Project Status: Complete
Project Participants: Alcoa, University of Queensland, URS, Department of Agriculture and Food WA
Project Leader: Peter Elliott (URS)
This is an extension to the project on the "Long Term Monitoring of the Impacts of Bauxite Residue Application to the Peel Harvey Coastal Plain catchment" (4A3). The previous work involved implementing a catchment-wide research and monitoring program to investigate the effects of using Alkaloam® on the Peel-Harvey Coastal Plain, and the extent and duration of phosphorus retention achieved through its
use.
The extension work allows for a detailed Risk and Sustainability review to bring all documentation together for summary and incorporate stakeholder engagement for evaluation of Alkaloam®.
A report by the Department of Agriculture and Food WA on the work in the original 4A3 project was completed and issued to the Environmental Protection Agency in late 2006 for review. Monitoring of the Alkaloam® applications is continuing.
In 2008, CSRP commissioned environmental consultants URS and the University of Queensland's Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) to undertake a sustainability assessment on the use of bauxite residue as a soil amendment on agricultural land. The key objectives of this assessment were to evaluate the safety, effectiveness and value of bauxite residue, and understand current community perceptions of the product and attitudes to its potential commercialisation.
As part of the assessment, CSRP sought feedback on the report from key regional stakeholders. These comprise individuals or groups who participated in the community consultations undertaken by CSRM, regional service providers, agencies, or catchment authorities, local governments, and other interest groups.
To assist with the review, CSRP produced a comprehensive Summary Report outlining the study's key findings as well as an Information Sheet to provide stakeholders with further information on the review and the process for addressing any comments received. A public notice was run in local newspapers and the reports were made available on the CSRP website. Stakeholder feedback received by CSRP was distributed to the project team for response and/ or inclusion in the final report.
Gaining stakeholder feedback was an important part of the sustainability assessment and helped CSRP ensure that the report was as comprehensive as possible and accurately reflected the interests of stakeholders. The final report was finalised by the end of October 2010 with the public comments included and is available on the CSRP website.