Wambo Coal AEMR 2011-2012 - Peabody Energy

2011-2012 AEMR
3.2.2.2 High Volume Air Sampling
Monitoring of TSP occurred at four locations during
the reporting period;
1. HV01 – Coralie
2. HV02 – Wambo Road
3. HV03 – Thelander
4. HV04 – Muller
WCPL annual average impact assessment criteria
for TSP is less than 90 µg/m 3 (see Table 3.1) on
privately owned land.
Pollutant
Total suspended particulates
(TSP) matter
Table 3.1 TSP Criteria
Averaging
Period
Criterion
Annual 90 µg/m 3
All four HVAS continued to operate on a six day
cycle (in line with the OEH cycle) during the
reporting period, in accordance with AS 2724.3 –
1984 – Determination of total suspended
particulates (TSP) – High volume sampler
gravimetric method. The locations of the HVAS are
illustrated in Figure 3.1. Both HV01 and HV02 are
located on WCPL owned land. HV03 and HV04 are
located on privately owned land.
Both HV01 and HV02 had a capture rate of 100%
during the 2011-2012 reporting period, however
HV03 and HV04 had a capture rate of 98% and
95% respectively. A land access issue at HV03 on
the 14 th February 2012 and intermittent power
failures during March 2012 at HV04 were the
primary causes of the lower capture rate
percentages. To supplement HV04 data for March
2012, several ‘make up’ runs were completed by
WCPL environmental monitoring specialist.
The TSP results recorded at each of the HVAS sites
are illustrated in Figures 3.9a-d below and provided
in Appendix 2B. The annual average TSP
concentration at all four monitoring locations did not
exceed the long term impact annual average criteria
of 90g/m 3 on any privately owned land. The annual
average TSP results (at privately owned residences)
for HV03 recorded a decrease of 23g/m 3 when
compared to the annual average reported in the
2010-2011 AEMR.
Table 3.2 TSP Recent Annual Averages
2009-2010
Annual Ave.
2010-2011
Annual Ave.
2011-2012
Annual Ave.
HV01 55g/m 3 60g/m 3 53g/m 3
HV02 56g/m 3 48g/m 3 50g/m 3
HV03 44g/m 3 55g/m 3 32g/m 3
HV04 44g/m 3 37g/m 3 46g/m 3
The highest daily TSP result for HV03 of 89.0g/m 3
was recorded on the 03/01/2012. A review of
meteorological conditions indicated that prevailing
winds tended from the East South East, while
conditions were warm and dry. HV03 and HV04
both recorded elevated results on the 3 rd of January
2012 (89.0g/m 3 and 117g/m 3 respectively).
HV03 and HV04 are located north west of the mine
and therefore under these metrological conditions
may be considered within the influence of WCPL
mining and neighbouring coal mine operations
activities. However, HV02 also recorded elevated
TSP for the same day of 122g/m 3 which suggests a
regional dust event was occurring on that day. HV02
is located to the south of WCPL operations on
WCPL owned land.
The highest daily TSP result for HV04 of
122.0g/m 3 was recorded on the 14/04/2012,
however the recorded TSP at HV03 for the
14/04/2012 of 23.6g/m 3 was significantly lower. A
review of meteorological conditions indicated that
prevailing winds tended from the North West may
have influenced the sampling period to 14 th of April
2012. HV03 and HV04 are located north west of the
mine and therefore under these metrological
conditions is considered outside the influence of
WCPL activities. The low result recorded by HV03
on the same day suggest HV04 was under different
localised influences.
The highest daily TSP result of 115g/m 3 was
recorded at HV01, which was above the annual
average criteria of 90g/m 3 . HV01 is located
adjacent to the mine entry road on WCPL owned
land. The higher annual TSP result can be attributed
to an increase of mining related traffic utilising this
area as a temporary hard stand area to
accommodate a number of contractors.
The annual average TSP results for HV04 recorded
an increase of 9g/m 3 when compared to the annual
average reported in the 2010-2011 AEMR. For a
summary of recent TSP annual averages please
refer to Table 3.2.
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