpile, gravel: fine. I P4 Product stockpile, sand. I * electrically driven Figure 2. Material processing: plant layout and equipment I details. I I I I page 9 I 2. EXISTING ENVIRONMENT. 2.1 Zoning. The land is zoned Rural la under LEP No.1 for Cooma-Monaro Shire, I the appointed day for this instrument is 8 Jan.1982, see Government Gazette No.3, 8 Jan.1982. Under this zoning extractive industry is I permitted with the consent of Council. 2.1 Landform. The land is situated between the right bank of the Murrumbidgee River and the Monaro Highway about 5 kms south of Bredbo. In I general the landform is of gently rolling hills and river flats. The land is open grass land with some scattered trees. The land varies in elevation from about 730 m.AHD at the Highway to about I 690 m.AHD along the River. The land is within the catchment of the Murrumbidgee River Basin, Basin No. 410. The river valley is I bounded by the Clear Range (west) and the Black Range (east). 2.3 Land Use. The land is used for agriculture (sheep grazing) and for extractive industry and conforms to the following land classification systems I (1,2): Soil Conservation Service: Land Capability : Class 1V I Dept.of Agriculture : Agriculture Suitability : Class 3 2.4 Climate & Flooding Temperature and rainfall details are given in Table 1 for weather I stations nearest to the development site.