Fremantle Port Inner Harbour and Channel ... - Fremantle Ports

1. Introduction
1.1. Scope of this WQMP
This Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP) has been prepared for Fremantle Ports Inner
Harbour and Channel Deepening Project (the ‘Project’), in accordance with Condition 6 of
Ministerial Statement 801 – Marine Water and Sediment Quality (W.A. Minister for
Environment, 18 th August 2009; Appendix A) and will be implemented to:
1. Achieve the environmental quality objectives (EQOs) for the protection of Projectrelevant
Environmental Values (EVs), as defined in Perth’s Coastal Waters:
Environmental Values and Objectives (EPA 2000) and also applied to the Swan River
Estuary (Section 2);
2. Provide a map defining the levels of Ecological Protection that will apply for the
duration of Project implementation (Section 2);
3. Provide environmental quality indicators and associated ‘trigger’ levels or targets,
based on ANZECC & ARMCANZ (2000a) and EPA (2005a) (amongst other relevant
guideline reference sources), for assessing the performance of managing discharges to
meet relevant EQOs (Section 4);
4. Specify appropriate management and mitigation measures to be applied if monitoring
demonstrates that the environmental quality ‘trigger’ levels are exceeded (Section 5);
and,
5. Employ protocols and schedules for reporting performance against the EQOs using the
environmental quality ‘trigger’ levels for discharges (Sections 3 to 7).
1.2. Project Description
The Project involves the dredging of approximately 3.1 million m 3 of consolidated and
unconsolidated material and its disposal at an offshore spoil disposal area (Gage Roads) or its
reuse in land reclamation at Rous Head. Dredging will be undertaken to deepen the Deep
Water Channel, Entrance Channel and Inner Harbour (Figure 2.1) to allow 14 m draft ships to
utilise the Fremantle Inner Harbour. An area of seabed at Rous Head will also be reclaimed
using dredged material (Figure 2.1). A combination of a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge
(TSHD) and a Cutter Suction Dredge (CSD) will be used.
The key elements of the Project are provided in Table 1.1. For a full description of the
Project, including a detailed Project schedule, please refer to the Dredge Spoil and Disposal
Management Plan (DSDMP, Fremantle Ports, 2009).
Table 1.1 Key elements of the Project
Component
Description
Construction of a seawall around the
reclamation area
• 20 weeks (prior to the dredging programme). This component of
the works will be managed under the CEMP and therefore is only
made reference to in the DSDMP and is not considered further.
Duration of Dredging • 26 weeks.
Deepening of Fremantle Port Inner
Harbour
• Dredging to a declared depth of RL -15.0 m Low Water Mark
Fremantle (LWMF);
• Removal of approximately 0.9 million m 3 of dredged material.
Deepening of the Entrance Channel • Dredging to declared depths between RL -16.1 m and RL -16.8
m (LWMF);
• Removal of approximately 1.1 million m 3 of dredged material.
Deepening of Deep Water Channel • Dredging to declared depths between RL -16.5 m and RL -18.0
m (LWMF) within an area up to 169 ha;
• Removal of approximately 1.1 million m 3 of dredge material.
Rous Head Reclamation Area • Placement of approximately 1.6 million m 3 dredged material for
reclamation of an area of 27 ha of seabed (Stage 3);
• Construction of a protective seawall 1000 m long.
Proposed Offshore Spoil Disposal
area
• Placement of approximately 1.5 million m 3 of dredged material
within an area of approximately 150 ha (1.5 km 2 ) located north
of Gage Roads.
Oceanica: Fremantle Ports: Inner Harbour and Channel Deepening - Water Quality Monitoring Program 1