Works Approval

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Environmental Protection Act 1986 Page 1 of 8 Works Approval: W5857/2015/1 Amendment date: 27 May 2016

File No: DER2015/001322 IRLB_TI0674 v2.9

Works Approval

Environmental Protection Act 1986, Part V

Works Approval Holder: Rottnest Island Authority Works Approval Number: W5857/2015/1

Registered office: Level 1

E-Shed Victoria Quay FREMANTLE WA 6160

Premises address: Rottnest Island Wastewater Treatment Plant 1 Somerville Drive

Rottnest Island WA 6161

Being Part Lot 10976 on Plan 216860 as depicted in Schedule 1.

Issue date: Thursday, 15 October 2015 Commencement date: Monday, 19 October 2015 Expiry date: Thursday, 18 October 2018

The following category/s from the Environmental Protection Regulations 1987 cause this

Premises to be a prescribed premises for the purposes of the Environmental Protection Act 1986:

Category

number Category description

Category production or design capacity

Approved premises production or design capacity

54

Sewage facility premises –

(a) on which sewage is treated (excluding septic tanks); or

(b) from which treated sewage is discharged onto land or into waters.

100 cubic metres or more per day

500 cubic metres per day

Conditions

This Works Approval is subject to the conditions set out in the attached pages.

Date sigend: 27 May 2016 ...

Steve Checker

MANAGER LICENSING (WASTE INDUSTRIES) Officer delegated under section 20

of the Environmental Protection Act 1986

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Works Approval Conditions 1 General

1.1 Interpretation

1.1.1 In the Works Approval, definitions from the Environmental Protection Act 1986 apply unless the contrary intention appears.

1.1.2 In the Works Approval, unless the contrary intention appears:

‘Act’ means the Environmental Protection Act 1986;

‘AS/NZS 5667.1’ means the Australian Standard AS/NZS 5667.1 Water Quality – Sampling – Guidance of the Design of sampling programs, sampling techniques and the preservation and handling of samples;

‘AS/NZS 5667.10’ means the Australian Standard AS/NZS 5667.10 Water Quality – Sampling – Guidance on sampling of waste waters;

‘averaging period’ means the time over which a limit or target is measured or a monitoring result is obtained;

‘CEO’ means Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Environment Regulation;

‘CEO’ for the purpose of correspondence means;

Chief Executive Officer

Department Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1986 Locked Bag 33

CLOISTERS SQUARE WA 6850 Email: info@der.wa.gov.au

‘cfu/100mL’ means colony forming units per 100 millilitres;

‘Commissioning’ means the process of operation and testing that verifies the works and all relevant systems, plant, machinery and equipment have been installed and are performing in accordance with the design specification set out in the works approval application;

‘NATA’ means the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia;

‘NATA accredited’ means in relation to the analysis of a sample that the laboratory is NATA accredited for the specified analysis at the time of the analysis;

‘Premises’ means the area defined in the Premises Map in Schedule 1 and listed as the Premises address on page 1 of the Works Approval;

‘Schedule 1’ means Schedule 1 of this Works Approval unless otherwise stated;

‘spot sample’ means a discrete sample representative at the time and place at which the sample is taken;

‘Works Approval’ means this Works Approval numbered W5857/2015/1 and issued under the Act; and

‘Works Approval Holder’ means the person or organisation named as the Works Approval Holder on page 1 of the Works Approval.

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1.1.3 Any reference to an Australian or other standard in the Works Approval means the relevant parts of the standard in force from time to time during the term of this Works Approval.

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1.1.4 Any reference to a guideline or code of practice in the Works Approval means the current version of the guideline or code of practice in force from time to time, and shall include any amendments or replacements to that guidelines or code of practice made during the term of this Works Approval.

1.2 General conditions

1.2.1 The Works Approval Holder shall construct the works in accordance with the documentation detailed in Table 1.2.1:

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Table 1.2.1: Construction Requirements¹

Document Parts Date of Document

Works Approval Application Form All 3 June 2015

DER Works Approval, Rottnest Island Waste Water Treatment Plant Upgrade (Permeate Partners, 2015)

All, including Drawings and Appendices (excluding references to irrigation)

26 May 2015

(updated on 7 August 2015)

Application form: works approval/licence (Amendment) – submitted by the Authorised representative; Permeate Partners.

