Wambo Coal AEMR 2010-2011 - Peabody Energy

2010-2011 AEMR3.2.2.3 Dust DepositionWCPL maintains a network of 16 dust depositiongauges, the location of each dust deposition gaugeis shown in Figure 3.1.All depositional dust gauges were sampled andanalysed for insoluble solids and ash residue, inaccordance with AS3580.10.1:2003 Methods forSampling and Analysis of Ambient Air and NationalAssociation of Testing Authorities (NATA)requirements. A summary of the annual averagesfor the 16 dust gauges is provided in Figure 3.11below and a full summary of the monthly resultsprovided in Appendix 2B. There was a capture andanalysis rate of 100% for all dust gauges. Nearly alldust gauges contained various sources of foreignmaterial including bird droppings, insects and otherorganic matter when analysed.Contamination was assessed based on fieldobservations, laboratory observations and analysis(microscopic and qualitative), historical data andwind patterns. All monthly dust results deemed to becontaminated were excluded from the annualaverage.There were no depositional dust gauges thatexceeded the annual average criteria of 4g/m 2 /month on privately owned land (see Figure3.11). The annual average rainfall for the 2010/2011reporting period was approximately 176.3 mmgreater than the previous year. A higher thanaverage rainfall for 2010/2011 is anothercontributing factor with respect to lower annual dustaverages, compared to 2009/2010 reporting period.Dust gauges D07 and D14 exceeded the averagecriteria of 4 g/m 2 /month, however these dust gaugesare situated on WCPL owned land and therefore theaverage criteria of 4 g/m 2 /month does not apply.D07 is located near an internal unsealed road, usedregularly during the reporting period. D14 is locateddirectly west of the advancing open cut and withinthe footprint of the disturbance area.All other dust gauges located on residentialproperties (D11, D12, D17, D21, D22, D24 andD25) were below the annual average criteria of4g/m 2 /month.Assessment criterion of a maximum increase of2g/m 2 /month annual average for deposited dust wascompared with annual average deposited dustresults from the previous reporting period (seeFigure 3.11a). There were no exceedances of the2g/m 2 /month criterion when compared with dustresults from the 2009/2010 reporting period.The intention of this criterion is to distinguish dustcontribution by WCPL from other sources. Howeverthe speciation of WCPL dust and other sources isoutside the methodology of depositional monitoringin accordance with AS3580.10.1:2003.12Monthly Deposited Dust MonitoringYearly Average10g/m 2 /month86420D01D03D07D09D11D12D14D17D19D20D21D22D23D24D25D26Insoluble Solids Ash Residue Project CriteriaFigure 3.11 – 2010-2011 Depositional Dust Gauges Annual AveragesNote: D07 & D14 are located on land owned by WCPL and therefore the average criteria of 4 g/m 2 /month does not apply.Page 45