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Category: Environmental Impact / Environmental Management / Environmentally Sustainable Business

Prawn farm waste effluent raises concerns in Dundee, NT

Sunday, 4 Dec 2016 08:42:45 | Lucy Marks

Wheatley Creek is Seafarms' proposed discharge point for waste water. (ABC News: Lucy Marks)

Northern Territory residents have raised concerns about the impact of a proposed prawn breeding facility on waterways near conservation areas and local fishing spots, about 100 kilometres south-west of Darwin.

Seafarms is proposing to build a Core Breeding and Broodstock Maturation Centre as part of Project Sea Dragon on Bynoe Harbour at Point Ceylon, which backs onto a waterway called Wheatley Creek.

The creek has been proposed by Project Sea Dragon to be the point of discharge for waste water from the facility, which has some locals such as long-term Dundee Downs resident Ian Stewart, concerned.

"Whatever pollutants are in this effluent, if it's not good enough for them to run through their prawn farm, then why is it good enough for our waterway here," Mr Stewart said.

A two-kilometre pipeline will be laid into Bynoe Harbour, next to a Paspaley Pearling lease, to draw seawater into the 132 hectare site, which Seafarms said was home to 10 threatened terrestrial animals.

It also said the site is two kilometres south-east of Indian Island, the Northern Territory's first declared conservation area and an important breeding ground for turtles.

The project has released a draft Environmental Impact Statement, which said that releasing directly into Bynoe Harbour was not investigated because the Wheatley Creek option was unlikely to lead to significant impacts.

It also said there was a "desire to avoid" any impact of the release on the Paspaley oyster leases and the potential for in-taking the discharge water.

"Essentially Wheatley Creek is actually really well suited for that; it's best practice to have an in and an out," Project Sea Dragon chief executive Chris Mitchell told the ABC.

"I think it has given users of Bynoe Harbour proper a lot of relaxation; it's taken away any concern."

Map showing Project Sea Dragon Photo: Residents of Dundee are concerned about the impact of waster water. (Supplied: Project Sea Dragon)

Wheatley Creek a 'landlocked estuary'

Dundee resident Ian Hayward said he had concerns about what was in the effluent.

"Wheatley Creek is a landlocked estuary, so when the tide flows in and goes out, there's no run-off of large proportion," Mr Hayward said.

"So whatever waste material is place in that creek will start to block up and jam the area and degrade the water, as far as I'm concerned," he said.

Local fisherman Austin Griffis said he had "nothing against" the development.

"Surely they can do it right and I think it's worth giving them a go, but there's got to be safeguards," Mr Griffis said.

Wheatley Creek, NT Photo: Wheatley Creek is Seafarms' proposed discharge point for waste water. (ABC News: Lucy Marks)

Dundee Downs meeting to discuss project

As part of the draft EIS process, Dr Mitchell faced residents at a community consultation at Dundee Downs, the closest township to the operation.

"I think people were interested in jobs, and people are also really keen on their fishing spots and they were seeking assurance that there won't be any particular impact on Wheatley Creek or Bynoe Harbour," Dr Mitchell said.

"The EPA has already looked at the modelling and have said there's unlikely there's going to be any impact... the main reason for the Statement of Reasons was to make sure we had a deep community consultation."

The Statement of Reasons was a document released by the EPA in September that gave cause for the EIS process.

It said if discharge was not managed appropriately, the impacts on Wheatley Creek may include algal blooms and localised fish kills.

The discharge would flow in a "direct and constant rate" and have elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus from dead prawns, faecal matter and feed, the draft EIS said.

However, it said the sediment would be settled before it was released into the environment.

The draft EIS said water quality guidelines would be exceeded in an area 100 metres either side of the discharge point, four to five times a month depending on tidal conditions.

"We've got an enormous confidence that the movement of water is sufficient to deal with these nutrients," Dr Mitchell said.

Pending approval, construction will start in the third quarter of 2017 and will be one of six other prawn production facilities as part of Project Sea Dragon across the Territory and Western Australia.

The EPA declined to comment while the draft EIS process was still receiving submissions.

The window for public comment closes on December 9.

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