Risk-Based Assessment of the Impact of Aluminium on a Riverine Ecosystem
Paul L. Brown A C and John M. Ferris BA Australian Sustainable Industry Research Centre, Monash University, Gippsland Campus, Churchill VIC 3842, Australia.
B ANSTO Environment, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Menai NSW 2234, Australia.
C Author to whom correspondence should be addressed (e-mail: paul.brown@asirc.org.au).
Australian Journal of Chemistry 57(10) 951-955 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH04064
Submitted: 11 March 2004 Accepted: 29 July 2004 Published: 1 October 2004
Abstract
The Dawesley Creek–Bremer River drainage system, in South Australia, is affected by the potentially costly problem of acid drainage from the Brukunga mine site. This paper contrasts geochemical model predictions of water quality with detailed measurement of water chemistry in the field. This information is also used in the ecological risk assessment code, AQUARISK, to predict the degree of ecological detriment. These predictions are then assessed against independent, field-based biomeasures of algal and bacterial communities to test the performance of the code. The study demonstrates that the assessment of ecological risk obtained using AQUARISK, when coupled with geochemical modelling, accords quite well with the independent data from the biomeasures. Results from the study also suggest that only a single water-quality guideline value is required for aluminium, the major toxicant in the Dawesley Creek–Bremer River system.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge funding from ANSTO Environment’s Managing Mine Wastes Project. We sincerely thank Peter Gell and Adam Sincock (University of Adelaide, Department of Geographical and Environmental Studies) as well as Peter Holden and Karyn Wilde (ANSTO Environment) for sharing with us, respectively, their diatom and BIOLOG data from the Brukunga system.
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