ABBOT POINT BULKCOAL A GLENCORE MANAGED COMPANY

Temporary Emissions License Report

(AR056901)

13th April 2014

FINAL

Developed: April 2014

Abbot Point Temporary Emissions License Report – April 2014 2 of 18

1.0 Introduction

Abbot Point Bulkcoal Pty Ltd (APB) manages and is contracted to operate and maintain

Abbot Point Coal Terminal #1, which is leased by Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd

(AAPT) (a subsidiary of Mundra Ports), under a 99 year term. Coal is railed to the port and

shipped from the Bowen basin to various international locations.

APB, being the operator of the site, has the environmental authority (EPR00577113), issued by

Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP). This allows APB to undertake

relevant operational and maintenance Environmental Relevant Activities (ERA’s). APB is

responsible for abiding by the conditions of the environmental authority, or in lieu of

conditions, the previous development approval conditions for the Port (DA05/076 and IPDE

00856508).

ERA’s relevant to APB are:

ERA 8-3(a) Chemical Storage– crude oil or petroleum product in tanks or containers

having a combined total storage capacity of 10,000L or more but less than 500,000L.

ERA 50 Bulk handling– commercially loading, unloading or stockpiling materials or

goods

ERA 63 (2) (b) - Sewage Treatment Plant – daily peak design above 100 to 1500EP.

2.0 Cyclone Ita

Cyclone Ita made landfall as a Category 4 cyclone near Cape Flattery on the 11th April 2014.

Cyclone Ita then followed the coast down as a Category 1 throughout 12-13th April 2014. The

cyclone then headed out to ocean around Proserpine on the 13th April 2014.

The track of Cyclone Ita, as documented through the ABC website, is highlighted below.

(http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-09/cyclone-tracker-map-ita/5377332 as of 22nd April 2014)

3.0 Preparations for Pending Weather Over the last 6 months, APB has undertaken numerous actions to assist in managing adverse

weather conditions. These actions intend to reduce the potential for discharges and include:

1) Installation of a diversion drain at the surge bin sump, to reduce the water

catchment for this sump. This allows unaffected hill water to be diverted away

from the sump. This therefore reduces the water load on the surge bin sump. As

the surge bin sump also pumps into main substation sump, the load on the main

substation sump is reduced as well.

2) Installation of the Emergency Sump Pump which will automatically start up when there

is a high level reached in the sump. It operated for 3 hours during Cyclone Ita.

3) As part of the cyclone preparation, all sumps around site are cleaned out to

reduce the sumps sediment load and maximise capacity.

4) The site also tries to maintain electricity for as long as is safe. This means that the

sump pumps are operating as long as they can prior to the isolation of the site.

5) APB has recently signed a contract with the Bureau of Meteorology which allows

specific Abbot Point Coal Terminal 1 forecasts to be developed in future. In lieu

of the website being established, APB undertook teleconferences with the Bureau

to obtain the most up to date site specific information. APB site actions were

based on this APBCT relevant information

3.1 Temporary Emissions License

APB had teleconferences with the Bureau of Meteorology on the 11th April 2014, where it was predicted that Cyclone Ita would affect Abbot Point Coal Terminal #1 as a low depression

bringing between 200-300mm of rain. This rain was expected as intense rainfall events via

thunderstorms.

Due to the predicted rain intensity, and the uncertainty in relation to cyclone behaviour, APB

contacted DEHP on the 11th April 2014, to discuss applying for a Temporary Emissions

License (TEL).

It was discussed that the application needed to be a pending event, so on the 12th April 2014,

APB applied for the TEL. The TEL was granted (TEL Number – AR056901) by DEHP on the

12th April to cover period 12-14th April 2014. This is contained in Appendix A.

On the 13th April 2014, Cyclone Ita had not lost cyclone status and APB consequently

implemented its cyclone procedure. The site was isolated at approximately 13:17hrs, after

DEHP was notified. The site was then evacuated until 6:30am 14th April 2014, with power re-

instated shortly after this time.

