The Board of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has concluded its assessment of a proposal by ABx4 Pty Ltd for a quarry to extract bauxite at Reedy Marsh in the Meander Valley municipality.
Public consultation was open for 14 days from 1 June 2024. Eighty-six representations were received in relation to the proposal. The key environmental issues raised in these representations were dust emissions quality, water quality, natural values, weed and disease management, noise emissions and acid and metalliferous drainage.
The proposal involves extraction of up to 50,000 cubic meters of bauxite and clay material per year through shallow surface extraction using excavators. Up to 40,000 cubic meters of the material may be screened and graded or blended if required. The proposal also involves crushing up to 1,000 cubic meters of oversized material per year at the end of the extraction campaign, which is anticipated to take around four months.
The Chair of the EPA Board, Andrew Paul, said that the Board has concluded that the proposed development can be managed in an environmentally sustainable and acceptable manner, with conditions. The Board requires these conditions to be included in any permit subsequently granted by Meander Valley Council.
“Various environmental issues were considered in the assessment, particularly dust emissions, water quality and natural values," Mr Paul said.
“In addition to standard quarry conditions, the Proponent is required to submit a revised Dust Management Plan and a Dust Monitoring Program to the Director for approval, ensuring that the management measures will be effective in controlling dust emissions," Mr Paul said.
“Furthermore, to ensure any potential impacts to identified native and threatened vegetation communities and species are minimised, the Proponent is required to protect these areas to prevent accidental disturbance.
A revised Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle survey is also required to ensure there are no new nests built within 1 km of the quarry since the previous survey.
While only areas in the existing radiata pine plantation will be cleared, a pre-clearance survey for Tasmanian devil and spotted-tailed quoll dens must be undertaken before clearing for each stage of extraction to ensure these species will not be impacted," said Mr Paul.
“To ensure water quality off site is not adversely impacted during periodic discharges, the Proponent is required to undertake the activity in accordance with an approved Stormwater Management Plan. The Plan includes details on the design and maintenance of stormwater infrastructure as well as a suite of operational and environmental monitoring to ensure any discharges do not cause environmental harm. A turbidity investigation trigger level has also been set which, if exceeded, requires an investigation as to the causes of the exceedance and a report to be provided to the Director," said Mr Paul.
The proposal was considered by the Board in the context of the sustainable development objectives of the Resource Management and Planning System of Tasmania (RMPS), and in the context of the objectives of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control System (EMPCS) established by the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPCA).
The functions of the Board are to administer and enforce the provisions of EMPCA, to further the RMPS and EMPCS objectives and, in particular, to use its best endeavours to protect the environment of Tasmania.
The Board undertook assessment of the proposal in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Principles defined in Section 74 of the Act.
The environmental assessment report, including the environmental conditions, has been issued to Meander Valley Council and provided to the Proponent.
This decision and all assessment documents can be viewed on the EPA website at https://epa.tas.gov.au/business-industry/assessment/proposals-assessed-by-the-epa/abx-group-limited-dl-130-bauxite-project-reedy-marsh.
Published on:
13/03/2025