Dry Creek Salt Field

The Department for Energy and Mining has published the three environmental directions issued to Buckland Dry Creek Pty Ltd.

• Environmental directions issued by the regulator (DEM)

• Government shares community concerns regarding the environment surrounding the salt fields, and is focused on stabilising the site as quickly as possible.
• Stablising the Dry Creek salt fields is a government priority, with several regulatory actions currently underway.
• The regulator has issued three directions to:
  • stop pumping water into ponds
  • prevent further seepage at Para River
  • remove water from the ponds south of St Kilda
• The site operator is working to rectify the issues and is being responsive to directions from Government.
• Government regulators are actively monitoring the site, including vegetation mapping and hydrological analysis.
• Compliance actions as a result of the mangrove dieback remain subject to ongoing formal investigations.

The following activity is also occurring:

• Groundwater/hydrology
  Recently collected groundwater data is reporting a reduction in seepage flow wates into the mangrove due to the reduction in pond levels from evaporation, which further supports the decision to drain the ponds
• Vegetation assessment and mapping
  Vegetation monitoring is ongoing. While any impact to this environment is unacceptable the area of impact has not changed significantly since November 2020. Vegetation monitoring will continue to assess the area impacted
• Broader stability arrangement
  The site operator is working with government towards a water management option to support overall stability of the salt fields. These arrangements are expected to be finalised in the coming weeks to manage the salinity of the salt fields

• Stabilising the Dry Creek salt fields is a government priority, with several regulatory actions currently underway.
• The company's plans to satisfy the direction issued on 24 December 2020 have already commenced with on-ground works expected early next week.
• Government regulators are actively monitoring the site, including vegetation mapping and hydrological analysis.
• Formal investigation into the cause of the mangrove dieback and any compliance actions continues.
• Government shares community concerns regarding the environment surrounding the salt fields, and is focused on stabilising the site in both the short and long term.
• Regular updates for community will be provided over the coming weeks.

An updated program for environment protection and rehabilitation for the Dry Creek salt fields was approved by the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) on 24 December 2020, which allows Buckland Dry Creek Ltd (BDC) to reconnect Section 2 and Section 1 of the salt fields, through ML 6514. This approval enables BDC to move water within the Dry Creek salt fields which is a critical step to address impacts that have occurred in Section 2 of the salt fields. This approval does not allow the re-commencement of commercial salt production. If Buckland Dry Creek Ltd (BDC) wish to re-commence full scale commercial salt operations, a review of the program for environment protection and rehabilitation is required and would require subsequent government assessment and approval.

A Direction was issued to BDC on 24 December by DEM, which requires BDC to, as far as reasonably practical, remove brine from all ponds within Section 2 (adjacent to the impacted St Kilda Mangroves) to Section 1 of the Dry Creek salt fields, and prevent brine from Section 3 entering Section 2 of the salt fields. To ensure ongoing stability of the salt fields, Government have engaged with SA Water to enable environmental movement of water from Section 3 of the salt fields (North of Section 2) to the ocean, via the Bolivar outfall. This engagement will continue in the New Year.

DEM will continue to engage with BDC over coming weeks to confirm their program of works to remove the brine from Section 2 into Section 1 of the salt fields. Government monitoring of groundwater movement and vegetation is ongoing. DEM will post a status update on the DEM website in early January 2021.

• The Dry Creek Salt Field is an area of evaporation ponds stretching more than 30 kilometres along the metropolitan coast from Dry Creek to Middle Beach, which is primarily regulated under the Mining Act 1971 by the Department for Energy and Mining, as well as under other key state and Commonwealth environment law.
• When in operation, seawater is pumped into ponds at the northern end of the salt field, then gradually moved south with salinities increasing through evaporation, until salt is precipitated in the crystallisers adjacent Port Wakefield road at Dry Creek, dried and harvested.
• It is an environmentally and legally complex gateway site to Adelaide comprising a coastal location surrounded by sensitive habitats, and immediately adjacent to commercial and residential population centres.
• After more than 70 years of commercial salt production to support glassmaking and other industrial uses, operations were suspended in 2014 when the sole customer for the site - the Osborne soda ash plant - ceased operations.
• The current site owner, South Australian company Buckland Dry Creek Pty Ltd (BDC) purchased the site in 2015, including the obligation to manage the site in accordance with environmental management plans.
• The state and federal governments continue to oversee an ongoing requirement for the site owner to carefully manage both the man-made and natural aspects of the salt field.

