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Katestone Environmental
Newsletter |
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Dear Valued Clients and Colleagues, Christmas has come and gone and the only reminder now of a relaxing couple of weeks off is the few extra kilos and stray bits of glitter still turning up in the strangest of places. 2009 was a challenging year for Katestone Environmental and not because of the slowdown in the economy. In fact, it was the opposite. We have been extremely busy and Natalie and I have both been away for part of the year on "Child rearing duties" (as one of my clients recently called it!) The rush to Christmas seemed to start earlier than previous years. It may be a function of the size of projects, as we seem to have a significant number of large projects all with EIS’s due out in 2010. What did we get up to last year?Our year was filled with a variety of interesting projects from a wide range of industry sectors. The resource sectors have continued to keep us busy with some large projects such as the Wandoan Coal Project, power station developments, LNG plants and coal seam gas extraction, smelters, a coke and steel plant and new and expanding coal terminals. With the change in Queensland’s legislation at the beginning of the year and the introduction of tighter air quality objectives for dust (particularly PM10) we have had some interesting challenges in the assessment of coal mines and other dust generating activities. Our resident dust expert and modelling guru, Andrew Wiebe, has developed an innovative method for including background measurements of particulates to enable a robust cumulative impact assessment. See the Wandoan Coal Project in the side panel for more details. Meteorological ForecastingOur meteorological forecasting capabilities have taken a huge step forward and we are now able to deliver our own weather forecasts tailored to the specific needs of our clients. This development has been kicked off with the trial of a high-resolution forecasting service for Meat and Livestock Australia. We can now provide forecasts of heat stress for feedlot cattle at the feedlot, rather than at the closest town, which is the limitation of the current system using the BOM model outputs. We look forward to developing similar systems for a wide range of applications. Please contact us if you require any more information about our forecasting capabilities. Katestone Environmental Baby BoomThe team at Katestone Environmental are trying hard to keep our population growth up with three new additions in 2009 and another two on the way! Natalie and husband Keith celebrated the arrival of their first child, Oliver William on 28 April. Natalie has been on maternity leave for most of the year, but has been helping us out from home when needed. She will return in February 2010. Stuart and I welcomed the arrival of our second daughter on 3 July, Lucinda Belle. She is already accustomed to life in the office and shakes with excitement when she sees her “Aunty Don”. I’m trying to be super mum and juggling home and work life.... sleep would be nice! The most recent arrival is Ivy Wren Welchman. Simon’s wife Meg, gave birth to Ivy on 26 October. Thankfully she wasn’t three weeks early like her big brother Reuben, although Simon was still organising work right up to the last minute. 7.30. Meg and Simon arrive at hospital There are also another two on the way! Lena is due in March and Andrew Balch will be a Dad again in May. Health warning: Don’t drink the water at the new office… unless you want another baby! The GFC, R & D and PhDThankfully, we have been lucky enough to have avoided the impacts of the Global Financial Crisis (so far). We had an exceptional year and things are looking good for another bumper year in 2010. We have been hiring staff and could probably do with more again in the New Year to keep up with client demands. Unfortunately with lots of work we have found it hard to find time to develop our various R & D projects. However, with Andrew Wiebe's recent enrolment to undertake a PhD, this will change. I’m sure I will be reporting on Andrew’s grand PhD plans in forthcoming newsletters. New StaffThe Katestone Environmental team now comprises 12 air quality consultants including Simon and myself as Directors and our great support team of Alma and Donna. Our new team members Sarah-Jane and Andy have both joined us from the UK. Short profiles of them are below. Thanks and Happy New YearAlthough last year was a very busy year at Katestone Environmental it was both enjoyable and challenging. We have had the pleasure of working with some wonderful people and with so many long-term clients they are almost part of the family. Thanks for all your continued support and we hope to be hearing from you again soon. Yours sincerely New staff profiles:Sarah-Jane Donnelly BSc. (Hons) MSc. 
