Appendix F - Noise Assessment - Peabody Energy

11 February 201110-8374 Montrose East Underground Mine Modification 201110211Wambo Coal Pty LimitedPMB 1SINGLETON NSW 2330Attention:Mr Lachlan CrawfordDear LachlanWamboMontrose East Underground Mine ModificationReview of Potential Noise ImpactsPlease find attached our assessment of potential noise impacts of the proposed modification to Wambo.Should you have any queries with the contents of this report please don’t hesitate to contact me orGlenn Thomas to discuss.RegardsMARK BLAKEA Member of the SLR GroupHeggies Pty Ltd 2 Lincoln Street Lane Cove NSW 2066 Australia(PO Box 176 Lane Cove NSW 1595 Australia)T: 61 2 9427 8100 F: 61 2 9427 8200 E: sydney@heggies.com www.heggies.comABN 29 001 584 612

2.2 Existing Wambo ApprovalsATTACHMENT AWAMBO COAL MINE - MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE MODIFICATIONREVIEW OF POTENTIAL NOISE IMPACTSPage 2 of 10With respect to noise emissions, WCPL has approval to operate in accordance with the following approvalrequirements:• Wambo Development Consent DA 305-7-2003 (relevant sections attached as Attachment D).• Environment Protection Licence (EPL) No. 529 (review date 6 August 2014). The EPL noise criteriaare the same as those presented in Development Consent DA 305-7-2003 (see Attachment D).• Wambo Rail Loop Development Consent DA 117-8-2004.2.3 Wambo Noise Management MeasuresWambo Noise Monitoring ProgramThe original NMP (approved by the Department of Planning in June 2005) has been revised a number oftimes in response to community feedback, technical improvements and operational experience. The latestrevision of the NMP is dated May 2007 and it describes the current noise monitoring and managementactivities at Wambo. Real-time noise management monitoring is undertaken at four locations and is usedas a management tool to assist WCPL to take pre-emptive management actions to avoid potentialnon-compliances and/or impacts, while operator-attended noise monitoring is undertaken on a quarterlybasis at approximately six locations to quantify and describe the existing acoustic environment aroundWambo and compare results with noise impact assessment criteria (see Attachment D) and predictivenoise modelling results from Heggies (2003). The current real-time and attended noise monitoringlocations are shown on Attachment C1.Environmental Noise Management PracticesA number of proactive management measures designed to minimise noise generation from operations atWambo have been implemented by WCPL, including:• Real-time noise monitoring is used as a noise management tool (not for compliance purposes). AnExceedance Protocol has been implemented for ongoing performance assessment and to assist inthe implementation of pre-emptive management actions to avoid potential non-compliances. Thereal-time noise monitoring data is reviewed daily in accordance with the Exceedance Protocol (shownin Attachment C2) included in the NMP.• Meteorological monitoring is used and where adverse conditions are experienced or predictedoperational changes are made to avoid or reduce noise impacts.• Operational noise controls, including:o Scheduling mining operations that have greatest potential to affect receivers to occur atthe least sensitive times of the day where practicable.o Positioning portable generators and machinery to take advantage of natural and existingman made barriers to mitigate sound travel where practicable.o Construction of noise bunds surrounding operational activities.o Turning off or throttling down equipment when not in use.o Regular maintenance of plant and equipment and pre-start up inspections.• Site inductions have been structured to inform all contractors and employees of their environmentalobligations (including noise mitigation).Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR Group

