River sediment quality assessment using sediment quality indices for the Sydney basin, Australia affected by coal and coal seam gas mining

Aal-E Ali; Vladimir Strezov; Peter J Davies; Ian Wright

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.259

River sediment quality assessment using sediment quality indices for the Sydney basin, Australia affected by coal and coal seam gas mining

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Mar:616-617:695-702. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.259. Epub 2017 Oct 27.

Authors

Aal-E Ali¹, Vladimir Strezov², Peter J Davies¹, Ian Wright³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University NSW 2109, Australia.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University NSW 2109, Australia. Electronic address: vladimir.strezov@mq.edu.au.
³ School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 29111250
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.259

Abstract

Coal mining activities in the Sydney basin have been historically associated with significant environmental impacts. The region is facing more recent coal seam gas extraction activities and the synergetic environmental impacts of the new mining activities are still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to provide environmental assessment of river sediments comparing upstream to downstream areas relative to industrial-discharge sites associated with coal and coal-seam-gas extraction within the Sydney basin. Various contaminants were measured to determine the sediment quality according to the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) guidelines. Arsenic, nickel and zinc were the main sediment contaminants in downstream samples exceeding the ANZECC guidelines. Degree of contamination (C_d), geoaccumulation index (I_geo), enrichment factor (EF), pollution load index (PLI) and sediment environmental toxicity quotients' increment in downstream sediment were estimated for the studied areas. Toxicology indices of metals present in the sediments near industrial discharge sites were used as an additional tool to compare the level of environmental effects with their increment. The study revealed that the sediments from coal mining sites were highly affected by increased concentrations of manganese, zinc, cobalt, nickel and barium. The sediments associated with coal mining activities were found to be substantially more affected than the sediments near coal seam gas production sites, mainly attributed to the different wastewater discharge licencing requirements. The approach applied in this study can be used as an additional model to assess the contribution of industrial and mining activities on aquatic environments.

Keywords: Coal mine; Environmental effect; Environmental toxicity quotient (ETQ); Mean effective range median quotient (ERMQ); Produced water; Sediment quality guidelines value (SQGV).