• After decades of salt production, closure of the immediate market for the salt resulted in the site being put in 'care and maintenance' mode, which included a holding pattern designed to manage environmental risk, and the rehabilitation of some areas at the southern end of the salt fields for future land uses.
• Over the past 18 months, BDC began moving water around the salt field in response to challenges with the sustainability of the holding pattern, which has been in place since 2014 in order to manage environmental risk. The holding pattern involved entrainment of seawater in the north of the salt field, circulation through filled ponds to the south, then discharge and dilution of the now-hypersaline water using the Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant marine outfall channel.
• The recent water movement around the salt field has catalysed impacts to adjacent areas of St Kilda vegetation.

DEM is the lead regulatory agency and regulates the site in accordance with the Mining Act 1971. Other agencies are integral to management of the site including:

• The Environment Protection Authority (EPA), which regulates the salt fields under the Environment Protection Act 1993.
• The Department for Environment and Water (DEW), which oversee native vegetation management under the Native Vegetation Act 1991 including some areas of adjoining habitats such as the estuarine nurseries and the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary.
• The Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment which regulate the site as one of National Environmental Significance under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC).

• Portions of the mangroves and samphire communities close to the boardwalk at St Kilda, and further south next to the salt ponds are experiencing dieback.
• DEM, DEW, and the EPA are working collaboratively to investigate the cause of the dieback. January 2021 observations and drone imagery confirm impacts across an estimated area of approximately 10 hectares of mangroves (0.5% of the local Barker Inlet community), and 35 hectares of samphire vegetation (5.7% of the local intertidal saltmarsh community).
• Working with Buckland Dry Creek (BDC), the investigative team is conducting surveys, and undertaking environmental testing and monitoring, to ensure actions prevent and mitigate further environmental harm.
• While thorough investigations and science take time to identify causes, immediate measures have been implemented, including BDC removing water from the ponds adjacent the impacted St Kilda vegetation.
• Government is committed to ensuring BDC meets the required environmental outcomes and statutory obligations including:
  • Minimise further impacts
  • Promote recovery of vegetation
  • Ensure ongoing stability of the salt fields

• DEM has issued 3 Environmental Directions to BDC.
• The main outcome of 2 of the Environment Directions was to stop any further water being added to the ponds adjacent to the impacted St Kilda vegetation, and most recently on 24 December, to remove water from the seven kilometres of ponds adjacent the St Kilda area.
• Under these Directions, the pumping of millions of litres of brine has begun to empty the relevant ponds at St Kilda, reducing the impact on local groundwater conditions and creating the environment required to support the future recovery of the impacted area.
• Regulators continue to work with BDC on the response to the observed impacts, to prevent further impacts and to re-stabilise the salt field.
• The third Environment Direction related to brine seepage adjacent the Little Para River, at the southern end of the fields, was issued on 10 December 2020, with the required works completed the following week.
• The company does not have authorisation to resume commercial salt operations, and any renewed salt harvesting will require new approvals including impact assessments, detailed mine plans and operator capability assessments.

• Government regulators have a full suite of compliance tools that can be used. BDC has implemented the actions required of the Environmental Directions issued by government to date, and these actions continue.
• If investigation determines that further action under the relevant laws is warranted, those actions will be taken.

• Once the Government fully understands in detail the cause(s) of the die-back, appropriate actions can be planned for re-establishing the environmental conditions needed for mangroves and other vegetation to recover and grow back.
• This will include identifying opportunities for accelerating the recovery of this important environment.

• The government will continue to work with the site owner BDC on the short and long-term options for the entire Dry Creek site and its relationship to the adjacent coastal environment.
• Any change to current 'care and maintenance' arrangements will be assessed by the DEM, DEW, the EPA, and the Commonwealth Department for Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

PEPR table of contents, site operator and contacts, declaration of accuracy, purpose, scope and organisation of document, changes and revisions, PEPR compliance with ministerial determination, MOP compliance with regulation 80, tenements covered by the PEPR and MOP, glossary and references

• Dry Creek salt field PEPR and MOP: Part 1 (PDF 3.3 MB)

Project location and description, mine completion planning framework, site and context overview, historical operations, stakeholder engagement