ATTACHMENT AWAMBO COAL MINE - MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE MODIFICATIONREVIEW OF POTENTIAL NOISE IMPACTSPage 5 of 102.6 Wambo Operational Noise Mitigation MeasuresThe EIS identified the need to introduce noise suppressed mobile equipment and modified evening andnight-time open cut mining operations in order to manage Wambo noise emissions as the open cut miningoperations progress towards the northwest (i.e. towards noise sensitive receivers). The EIS nominallyidentified Year 5 (i.e. approximately 2009) for the introduction of these noise mitigation measures,however, the timing for implementation would be based on noise monitoring data and mine progression.As all noise monitoring to date has indicated that Wambo is complying with the noise impact assessmentcriteria, and that Wambo open cut operations have progressed towards the northwest at a slower rate thananticipated, there has not been a requirement to implement these nose mitigation measures to date. Ifmonitoring data indicates noise levels at private receivers are trending above noise impact assessmentcriteria as the open cut mining operations move closer to the private receivers, WCPL will implement thenoise mitigation measures described in the EIS to maintain compliance with noise impact assessmentcriteria.3 Montrose East Underground Mine ModificationThe Modification would not require significant alteration to the existing approved Wambo operations andgeneral supporting infrastructure. The Modification would however result in alterations to the Wambomining sequence. Key components of the Modification include:• Continuation of currently approved underground and open cut operations.• Development of three additional longwall panels (see Attachment B2). Access to these longwallpanels would be via the highwall of the currently approved open cut pit.• Construction of surface facilities (similar to that at the existing Wambo North Wambo UndergroundMine) in the base of the open cut pit adjacent to the highwall. A conceptual layout of the supportinginfrastructure is presented on Attachment B3.• Transportation of ROM coal by conveyor from the Montrose East Underground Mine to the base of theopen cut pit. It would then be loaded into haul trucks and transported along existing open cut haulroutes to the CHPP ROM pad using existing open cut mobile fleet.• An air intake to the Montrose East Underground Mine via the open cut highwall. A ventilation fanwould be located at the base of the open cut pit (see Attachment B3).• A reduction in the extent of the currently approved open cut pit (approximately 50 hectare [ha]) (seeAttachment B2). Note that there would be a reduction in the total open cut ROM coal production(6 Mt) due to the reduction in the extent of the open cut pit.• No change to the currently approved mine fleet.Table 2 provides a comparative summary of the currently approved Wambo and the proposed modifiedWambo.Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR Group

ATTACHMENT AWAMBO COAL MINE - MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE MODIFICATIONREVIEW OF POTENTIAL NOISE IMPACTSPage 7 of 104 Review of Potential Noise Impacts4.1 DiscussionThe Modification comprises the development of three longwall panels and associated supportinginfrastructure located at the base of the approved open cut pit. The Modification would include thefollowing key noise sources:• Ventilation fan – located adjacent to the open cut pit highwall at the base of the open cut pit (seeAttachment B3). The ventilation fan would be similar to those currently operating at the WamboNorth Wambo Underground Mine.• ROM coal conveyors – located adjacent to the open cut pit highwall at the base of the open cut pit(see Attachment B3). The conveyors would be similar to those currently operating at the WamboNorth Wambo Underground Mine.• Loading of ROM coal into haul trucks at the ROM coal stockpile.• Haulage of ROM coal along existing internal open cut haul roads to the CHPP using existing open cutmobile fleet.The nearest receiver to the Montrose East Underground Mine surface facilities is located approximately3 km to the northwest (see Attachment C1). The currently approved open cut operations areapproximately 1 km closer to the nearest receiver than the Montrose East Underground Mine surfaceinfrastructure.Loading of waste rock and ROM coal into haul trucks already occurs in the vicinity of the proposedMontrose East Underground Mine surface infrastructure area as part of currently approved open cutoperations (see Attachment B3). The haulage of ROM coal from this area to the CHPP along existingopen cut haul roads is also currently undertaken.As described in Section 3, the Modification would include a reduction to the extent of the open cut(approximately 50 ha) (see Attachment B3). In addition, the Modification would not result in a change tothe currently approved mine fleet. The fleet associated with the proposed loading and haulage of ROMcoal from the Montrose East Underground Mine is already operating in the vicinity. A review of the soundpower level (SWL) of Wambo is provided in Section 4.2.Conveyors would be used to transfer ROM coal to the surface. The majority of conveyors would belocated underground and the surface components would be a minor noise source relative to thesurrounding mining operations and have therefore not been considered further in this noise review. Theventilation fan has been included in the SWL assessment provided in Section 4.2.4.2 Approved Wambo and Modification Sound Power Levels (SWLs)The potential for machinery to emit noise is quantified as the SWL expressed in A-weighted decibels (dBA)re 1 picowatt (ρW). At the receptor, the received noise is quantified as the sound pressure level (SPL)expressed in dBA re 20 µPa. In general terms, any variation in the on-site Leq(15minute) plant andequipment SWLs would produce a similar variation in the off-site Leq(15minute) intrusive SPLs at thesurrounding receivers.The EIS plant, existing plant and the existing plant plus the proposed Modification are presented in Table 3together with the comparative number of fixed and mobile plant items and LAeq SWLs.Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR Group

