Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study A REPORT TO THE TASK FORCE ON HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND INDUSTRY SUSTAINABILITY Rev 3 19 December 2007 WV03265-EV-RP-0001 Rev 3 Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study A REPORT TO THE TASK FORCE ON HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND INDUSTRY SUSTAINABILITY Rev 3 19 December 2007 WV03265-EV-RP-0001 Rev 3 Sinclair Knight Merz 7th Floor, Durack Centre 263 Adelaide Terrace PO Box H615 Perth WA 6001 Australia Tel: +61 8 9268 4400 Fax: +61 8 9268 4488 Web: www.skmconsulting.com COPYRIGHT: The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Sinclair Knight Merz constitutes an infringement of copyright. LIMITATION: This report has been prepared on behalf of and for the exclusive use of Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd’s Client, and is subject to and issued in connection with the provisions of the agreement between Sinclair Knight Merz and its Client. Sinclair Knight Merz accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report by any third party. The SKM logo is a trade mark of Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd. © Sinclair Knight Merz Pty Ltd, 2006 Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability Contents Executive Summary 1 1. Introduction 13 1.1 Background 13 1.2 Purpose and Structure of this Report 16 1.3 Study Limitations and Data Uncertainty 18 2. Regional Context (Operations and Environment Characteristics) 21 2.1 Port Hedland Port Operations 21 2.2 Environmental - Biophysical Characteristics 25 2.2.1 Landforms and Topography 25 2.2.2 Soils and Geology 25 2.2.3 Vegetation 26 2.2.4 Surface and Groundwater Hydrology 26 2.2.5 Climate 29 2.3 Population and Land Use 31 2.3.1 Port Hedland Population Characteristics 31 2.3.2 Land-use and Tenure 31 2.4 Economic Characteristics – Industry and Business 31 2.4.1 Aquaculture and Fishing (Commercial and Recreational) 31 2.4.2 Pastoral Activities 32 2.4.3 Tourism 32 2.4.4 Mining and Commercial Activities 32 2.5 Associated Infrastructure and Support Services 33 2.5.1 Air Services 33 2.5.2 Road Network 33 2.5.3 Rail Network 34 2.5.4 Energy Supply 35 2.5.5 Water Supply 35 2.5.6 Waste Management 35 2.5.7 Waste Water 36 3. Cumulative Impact Assessment Approach and Methodology 37 3.1 Current Port Operations 37 3.2 Future Port Operations 37 3.3 Cumulative Impacts of Interest 38 3.3.1 Air quality 38 3.3.2 Noise (industrial and transport) 38 3.4 Identifying emission sources for key impacts 39 SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\March2007 Version Public Release\DOIR July08\R3 PHCIA Final_20080318.doc PAGE i Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability 3.5 Quantifying emission sources 39 3.6 Scenario Development 46 3.7 Modelling and Assessment of the Scenarios 46 3.7.1 Selection of criteria for comparison 47 3.7.2 Modelling and assessment approach for air quality 48 3.7.3 Modelling and assessment approach for noise 48 4. Development Scenarios 51 4.1 Criteria for selecting scenarios 51 4.2 Timeframe 52 4.3 2004 to 2005 - Base case scenario (Bench-mark year) 53 4.4 2010 - Short-term future scenario 56 4.5 2015 to 2020 - Long-term (mid-future) scenario 57 5. Modelling Results and Assessment 61 5.1 Air Quality – Dust 61 5.1.1 Predicted Maximum 24 hour PM10 concentrations 63 5.1.2 Predicted Maximum 24 hour TSP concentrations 67 5.1.3 Estimated Metal Constituent of Dust 69 5.2 Air Quality – Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur 71 5.3 Noise 71 5.3.1 Traffic Noise in Port Hedland 72 5.3.2 Industrial Noise and Port Hedland 74 5.3.3 Traffic Noise and Wedgefield 77 5.3.4 Industrial Noise and Wedgefield 80 5.3.5 Aircraft Noise (including heliport activity) 83 5.4 Recognised Constraints Arising from the Modelling 84 6. Land Use Planning and Future Impact Management 85 6.1 Current land use controls 85 6.1.1 Town Planning Scheme 85 6.1.2 Land Use Master Plan 86 6.1.3 Enquiry by Design 86 6.1.4 State Planning Policies 87 6.1.5 Other guidelines 88 6.1.6 State Agreements 88 6.2 Planning Challenges 89 7. Conclusions and Recommendations 93 7.1 Air Quality 93 7.2 Noise 96 SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ PAGE ii I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\March2007 Version Public Release\DOIR July08\R3 PHCIA Final_20080318.doc Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability 7.3 Risk 97 7.4 Light 97 8. Acknowledgements 101 9. References 103 10. Abbreviations and Acronyms 107 Appendix A Air Quality 109 A.1 Air Quality (Dust) Modelling and Assessment Report 111 A.2 Air Emissions Inventory (Mobile Sources) Report 113 A.3 Sulfur Dioxide Emissions from Ships at Berth Report 115 Appendix B Preliminary Light Assessment 117 Appendix C Noise Modelling and Assessment Report 119 List of Figures Figure 1-1 Port Hedland Location 19 Figure 1-2 