All 22 March 2016

Rottnest Island Authority, Waste Water Treatment Plant Upgrade, Works Approval Amendment – Attachment 9 [to Application Form] (Permeate Partners, 2016)

All 22 March 2016

Note 1: Where the details and commitments of the documents listed in condition 1.2.1 are inconsistent with any other condition of this works approval, the conditions of this works approval shall prevail.

1.2.2 The Works Approval Holder shall undertake commissioning in accordance with section 10.1.1 of the commissioning plan detailed in “Application for DER Works Approval, Rottnest Island Waste Water Treatment Plant upgrade” Permeate Partners, 26 May 2015.

2 Monitoring

2.1.1 The Works Approval Holder shall ensure that:

(a) all wastewater sampling is conducted in accordance with AS/NZS 5667.1 and AS/NZS 5667.10;

(b) all laboratory samples are submitted to and tested by a laboratory with current NATA accreditation for the parameters being measured unless indicated otherwise in relevant table.

2.1.2 The Works Approval Holder shall undertake the monitoring specified in Table 2.1.1 during the commissioning period.

Table 2.1.1: Monitoring Requirements Monitoring

point reference

Parameter Units Averaging period Frequency

WQ1 – final effluent to recycled water storage tank (Schedule 1)

E.coli cfu/100ml

Spot sample Weekly

Total Nitrogen mg/L

Total Phosphorous mg/L

Ammonia as N mg/L

Biochemical mg/L

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Oxygen Demand Total Dissolved Solids

mg/L

pH¹ pH units N/A Continuous

Effluent flow rate kL/day 24 hours Note 1: In-field non-NATA accredited analysis permitted.

3 Improvements

3.1.1 The Works Approval Holder shall complete the improvements in Table 3.1.1 by the date of completion in Table 3.1.1.

Table 3.1.1: Improvement program Improvement

reference

Improvement Date of

completion IR1 The Works Approval Holder shall, prior to completion of

commissioning of the Rottnest WWTP, submit to the CEO an updated Nutrient Irrigation Management Plan and

environmental risk assessment relating to the irrigation of the golf course and sporting oval.

The environmental risk assessment shall include an updated water balance and details relating to potential offsite

environmental impacts including, but not limited to;

a) risks and management strategies associated with irrigating at times of the year when rainfall rates exceed evaporation;

b) demonstration that irrigation will not cause impacts to groundwater, the nearshore marine environment or freshwater seeps on the margins of the saline wetlands; and

c) demonstration that endocrine disrupting

compounds from irrigation will not impact wildlife.

08/07/2016

4 Information

4.1 Reporting

4.1.1 The Works Approval Holder shall submit a compliance document to the CEO, following the construction of the works and prior to commissioning of the same.

4.1.2 The compliance document shall:

(a) certify that the works were constructed in accordance with the conditions of the works approval;

(b) be signed by a person authorised to represent the Works Approval Holder and contain the printed name and position of that person within the company.

4.1.3 The Works Approval Holder shall submit a commissioning report for the Rottnest Wastewater Treatment Plant, to the CEO within two months after the completion of commissioning.

4.1.4 The Works Approval Holder shall ensure the report includes;

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(a) a summary of the monitoring results recorded under condition 2.1.2;

(b) a list of any original monitoring reports submitted to the Licensee from third parties for the commissioning period;

(c) a summary of the environmental performance of the Rottnest Wastewater Treatment Plant as installed, against the design specification set out in the works approval application;

(d) a review of performance against the works approval conditions; and (e) where they have not been met, measures proposed to meet the design

specification and/or works approval conditions, together with timescales for implementing the proposed measures.

4.2 Notification

4.2.1 The Works Approval Holder shall ensure that the parameters listed in Table 4.2.1 are notified to the CEO and are in accordance with the notification requirements of the table.

Table 4.2.1: Notification requirements Condition

or table (if relevant)

Parameter Notification requirement Format

or form 1.2.2 Commencement of commissioning 7 days prior to start None

specified Completion of commissioning 7 days after completion

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Schedule 1: Maps

Premises map 1 - The premises is shown in the map below. The pink line depicts the licensed Premises boundary .