Table 3ATTACHMENT AWAMBO COAL MINE - MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE MODIFICATIONREVIEW OF POTENTIAL NOISE IMPACTSPage 8 of 10Comparative Fixed Plant and Mobile Equipment Sound Power Levels(SWLs in dBA re 1 pW)Description Equipment Type/ Capacity EIS Year 4OperationNo.ItemsTotalSWLExisting (2010)OperationNo.ItemsTotalSWLExisting (2010) +ModificationOperationNo.ItemsOpen-Cut Excavators Komatsu PC 550 (500 t) 3 126 3 132 1 3 132Hitachi EX 2500 (250 t) 2 121 1 118 2 121Hitachi EX 1800 (180 t) 1 117 - - - -Haul Trucks Komatsu 830E (240 t) 12 134 - - - -Komatsu 930E (290 t) - - 11 133 1 11 133CAT 785 (150 t) 2 12 134 11 133 1 11 133Wheeled Loader CAT 994/992 - - 2 124 2 124Dozers CAT D10 4 127 4 127 4 127CAT D11 4 129 4 125 1 4 125Graders CAT G16 3 120 2 120 1 2 120CAT 24H - - 1 117 1 117Water Trucks CAT 773 4 126 1 120 1 120CAT 777 - - 2 121 1 2 121Service Trucks CAT 773 - - 2 123 2 123Blast Hole Drills DK 45/DK 55 3 122 2 120 2 120Underground Ventilation Fans 200 m 3 /s 2 104 2 4 128 1 2 4 128SurfaceFront-end Loader CAT 992 (23 t) - - 1 121 1 1 121B-Doubles Mack Bigfoot (140 t) - - - - - -Coal Handling Front-end Loader CAT 992 (23 t) 3 122 1 121 1 1 121and PreparationCAT 994 - - - - - -PlantDozers CAT D11 3 128 4 3 124 1 4 3 124Total Mobile Equipment 54 139 52 139 53 139Note 1: SWL measured January 2010 (Heggies).Note 2: CAT 785 used for both open cut and underground ROM coal haulage.Note 3: Only 3 Dozers (D11) would be operational at any one time.Note 4: The ventilation fan would be similar to those currently operating at the North Wambo Underground Mine at Wambo.As shown above in Table 3, the estimated total Wambo site LAeq SWL anticipated in the EIS for Year 4was 139 dBA, which is same as the existing (2010) operations and also the same as the existing (2010)operations plus the Modification.The introduction of the Modification would result in no variation to the existing fixed and mobile WamboSWL. Also, the Modification surface facilities would be located well within the approved Wambo open cutlimit. It is reasonable to conclude that the proposed Modification has minimal potential to increase theintrusive noise levels at the nearest private receivers and potential noise impacts would therefore beconsistent with those described in the EIS.TotalSWLHeggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR Group

ATTACHMENT AWAMBO COAL MINE - MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE MODIFICATIONREVIEW OF POTENTIAL NOISE IMPACTSPage 10 of 10Global Acoustics Pty Ltd (2008) Wambo Coal Mine, Annual Report Environmental Noise Monitoring2009/2010Global Acoustics Pty Ltd (2009) Wambo Coal Mine, Annual Report Environmental Noise Monitoring2009/2010Global Acoustics Pty Ltd (2010) Wambo Coal Mine, Annual Report Environmental Noise Monitoring2009/2010Richard Heggie and Associates (2003) Wambo Development Project Construction, Operating andTransportation Noise and Blasting Impact Assessment. Report 10-2470-R1 dated 11 April 2003.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2003) Wambo Development Project Environmental Impact Statement.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2004) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2003 –2004.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2005) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2004 –2005.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2006) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2005 –2006.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2007a) Wambo Coal Mine Noise Monitoring Program.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2007b) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2006–2007.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2008) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2007–2008.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2009) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2008–2009.Wambo Coal Pty Limited (2010) Wambo Coal Mine Annual Environmental Management Report 2009–2010.Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR Group

Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR GroupATTACHMENT B2MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE AREAPage 1 of 1

Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR GroupATTACHMENT B3MONTROSE EAST UNDERGROUND MINE SURFACE FACILITIESPage 1 of 1

Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR GroupATTACHMENT C1LOCATIONS OF NOISE MONITORING SITESPage 1 of 1

Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR GroupATTACHMENT C2EXCEEDANCE PROTOCOLPage 1 of 1

Heggies Pty LtdA Member of the SLR GroupATTACHMENT DDEVELOPMENT CONSENT DA 305-7-2003Page 2 of 2