Port Hedland Studies 20 Figure 2-1 Physical characteristics 27 Figure 2-2 Daily Average PM10 Concentrations (April 1996–February 2006) (BHPBIO 2006) 30 Figure 4-1 Infrastructure footprint – Base Case 2004-2005 55 Figure 4-2 Infrastructure footprint – Scenario 2010 (estimated at 1 March 2007) 59 Figure 4-3 Infrastructure footprint – Scenario 2015-2020 (estimated at 1 March 2007) 60 Figure 5-1 Locations for model interpretation 62 Figure 5-2 Predicted 24-hour average PM10 at the Harbour air quality monitoring site 64 Figure 5-3 Predicted 24-hour average PM10 at the Hospital air quality monitoring site 65 Figure 5-4 Base Case – Modelled maximum 24-hour average PM10 ground level concentrations 65 Figure 5-5 2010– Predicted maximum 24-hour average PM10 ground level concentrations 66 Figure 5-6 2015-2020 Scenario – Predicted maximum 24-hour average PM10 ground level concentrations 66 Figure 5-7 Predicted 24-hour average TSP at the Harbour air quality monitoring site 68 Figure 5-8 Predicted 24-hour average TSP at the Hospital air quality monitoring site 68 SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\March2007 Version Public Release\DOIR July08\R3 PHCIA Final_20080318.doc Page iii Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability Figure 5-9 Traffic Noise – Base Case (2004-2005) 72 Figure 5-10 Traffic Noise - Increase from Base Case to Scenario 2010 73 Figure 5-11 Traffic Noise - Increase from Base Case to Scenario 2015-2020 74 Figure 5-12 Industrial Noise Base Case Scenario 75 Figure 5-13 Industrial Noise Change from Base Case to 2010 Scenario 76 Figure 5-14 Industrial Noise Change from Base Case to 2015-2020 Scenario 77 Figure 5-15 Traffic Noise Base Case Scenario (Wedgefield) 78 Figure 5-16 Traffic Noise Change from Base Case to 2010 Scenario (Wedgefield) 79 Figure 5-17 Traffic Noise Change from Base Case to 2015-2020 Scenario (Wedgefield) 80 Figure 5-18 Industrial Noise Base Case Scenario (Wedgefield) 81 Figure 5-19 Industrial Noise Change from Base Case to 2010 Scenario (Wedgefield) 82 Figure 5-20 Industrial Noise Change from Base Case to 2015-2020 Scenario (Wedgefield) 83 List of Tables Table 2-1 Existing operations of interest 23 Table 3-1 Scoping Matrix - Existing operations in Port Hedland and potential impacts of interest * 41 Table 5-1 – Sensitive receptor locations for model interpretation 61 Table 5-2 Criteria for Comparison - Dust 63 Table 5-3 Comparison of predicted PM10 concentrations in Port Hedland 63 Table 5-4 Comparison of predicted TSP concentrations in Port Hedland 67 Table 5-5 Ambient air quality guideline criteria for heavy metals 70 Table 6-1 Land-use zones and total areas (hectares) 86 SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ PAGE iv I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\March2007 Version Public Release\DOIR July08\R3 PHCIA Final_20080318.doc Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability Document history and status Revision Date issued Reviewed by Approved by Date approved Revision type Draft A 12/06/2007 Subject to Review 12/06/2007 Preliminary Draft – Commercial In-Confidence 0 12/06/2007 J Harper D Tuxford Executive Summary 1 07/09/2007 S Wallis D Tuxford 06/09/2007 Final Draft 2 25/09/2007 J Harper D Tuxford 26/09/2007 Client Comments 3 19/09/2007 B Brown D Tuxford 19/09/2007 Noise Review Distribution of copies Revision Copy no Quantity Issued to Draft A Electronic 1 Client (Ross Atkin, DOIR) 0 Electronic 1 Client (Ross Atkin, DOIR) 1 Electronic 1 Client (Ross Atkin, DOIR) 2 Electronic 1 Client (Ross Atkin, DOIR) 2 Electronic 1 Client (Sally Walker, DOIR) 3 Electronic and Hard Copies 1 & 30 Client (Ross Atkin, DOIR) & Taskforce Printed: 30 July 2008 Last saved: 30 July 2008 01:49 PM File name: I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\R3 PHCIA Final.doc Author: Shreya Shah/Deanna Tuxford Project manager: Deanna Tuxford/Shreya Shah Name of organisation: Department of Industry and Resources Name of project: Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study Name of document: Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study Document version: Final Draft – For Stakeholder Consultation Project number: WV03265 SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\March2007 Version Public Release\DOIR July08\R3 PHCIA Final_20080318.doc PAGE v Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability This page has intentionally been left blank SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ PAGE vi I:\WVES\Projects\WV03265\Deliverables\Final report\March2007 Version Public Release\DOIR July08\R3 PHCIA Final_20080318.doc Port Hedland Cumulative Impact Study – A Report to The Task Force on Health, Environment and Industry Sustainability Executive Summary Background The Port Hedland port is mainly a large volume bulk minerals export port moving iron ore, salt, manganese, chrome and copper concentrates.