HVO 2009 Annual Environmental Management Report - Final

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Coal & Allied – Hunter Valley Operations 3.26 CARRINGTON BILLABONG 3.26.1 Environmental Management The Carrington Billabong is a naturally forming fresh water wetland on the western boundary of HVO and is an ideal habitat for River Red Gums, which are a critically endangered species in the Hunter Valley. For mining to progress in the Carrington Pit a levee was constructed to prevent flood waters reaching the mining area. However this levee has limited the catchment of the River Red Gum, which is a species heavily reliant on readily available water and shallow groundwaters which occur around alluvial systems. HVO engaged Umwelt Australia (Pty Ltd) to develop a management strategy for this sensitive system in 2007. The main goals that the Carrington Billabong Restoration and Rehabilitation Strategy are: To reduce the impacts of threatening processes on the billabong; To aid the establishment of the appropriate conditions to promote the health of the river red gum population; To enhance the river red gum population to enable it to persist as a viable, functioning population; and To increase biodiversity including residence habitat, foraging habitat and native flora and fauna species. The population of River Red Gums in the Hunter is unique in NSW being the only to occur in a coastal catchment and is believed to be genetically distinct. The species is listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and the factors believed to contribute to this status include loss of habitat, competition (weeds), stress from cattle, environmental change and habitat fragmentation. 3.26.2 Environmental Performance The Carrington Billabong has historically been moderately grazed, with significant weed infestations and its hydrology has been significantly altered. To achieve the goals to the Carrington Billabong Rehabilitation and Restoration Strategy, HVO erected an interim stock fence in 2007, which has been replaced with a large permanent fence around the billabong. A buffer zone was included within the permanent fence to help encourage recruitment and natural regeneration by eliminating the pressures of cattle grazing. Regular monitoring is undertaken to assess the level of recruitment and natural regeneration in the billabong. Weed and pest management is carried out in the area by Hunter Land Management, who selectively spray and slash to limit the infestation of weeds in the billabong. Meteorological data for the area is recorded to understand any climatic stresses and ground water is monitored. Since the implementation of the Carrington Billabong Restoration and Rehabilitation strategy, the overall health of the system has increased through the exclusion of cattle and reduction of weeds. Also despite the limited rainfall in the area individuals are persisting and recruitment is occurring. Three hundred River Red Gum seedlings were planted in the billabong in September 2009. However, many of these suffered from herbivory by kangaroos or succumbed to drought and are struggling to survive. A survey of the juvenile individuals was performed in December 2009 and found that 40 per cent of trees planted were still alive. However a subsequent survey in early January 2010 recorded a 61 per cent survival rate, indicating some plants have recovered due to substantial rainfall events. A product to deter herbivory by kangaroos has since been applied to the surviving River Red Gums and this will be continued in 2010. Further revegetation works may include more planting in 2010. The Weed Management Plan 2009 was implemented at the billabong which included selective herbicide use to eradicate annual weeds, as well as targeting Galenia, Castor Oil plants and tree tobacco. Weed monitoring quadrats have been used to assess the effectiveness of the Weed Management Plan. Results show significant decreases in weed cover at all quadrats since the implementation of the plan in 2008. Efforts to reduce weed infestation at the billabong will continue in 2010. AEMR 2009 161
Coal & Allied – Hunter Valley Operations 4 COMMUNITY RELATIONS 4.1 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLAINTS 4.1.1 Listing of Complaints for the Reporting Period During 2009 a total of 24 complaints where received by HVO. This represents an increase of 11 community concerns from 2008. There were no complaints received during January, February, September, October or December. A full register of complaints is detailed in Appendix 2. The main environmental issues affecting the public during 2009 were blasting with ten complaints and noise with nine complaints, shown in Figure 79, which also compares 2009 complaints with those in the last five years. Issues of Community Concern 6 29 30 No. Complaints / month (2009) 5 4 3 2 1 24 14 13 10 6 25 20 15 10 5 No. Complaints / year 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 0 Blast Dust Light Noise Other 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Figure 79: Breakdown of Environmental Complaints by Issue for 2009 4.1.2 Complaint Resolution Coal & Allied provides a 24 hour Environmental Contact Line (telephone: 1800 656 892) for community members to comment on concerns relating to its operations. The following procedure is consistently followed for complaint notifications at all Coal & Allied sites: When a complaint is made via the Contact Line, a member of the Coal & Allied Environmental Services team is notified by means of a text message sent to the Environmental Services pager and mobile phone. Environmental Services then contacts the complainant and the complaint is discussed. All complainants are offered face to face visits from relevant Coal & Allied personnel; An Environmental Electronic Complaint form is completed on the Coal & Allied reporting database. If the complaint is received by means other than the Contact Line, an Environmental Complaint form is completed and Environmental Services are notified; and On receipt of a complaint, a member of the Environmental Services team will clarify the issue, notify relevant site personnel and discuss appropriate actions. If the appropriate operations personnel cannot quickly resolve the issue, the issue is referred to the Manager or General Manager. Any actions taken to resolve the issue are communicated back to the complainant as soon as possible. AEMR 2009 162
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HVO 2009 Annual Environmental Management Report - Final

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