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Premises map 2 – Proposed changes to the premises boundary, as a result of the upgrade works, is shown below.

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Map of schematic/site layout and monitoring location as specified in condition 2.1.2

WQ1

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Environmental Protection Act 1986 Page 1 of 12 Decision Document: W5857/2015/1

File Number: DER2015/001322 IRLB_TI0669 v2.7

Decision Document

Environmental Protection Act 1986, Part V

Proponent: Rottnest Island Authority Works Approval: W5857/2015/1

Registered office: Level 1

E-Shed Victoria Quay FREMANTLE WA 6160

Premises address: Rottnest Island Wastewater Treatment Plant 1 Somerville Drive

Rottnest Island WA 6161

Being Part Lot 10976 on Plan 216860 Issue date: Thursday, 15 October 2015

Commencement date: Monday, 19 October 2015 Expiry date: Thursday, 18 October 2018

Decision

Based on the assessment detailed in this document the Department of Environment Regulation (DER) CEO delegated officer has decided to amend this works approval. The delegated officer considers that in reaching this decision, he has taken into account all relevant considerations and that the Works Approval and its conditions will ensure that an appropriate level of environmental

protection is provided.

Decision Document prepared by: Jarrod Abrahams Senior Licensing Officer

Decision Document authorised by: Alan Kietzmann Delegated Officer

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1 Purpose of this Document

This decision document explains how DER delegated officer has assessed and determined the application and provides a record of the decision-making process and how relevant factors have been taken into account. Stakeholders should note that this document is limited to DER’s assessment and decision making under Part V of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. Other approvals may be required for the proposal, and it is the proponent’s responsibility to ensure they have all relevant approvals for their Premises.

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2 Administrative summary

Administrative details

Application type

Works Approval New Licence Licence amendment

Works Approval amendment Activities that cause the premises to become

prescribed premises Category number(s) Assessed design

capacity

54 500 kL/day

Application verified Application fee paid

Date: N/A Date: N/A Works Approval has been complied with

Compliance Certificate received

Yes No N/A

Commercial-in-confidence claim Yes No

Commercial-in-confidence claim outcome

Is the proposal a Major Resource Project? Yes No Was the proposal referred to the Environmental

Protection Authority (EPA) under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986?

Yes No

Referral decision No:

Managed under Part V Assessed under Part IV

Is the proposal subject to Ministerial Conditions? Yes No

Ministerial statement No:

EPA Report No:

Does the proposal involve a discharge of waste into a designated area (as defined in section 57 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986)?

Yes No

Department of Water consulted Yes No Is the Premises within an Environmental Protection Policy (EPP) Area Yes No

If Yes include details of which EPP(s) here.

Is the Premises subject to any EPP requirements? Yes No

If Yes, include details here, eg Site is subject to SO2 requirements of Kwinana EPP.

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3 Executive summary of proposal and assessment

Rottnest Island is a 1,900 hectare A Class reserve located approximately 19km off the coast of Fremantle in Western Australia. A Class reserves are the most protected type of Crown (public) land in Western Australia. The island is a holiday destination and currently attracts around 500,000 visitors per annum. There are approximately 200 people permanently located on the Island. Due to the distance from the mainland, power, water and wastewater are provided and managed locally.

The existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was built in 1996 to treat sewage generated on the island and is managed by the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA). The treated effluent is then either reused for irrigation or discharged into the existing infiltration basins. The existing WWTP currently operates under Environmental Protection Act 1986 licence L8807/2013/1 for a daily throughput capacity of 400kL per day. The plant is currently near capacity during peak periods, and therefore requires an upgrade.

This works approval has been granted for the upgrade to the WWTP and associated infrastructure required for the plant (refer to Appendix A – revised WWTP schematic). The wastewater infrastructure for the upgraded WWTP will consist of:

 Sewer network (existing)

 Inlet screening

 Flow balance tank

 Emergency storage basin

 Fine screens

 Biological treatment including aerobic and anoxic

 Membrane filtration

 Chlorine disinfection

 Recycled water storage and distribution – 1ML

 Excess Recycled Water Storage (existing)

 Tank 3 – 2.5ML

 Tank 6 – 9.1ML

 Chemical storage and dosing

 Odour scrubbing/treatment

The upgraded plant has been designed to provide sufficient capacity to treat all current sewage generated on the island plus an additional ~30% capacity allowance for future growth. The upgraded treatment plant is designed to treat up to 500 kilolitres per day.