Sarah-Jane completed Bachelor of Science (Geography) and Master of Science (Air Pollution Control and Management) degrees at Birmingham University in the UK in 2006. Sarah-Jane has a sound knowledge of the application of dispersion models to the prediction of air quality impacts for transportation, residential and commercial developments and best practice measures for the control of air pollution. She has completed air quality assessments for a wide range of projects including major road schemes and urban re-developments in the UK. Sarah-Jane joined Katestone in 2009 and is already involved in projects here in Australia. Andrew Vernon M.Sc.B.Sc. 
Andrew completed a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) in 2005 and a Master of Science (Air Pollution Management and Control) in 2007 from the University of Birmingham, UK. He gained experience in the UK as an Air Quality Scientist undertaking and completing numerous air quality assessments using ADMS v4, CAL3QHCR and DMRB dispersion models. He also has experience in designing and implementing ambient air monitoring programmes for traffic proposals, landfill gas risk assessments and construction activities. Andrew joined Katestone in 2009 as an Air Quality Consultant. |
Katestone Environmental pumps up the powerDue to the significant computational power required to run a real-time forecasting service, we have invested in a major upgrade to our computing capabilities with a new cluster computer. The current cluster has 26 nodes with the potential to increase to 130 if required in the future. |
Wandoan Coal ProjectThe Wandoan Coal Project is a 30 Mt per annum open-cut thermal coal mine covering 30,000 ha in western Queensland. Early in the mine development, the Wandoan Township will be 800 metres from the proposed pit edge, requiring the development of some innovative integrated design, monitoring, forecasting and management systems to ensure that dust levels are sufficiently minimised. The air quality impact assessment undertaken by Katestone Environmental included an assessment of dust storm initiation and local meteorology, source apportionment for all sources and PM10/PM2.5 ratios and the use of a detailed assessment of background distributions of particulate matter (PM). This latter involved applying a convolution of measurements and model predictions to determine the likelihood of peak dust events. This type of assessment is similar to flood frequency analysis. |
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Katestone Environmental helps Macquarie Generation obtain Concept Approval for Bayswater B Power StationKatestone Environmental were part of the team to prepare a detailed environmental evaluation for the proposed baseload power station called Bayswater B, which is currently being assessed by the NSW Department of Planning Macquarie Generation has lodged with the NSW Department of Planning a Major Project Application and Environmental Assessment for a baseload power station on the Bayswater B site. Under the NSW Government Energy Reform Strategy, the site is one of a number of development sites which is intended to be sold to the private sector. The application is for a 'dual fuel' power station development, which allows potential developers to choose whether the power station will be coal or gas-fired. The application also provides for inclusion of carbon capture and storage provisions in final power station design. Katestone Environmental has been working with Macquarie Generation since 2001 on various concepts for the development. The detailed air quality assessment included validation of a suitable model, assessment of criteria pollutants (including an inter-regional assessment of photochemical smog), assessment of air toxics and trace metals and assessment of variations in fuel sulfur content by use of a stochastic emissions model. |
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Katestone Environmental prepared air quality impact assessment as part of the EIS for the Queensland Curtis LNG projectQueensland Curtis LNG is a priority project of QGC, a BG Group business, to develop Queensland coal seam gas for Australian and international markets. Key elements of the proposed project involve:
Queensland Curtis LNG is seeking approval for annual liquefied natural gas production of 12 million tonnes per annum – enough energy to power every household in metropolitan Brisbane for 15 years. See details. The team at Katestone Environmental has worked hard with QCG to deliver a high quality EIS that assesses the air quality impacts for both the upstream collection of the coal gas and the LNG plant proposed for Curtis Island. |
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Katestone Environmental helps BSL get a tick from DERMThe Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) gave notice to BSL to conduct an Environmental Evaluation. The focus of the notice was the quantification of air emissions from normal and non-normal operations of the aluminium smelter at Boyne Island, and assessment of the potential impact on the local environment. In order to comply with this notice, BSL has undertaken the most significant emissions source monitoring program conducted by an aluminium smelter. Katestone Environmental worked with the team at BSL to develop a validated air dispersion model to predict the impacts on the local environment. DERM considered the Environmental Evaluation Report and accepted it as fulfilling the requirements of the initial and supplementary notices. |
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Note: The information provided in this document is general and may not be appropriate for your specific needs. Please contact us before acting on any of this information.
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