4.0 Events of 13th April 2014

Cyclone Ita crossed Abbot Point Coal Terminal on the 13th April 2014, as indicated below in

the barograph graph 1.

Graph 1: Barograph and wind speed on the 13th April 2013, as measured at Bald Hill

Cyclone Ita brought with it significant rainfall through high storm activity. Over 200mm fell

between the evening of 11th April til 16:00 13th April. The majority of this rainfall occurred in

association with the Cyclone, with 134.6 mm falling from 11:00 – 14:00hrs, as highlighted in

Graph 2 below.

975

980

985

990

995

1000

1005

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

9:0

0:0

1

9:3

8:0

7

10

:16

:13

10

:54

:19

11

:32

:25

12

:10

:31

1

2:4

8:3

7

13

:26

:44

14

:04

:50

14

:42

:56

15

:21

:02

15

:59

:08

1

6:3

7:1

4

17

:15

:20

17

:53

:27

18

:31

:33

19

:09

:39

19

:47

:45

20

:25

:51

21

:03

:57

2

1:4

2:0

3

22

:20

:10

22

:58

:16

2

3:3

6:2

2

0:1

4:2

8

0:5

2:3

4

1:3

0:4

0

2:0

8:4

6

Wind Speed Barometric Pressure (hPa)

Graph 2: Cumulative Rainfall on the 13th April 2013, as measured at Bald Hill

APB environmental licenses require the site to contain a 1:2, 24 hour rainfall

intensity. The rains that fell due to Cyclone Ita, were of a much higher intensity with

the maximum intensity reaching 63.2 mm/hr, as highlighted in the graph below.

Graph 3: Rainfall Intensity on the 13th April 2013, as measured at Bald Hill

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

9:0

0:0

1

9:3

5:3

5

10

:11

:09

1

0:4

6:4

3

11

:22

:17

1

1:5

7:5

1

12

:33

:25

1

3:0

9:0

0

13

:44

:34

1

4:2

0:0

8

14

:55

:42

1

5:3

1:1

6

16

:06

:50

1

6:4

2:2

4

17

:17

:58

1

7:5

3:3

3

18

:29

:07

1

9:0

4:4

1

19

:40

:15

2

0:1

5:4

9

20

:51

:23

2

1:2

6:5

7

22

:02

:31

2

2:3

8:0

7

23

:13

:40

2

3:4

9:1

4

0:2

4:4

8

1:0

0:2

2

1:3

5:5

6

2:1

1:3

0

13th April 2014 Rainfall

Cumulative Rainfall (mm)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

9:0

0:0

1

9:1

6:1

5

9:3

2:2

9

9:4

8:4

3

10

:04

:57

1

0:2

1:1

1

10

:37

:25

1

0:5

3:3

9

11

:09

:53

1

1:2

6:0

7

11

:42

:21

1

1:5

8:3

5

12

:14

:49

1

2:3

1:0

3

12

:47

:17

13

:03

:33

1

3:1

9:4

8

13

:36

:02

1

3:5

2:1

6

14

:08

:30

1

4:2

4:4

4

14

:40

:58

1

4:5

7:1

2

15

:13

:26

1

5:2

9:4

0

15

:45

:54

Rainfall Intensity Licensed Rainfall Intensity

13th April 2014 Rainfall Intensity During Cyclone Ita

5.0 Discharges from Licensed Sumps

The site has three sumps which potentially discharge offsite. These are:

W2- Sample plant sump, which discharges to the water

W3 – Surge bin sump, which discharges to the land

W4 – Main substation sump, which discharge to land

The location of these discharge sumps are highlighted below.

The site was isolated at 13:17hrs on the 13th April 2014, and at this time the pumps

ceased to function.

The discharge pumps had already experienced intense rainfall events and had

started discharging from approximately 12:15hrs at the surge bin and main

substation sumps, and at approximately 12:45 at the sample plant. This discharge

would have continued periodically until the rains completely ceased at 15:32hrs.