The WWTP will treat wastewater which the proponent proposes will be used to irrigate the sporting oval and the golf course on the Island. The WWTP has been designed to treat wastewater to higher standards of water quality than the existing WWTP system produces.

The expected flows per day are:

 Minimum 100kL/day during off-season

 Maximum 500kL/day during peak season

The percentage of treated water used in each of the proposed end uses is:

 Irrigation – 94%

 Infiltration – 6%

The WWTP is expected to treat wastewater to the below specifications.

Parameter Units Current licence Parameters for

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Parameters the upgrade

Total Suspended Solids mg/L <30 <10

Biochemical Oxygen Demand mg/L <20 <10

Total Nitrogen mg/L <10 <10

Total Phosphorus mg/L <1 <1

Environmental Setting

Information on the environmental setting of the site is provided in Appendix B Irrigation

Treated water is proposed to be pumped to the existing sporting oval and golf course irrigation system. Condition 3.1.1 of the works approval requires an updated Nutrient Irrigation Management Plan and environmental risk assessment relating to the irrigation of the golf course and sporting oval to be submitted to DER

Zoning and planning approvals

Under the Rottnest Island Authority Act 1987 and Rottnest Island Regulations 1988 there are two zones for the island; ‘Reserve’ and ‘Settlement’. The WWTP is located an area zoned as ‘Settlement’.

Rottnest Island is located in the City of Cockburn local government area however; the City only assesses building approvals where a building or other structure is required to be constructed. All other development approvals are governed ‘in-house’ under a Development Planning Policy and includes referral to a ‘Development Assessment Team’.

Development approval for the WWTP upgrade was granted by the Development Assessment Team on 10 July 2015. A building permit (BP15/2271), relating to proposed infrastructure to be constructed as part of the WWTP upgrade works, was granted by the City of Cockburn on 17 September 2015.

May 2016 Amendment

RIA submitted an application to amend works approval W5857/2015/1 under Division 3, Part V of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act). The application was received by the Department of Environment Regulation (DER) on 22 March 2016. The application seeks to:

 amend (extend) the due date for the submission of the Nutrient Irrigation Management Plan required by works approval condition 3.1.1 / Table 3.1.1;

 realign the site boundary fence line; and

 and provide updated details on the excess recycled water tank volumes to what was originally reported.

DER has assessed the aforementioned amendment application and has determined that the requested amendments are appropriate and have amended the works approval accordingly. Minor amendments have been implemented on the works approval including providing reference to the works approval amendment application form and supporting document (Permeate Partners, 22 March, 2016) in Table 1.2.1 of the works approval – Construction Requirements and updating the

‘Date of completion’ in Table 3.1.1.

The requested amendments did not alter projected emissions or discharges associated with the construction and commissioning of activities under this works approval therefore DER did not revisit or re-assess associated environmental risks that were previously documented.

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4 Decision table

All applications are assessed in line with the Environmental Protection Act 1986, the Environmental Protection Regulations 1987 and DER’s Operational Procedure on Assessing Emissions and Discharges from Prescribed Premises. Where other references have been used in making the decision they are detailed in the decision document.

DECISION TABLE Works

Approval / Licence section

Condition number

W = Works Approval L= Licence

Justification (including risk description & decision methodology where relevant) Reference documents

General conditions

W1.2.1 Realignment of the site boundary fence line

Northern boundary – during the detailed design process the arrangement of some equipment items has changed requiring the northern boundary to be brought to the south side of the of the northern basin as this basin becomes redundant with the upgrade of the WWTP. RIA has reported that it intends to decommission the northern basin in the future to allow for proposed future developments in this area.

Western boundary – the relocation of the back-pulse tank results in a requirement to realigning the fence in the south-western corner of the plant. This change increases the plant footprint slightly but does not require any additional clearing of vegetation.

