HVO 2009 Annual Environmental Management Report - Final

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Coal & Allied – Hunter Valley Operations 3.10.2 Environmental Performance Noise monitoring is carried out quarterly at locations illustrated in Figure 78. Attended noise monitoring was conducted quarterly at all attended sites around HVO in Quarters 1 through to 4.The purpose of the surveys was to quantify and describe the acoustic environment around the site and compare results with specified limits. Unattended monitoring (real time noise monitoring) also continued throughout 2009 at seven sites surrounding HVO. Results for attended and unattended monitoring data can be seen in Appendix 12 and 13 respectively. Attended Monitoring Attended monitoring was conducted in accordance with the DECCW ‘Industrial Noise Policy’ (INP) Guidelines and Australian Standard AS 1055 (1997): Acoustics – Description and Measurement of Environmental Noise. A total of 72 attended noise measurements were made at sites around the mine during the 2009 calendar year. The monitoring programme was rationalised in quarter 4 of 2009 to take into account new monitoring requirements in the HVO South Coal Project development consent. During 2009 noise levels were within consent conditions for night time and day time levels with the exception of one result at Cheshunt East and two results at Maison Dieu (Table 44). Table 44: LAeq Greater than Allowable Noise Levels Generated by HVO Location Date/Time Relevant Criteria Criterion (dB) Cheshunt East 12/05/2009 02:20 HVO South Pit Consent LAeq(dB) Exceeds Levels 40 48 8 Maison Dieu 24/09/2009 23.30 HVO South Pit Consent 36 37 1 Maison Dieu 24/09/2009 23.30 HVO South Pit Consent 46 48 2 Chapter 11 of the EPA ‘Industrial Noise Policy’ deems a development to be in non-compliance only “the monitored noise level is more than 2dB above the statutory noise limit specified in the consent or licence condition” Real Time Monitoring A network of unattended real time noise monitors, owned and operated by Coal & Allied, gathered noise data around HVO during 2009. Technology limitations currently restrict the use of this system as a compliance monitoring tool. The system is therefore designed to operate as a management tool and this is being further developed whereby relevant people on site are automatically notified if off site noise, likely to have been generated by mining, is approaching levels where control measures and actions should be implemented. In total, the monitoring network comprises six monitoring stations, four of which can provide directional noise data; all provide total spectrum (all pass) and spectrum low pass information. Two instrumentation types are used, Svan 945A noise analysers and Barnowl monitors. The latter has an array of three microphones that allow quantification of directional LAeq in five degree increments. An analysis of data collected during 2009 has been conducted, the results of which are provided in Appendix 13. Identifiable trends are that low pass background levels, the descriptor that can most reliably be linked to mining, increases during the winter period. This is consistent with attended monitoring observations. Also noted from the data is that the noise environment at many sites is primarily determined by road traffic. AEMR 2009 133
Coal & Allied – Hunter Valley Operations Comparison to EIS Predictions Table 45 to Table 49 show comparisons between 2009 LAeq attended noise monitoring results and the predictions made in the West Pit Environmental Impact Statement (2003), the Cheshunt Statement of Environmental Effects (2005) and the HVO South Coal Project Environmental Assessment (2006). While in many cases noise was inaudible (IA) or not measurable (NM), the measurements generally indicate that the EIS predictions are within or below the ranges being measured. Table 45: HVO North (West Pit EIS, 2003) – Day Period LAeq Location Units EIS Prediction (INP) Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Knodlers Lane dB(A) 28 IA IA IA NA Maison Dieu dB(A) 28 IA IA IA NA Wandewoi dB(A) 47 27 NM 27 NA Kilburnie South dB(A) 35 IA IA IA NA Jerrys Plains dB(A) 36 IA IA IA NA Warkworth School dB(A) 28 IA IA IA NA Cheshunt East dB(A) 40 IA IA IA NA IA – Inaudible NM – not measurable NA as night monitoring undertaken in Quarter 4. Table 46: HVO North (West Pit EIS, 2003) – Night Period LAeq Location Units EIS Prediction (INP) Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Knodlers Lane dB(A) 28 IA IA IA IA Maison Dieu dB(A) 28 IA IA IA IA Wandewoi dB(A) 47 37 41 29 38-43 Kilburnie South dB(A) 35 36 37 NM 33-38 Jerrys Plains dB(A) 36 34 34 IA 27-36 Warkworth School dB(A) 28 IA IA IA IA Cheshunt East IA – Inaudible NM – not measurable dB(A) 40 IA IA NM IA AEMR 2009 134
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HVO 2009 Annual Environmental Management Report - Final

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