The field pH measurements and total suspended solids of the discharges are

highlighted below. The pH ranged between 7.08-8.28 and the total suspended solids

ranged between 433 and 779 mg/L (Appendix B).

Location

pH - field Total Suspended Solids

(mg/L)

Sample

Plant (W2)

7.08 686

Surge Bin

Sump (W3)

(1) 8.23 568

Surge Bin

Sump (W3)

(2) 8.09 433

Main

substation

(W4)

(1) 8.19 751

Main

substation

(W4)

(2) 8.28 779

Main

substation

(W4)

(3) 8.28 536

Table 1: Total Suspended Solids and Visual Composition Assessment of Discharge Samples

** Laboratory pH is above license condition of 8, but this was outside the holding time.

5.1 Assessment of Sump Discharges

Samples were collected at 9:50am on 14th April 2014. Visual monitoring of the

discharge areas were also undertaken at the same time.

5.1.1 Sample Plant Sump (W2)

The discharge filled the higher of the two rising stage sample bottles. It is suspected

that something was blocking the nozzle of the lower rising stage sample bottle,

stopping a discharge sample from being collected by the first rising stage sampler.

Photographs of the discharge location after the discharge are highlighted below.

Photograph 1, 2, 3 and 4: Discharge location of W2 after discharge

There was no maximum flow indication on the sample plant height meter, indicating

low flows in this area.

Photograph 5: flow height indicator for sample plant did not register due to low flow

The photographs below show the discharge location at the Sample Plant sump on the

23rd April 2014. There is minimal evidence of coal in the sediment controls outside

the fence. At the end of the sediment controls there is no evidence of an accumulation

of coal.

Photograph 6, 7, 8 & 9 is the discharge location on 23rd April 2014.

5.1.2 Surge Bin Sump (W3)

The discharge filled the first two rising stage sample bottles. Photographs of the

discharge location after the discharge are highlighted below.

Photograph 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14: Discharge location of W3 after discharge

There was no maximum flow indication on the surge bin height meter, indicating

low flows in this area. This is also supported by the third rising stage sample bottle

not filling up during the discharge.

Photograph 15: flow height indicator for surge bin did not register due to low flow

The photographs below from 23rd April 2014 indicate no accumulation of coal outside

the sump.

Photograph 16, 17 & 18: Offsite discharge location of W3 on 23rd April 2014, no coal accumulation

5.1.3 Main Substation Sump (W4)

A discharge occurred which filled all three rising stage sample bottles. Photographs

of the discharge location after the discharge are highlighted below. There was no

indication of an accumulation of coal caused by the discharge.

Photograph 19, 20, 21 & 22: Discharge location of W4 after discharge

The maximum flow indication height at the main substation sump was 2cm, as

indicated in the photograph below.

Photograph 23: flow height indicator for main substation sump registered the flow

The photographs taken on the 23rd April 2014 highlight no major accumulation of

coal outside the sump.

Photograph 24, 25, 26: Offsite discharge location of W4 on 23rd April 2014, no coal accumulation

6.0 Conclusion

Discharges occurred from three discharge sumps for a short period time, during the

Cyclone Ita rains.

There is no evidence of an accumulation of coal, or adverse effect, resulting from the

sump discharges that occurred on the 13th April 2014.

APB will continue to undertake proactive actions to ensure that future adverse

weather conditions are recognised and any potential impacts from the Terminal are

minimised. These actions include:

1. APB personnel will continue to clean out sumps when there is adverse pending

weather.

2. The cyclone procedure will continue to be implemented when there is a

predicted cyclone and event management effectiveness reviewed post cyclone.

3. APB will have access to a customised Abbot Point Coal Terminal 1 forecast

website due to a new contract with the Bureau of Meteorology. APB will manage

its preventive actions in accordance with the information provided in advance by

this service.

Appendix A

Appendix B