Updates on the excess recycled water tank volumes to what was originally reported

During the detailed design process information regarding the existing off-site storage tanks (Tank 3 and Tank 6) that will be utilised to store excess recycled water was verified. These updates do not relate to the licensed prescribed premises however, the summary of wastewater infrastructure for the upgraded WWTP, as documented in Section 3 of this report, Executive summary of proposal and assessment, has been updated.

W1.2.1 has been amended to make reference to the the works approval amendment application and supporting documents (22 March, 2016); the updated condition requires that all construction works are completed in accordance with the original works approval application and supporting documentation an subsequent

Application supporting documentation

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DECISION TABLE Works

Approval / Licence section

Condition number

W = Works Approval L= Licence

Justification (including risk description & decision methodology where relevant) Reference documents

amendments, as outlined in this decision table.

Improvements W3.1.1 Request to extend the due date for the submission of the Nutrient Irrigation Management Plan (NIMP) required by W3.1.1

Condition 3.1.1 of the existing licence requires RIA to submit an updated NIMP and environmental risk assessment relating to the irrigation of treated wastewater at the golf course and sporting oval, by 11 December 2015 (date of required completion).

The amendment application indicates that a draft NIMP has been prepared, however there are several areas that require additional investigation or information. Additional soil sampling of the golf course post construction of the upgrade, data rationalisation/interpretation and updated MEDLI modelling is noted as areas where further work is needed. These issues were also discussed in a meeting between DER, RIA and there consultants, GHD, on 2 March 2016.

As a result RIA is proposing an amendment date to the date of completion from 11 December 2015 to 8 July 2016. The current construction program shows completion of the commissioning on 2 September 2016 therefore the submission of the NIMP on the proposed revise date will still allow for the NIMP to submitted prior to the completion of commissioning.

Schedule 1 N/A As noted earlier RIA proposes to realign the premises boundary. As a result revised premises’ maps have been included in Schedule 1 of the amended works approval to depict boundary changes.

Works Approval Duration

N/A The works approval duration has not been reassessed as part of this amendment.

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5 Advertisement and consultation table

Date Event Comments received/Notes How comments were taken into

consideration 3/05/2016 Proponent sent a copy of draft amended

instrument

No comments were received. N/A

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6 Risk Assessment

Note: This matrix is taken from the DER Corporate Policy Statement No. 07 - Operational Risk Management

Table 1: Emissions Risk Matrix

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Appendix A

Upgraded WWTP schematic/site layout – Revised map

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Appendix B

Environmental Setting

Human Populations

The nearest residential receptors are located approximately 175 m (accommodation) and 225 m (permanent housing) from the WWTP operations.

Soil Type

The WWTP, oval and golf course are located upon the Quaternary limestone which have been locally differentiated as the Tamala and Herschell Limestones (Playford, 1988). The Tamala limestone is an eolian calcarenite whereas the Herschell Limestone comprises marine shell beds with a weak to strongly cemented lime sand (Playford, 1988).

Groundwater

Fresh and shallow groundwater exists on the island as a thin lens overlying salt water (Playford, 1988). The groundwater environment is considered to be very sensitive, as the fresh groundwater resource on the island is limited. The main fresh water reserves are located in groundwater lenses associated with the highest ground on the island around the Wadgemup and Oliver Hills (Playford, 1988).

The Department of Water’s Geographic Data Atlas indicated that there are no protected Public Drinking Water Source Areas (PDWSA) on the island.

RIA maintains five groundwater monitoring bores at the WWTP site to the north of the golf course, and measured the groundwater levels of four of these bores on 5 June 2012. The groundwater levels from the WWTP bores (05/06/2012) and the golf course and oval bores (28/06/2012), infer a groundwater flow direction toward the salt lakes. The groundwater depth is an average 0.5 m AHD.

Historical groundwater monitoring associated with the Rottnest Island landfill and WWTP suggests the presence of elevated nutrient concentrations in groundwater in those areas. Infiltration of effluent in unlined ponds at the WWTP has also been found to cause groundwater mounding (GHD, 2011).

The upgrade of the WWTP will reduce this groundwater mounding as a significant amount of recycled water is being diverted from the infiltration area and being used for irrigation.

