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Supervising Scientist Environmental Monitoring Program
Since the 2001/2002 wet season, the Supervising Scientist Division has undertaken a formal environmental monitoring program encompassing biological, physical, chemical and radiological techniques that are used to monitor and assess impacts upon ecosystems and humans arising from mining activities at Ranger and Jabiluka. The implementation of this program was in response to the Supervising Scientist's recommendations in the 2000 report, Investigation of tailings water leak at the Ranger uranium mine. Despite the recency of the formal routine program, in place since 2001-02, monitoring data for many indicators date back over a decade as these were gathered as a consequence of the research used in the development of the various monitoring techniques.
In addition to the Supervising Scientist program, Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) undertakes a statutory monitoring program and the Northern Territory government undertakes check monitoring.
The program provides the Supervising Scientist with independent environmental monitoring data that may be used to assess the extent to which the environment (including people) has been protected from the potential impacts of uranium mining.
Information is collected on changes in water and air quality using biological, physical, chemical and radiological techniques:
Water physico-chemistry analysis and biological monitoring methods (i) and (ii) above provide the capability for early detection of potential significant effects so that early management action can be taken to prevent ecologically important impacts. Biological monitoring method (iii) provides information on the ecological importance (biodiversity assessment) of any likely impact.
Water physico-chemistry is assessed for key variables at sites upstream and downstream of the Ranger and Jabiluka minesites. Samples are collected from Magela and Gulungul Creeks, which run past the Ranger minesite, and Ngarradj (Swift) Creek, which runs past the Jabiluka project area. The Jabiluka project is currently in a long term care and maintenance phase, with much of the small footprint of the area having been rehabilitated.
Water samples collected by SSD staff are analysed in the SSD laboratories (for radionuclides) and by an accredited commercial environmental contract analysis laboratory (for salts and trace metals) in Darwin.
Biological monitoring of streams takes place upstream and downstream of Ranger minesite at sites on Magela Creek (method (i) from above), in a Magela Creek site downstream of Ranger and a control site located in another catchment (method (ii)) and at Magela and Gulungul creek sites downstream of Ranger as well as control sites upstream and/or located in control streams unaffected by mining (method (iii)).
Radon monitoring takes place at a station west of Mudginberri community (the closest to Jabiluka) and in Jabiru town (closest to Ranger)
The locations of the sample collection points are shown on the site maps.
Water quality monitoring data from sampling sites within the minesites are gathered by ERA and are not generally available to the public. However, complete data for the full range of analytes from all of SSD's (offsite) monitoring sites are available on request via our feedback page.
Supervising Scientist staff collect water samples which they and a commercial laboratory analyse.
More detailed information about the Supervising Scientist's environmental monitoring program is available in an accompanying paper. This background paper will assist in interpreting the web site data.
Explanatory notes on weekly water chemistry results, Toxicity monitoring, Bioaccumulation, Community monitoring and radon are also available.
Information about the background to the stream monitoring program is also available at Aquatic Ecosystem Protection Program on the SSD web site.
For further enquiries, please use our feedback page.