• Dry Creek salt field PEPR and MOP: Part 2 (PDF 4.4 MB)

Holding pattern and residual operations, environmental assessment, outcomes and measurement criteria

• Dry Creek salt field PEPR and MOP: Part 3 (PDF 6.8 MB)

Closure activities

• Dry Creek salt field PEPR and MOP: Part 4 (PDF 1.0 MB)

Licence issued by South Australian Envrionment Protection Authority 1 April 2016 - includes purpose of licence, compliance, incident notification, responsibilities, Public Register Information, conditions of licence

• Appendix 1: EPA licence (PDF 1.1 MB)

The Emergency response procudure can be provided on request.

Note: for ease of download Appendix 3 is presented here in 4 parts

Appendix 3, part 1 - Presentation covering characterisation and classification of ASS materials and profiles - Section 3

• Acid sulfate soils - Section 3 (PDF 30.7 MB)

Appendix 3, part 2 - Tonkin Consulting Report: Monitoring of Shallow Piezometers - Section 2

• Tonkin Consulting Report - Main report (PDF 13.1 MB)
• Tonkin Consulting Report - Groundwater monitoring data (786.0 KB)
• Tonkin Consulting Report - Purging field forms and calibration certificates: pages 1 to 60 (PDF 29.6 MB)
• Tonkin Consulting Report - Purging field forms and calibration certificates: pages 61 to 114 (PDF 26.0 MB)

Appendix 3, part 3 - Assessment of acid sulfate soils - Section 2

• Assessment of acid sulfate soils - Section 2: main report (PDF 3.0 MB)
• Section 2 report - Appendices 1 to 6 (PDF 2.0 MB)
• Section 2 report - Images 1 to 20 (PDF 15.1 MB)
• Section 2 report - Images 21 to 40 (PDF 32.3 MB)
• Section 2 report - Images 41 to 58 (PDF 41.6 MB)

Appendix 3, part 4 - Assessment of acid sulfate soils - Section 4

• Main report (PDF 3.4 KB)

Appendix 4: EPBC self assessment - this can be provided on request

Dry Creek salinas fish community sampling and fish health assessment report, November 2013

• Appendix 5: Fish community sampling (PDF 1.8 MB)

Brine main pressure test procedure and location plan

• Appendix 6: Port River discharge trial  (PDF 4.9 MB)

Trial for the discharge of brine from Section 1 of the salt field into the North Arm Creek and Dry Creek

• Appendix 7: North arm - Dry Creek's discharge trial (PDF 2.3 MB)

Plan for trial filling of F and G row pits with salt residues

• Revised application for approval F and G row pits and response (PDF 884.4 KB)
• Tonkin consulting report: Salt residues disposal trial plan - main document (PDF 2.7 MB)
• Environmental site history (PDF 15.1 MB)
  • Site history - Appendices A and B (PDF 11.1 MB)
  • Site history - Appendices C to F (PDF 32.8 MB)

Monitoring and management plan for the Dry Creek salt field recycled water trial - Stage 3: expansion to PA7a and PA8

• Appendix 9: SA Water trial extension (PDF 3.3 MB)

Environmental monitoring and risk management plan for a tidal restoration trial at Dry Creek salt field

• Appendix 10: DEWNR trial in X8A (PDF 4.7 MB)

Planned bird habitat manipulation trial in Section 3

• Appendix 11: Habitat enhancement trial (PDF 2.8 MB)

Environmental risk assessment - residual operations and holding pattern

• Appendix 12: Impact and risk assessment (PDF 359.1 KB)

Ridley Dry Creek base case closure strategy for Sections 2 to 4

• Appendix 13: Base case closure strategy (PDF 1.9 MB)

Draft charter to achieve coordinated assessment and decision making for environmental regulation of aspects subject to both the Environment Protection and Diversity Act (Cth, 1999) and the Mining Act 1971

• Appendix 14: Draft environmental assessment charter for Dry Creek (PDF 2.1 MB)

Buckland Dry Creek's revised notification of the pilot trial for filling part of Section 1

• Appendix 15: Pilot trial bulk earthworks (11.3 MB)

Environmental risk assessment for the Dry Creek salt field closure works

• Appendix 16: Impact and risk assessment bulk earthworks (PDF 315.7 KB)