Surface Water

The Indian Ocean surrounds the Premises and is located 65 metres from the evaporation basin on the premises. Inland lakes are located 580 metres from the WWTP.

Treated wastewater is proposed to be irrigated onto a sports oval which is located 365 m from the nearest lake and approximately 210 metres from the ocean.

The other proposed irrigation site, the golf course, is located adjacent to the inland lake system and approximately 300 m to the ocean. (See Attachment B for further details on the irrigation sites) The wetlands on Rottnest Island consist of salt lakes, freshwater seeps and brackish swamps which are essential for the continued functioning of all Rottnest’s ecosystems. Rottnest Island’s salt lakes, swamps and seeps are listed as ‘Wetlands of National Importance’ under the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (Environment Australia, 2001). The Island’s wetland system is represented in every category within the directory from highly saline to fresh.

The three deepest lakes on the Island (Government House Lake, Lake Serpentine and Lake Herschel) are the only wetlands in Australia known to exhibit seasonal meromixis (i.e. stratification

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that occurs in winter to spring where cool, low salinity water derived from groundwater seepage overlays warmer, highly saline water).

Water supply to the brackish seeps and swamps occurs via precipitation and groundwater. Seven of the lakes are permanent; with other waterbodies seasonally inundated. A number of the deeper salt lakes support significant hypersaline microbialite communities that are listed as Priority Ecological Communities (PEC) under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950.

Fauna

Rottnest is well known for its Quokka population. A marsupial the size of a hare or domestic cat, the quokka is the sole representative of the genus Setonix. Quokkas are generally nocturnal and spend most of the day sleeping and resting under shady bushes and dense vegetation. On the island they can be seen opportunistically feeding during the day. The quokka’s diet consists of grass, leaves, seeds and roots. Due to the lack of predators and the availability of food on Rottnest Island, population numbers have soared to approximately 12,000.

Rottnest Island's wetlands and coastal areas provide significant food resources and breeding habitat for a multitude of shorebird species. Up to 50 shorebird species are recorded by BirdLife Australia at Rottnest on a bi-annual basis, with itinerant species regularly observed. Shorebirds around Rottnest Island include the pied cormorant, osprey, pied oystercatcher, silver gulls, crested tern, fairy tern, caspian tern, rock parrot and eastern reef egret.

Rottnest Island supports several of the southern-most breeding colonies of wedge-tailed shearwaters About ten per cent of the eastern end of Rottnest Island is made up of salt lakes, containing brine shrimp. Brine shrimp support a large number of birds such as the red-necked avocet, banded stilts, ruddy turnstone, curlew sandpiper, red-capped dotterel, Australian shelduck, red-necked stint, grey plover, white-fronted chat, caspian terns and crested terns. Some of these species such as the red- necked stint (which weighs only 30 grams), ruddy turnstone and curlew sandpiper are trans-equatorial migrants that travel all the way from north-eastern Siberia and Alaska in the Arctic Circle to feed on the brine shrimp during summer.

The brackish swamps are home to the black duck and grey teal duck.

Approximately 400 species of fish and twenty species of coral occur within the Rottnest Island Marine Reserve. Fish include the Western Australian dhufish, baldchin groper, harlequin fish, cobbler, flathead, leatherjacket, samson fish, tailor, butterfly fish, moon wrasse, blue devil and migratory fish such as marlin and tuna. The Island is also a popular area for migrating humpback whales, bottle- nose dolphins, New Zealand Fur Seals and Australian sea lions.

Works Approval

Works Approval

Environmental Protection Act 1986, Part V

Works Approval Holder: Rottnest Island Authority Works Approval Number: W5857/2015/1

Works Approval Conditions 1 General

2 Monitoring

3 Improvements

4 Information

Schedule 1: Maps

Decision Document

Environmental Protection Act 1986, Part V

Proponent: Rottnest Island Authority Works Approval: W5857/2015/1

Contents

1 Purpose of this Document

2 Administrative summary

3 Executive summary of proposal and assessment

4 Decision table

5 Advertisement and consultation table

6 Risk Assessment

Table 1: Emissions Risk Matrix

Appendix A

Appendix B