Health Impact Assessments supporting the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

SAGE was engaged to conduct an independent Human Health Risk Assessment for the Cadia Valley Operations in Orange, NSW. The HHRA was conducted in response to community concerns about impacts to drinking water supply from air and dust emissions from the mine.

The HHRA used a number of data sources to estimate intakes to residents of 12 neighbouring suburbs to the mine. The chemicals of concern identified were metals associated with the vent emissions and tailings dam composition.

The HHRA concluded that the contribution to overall risk from Cadia Valley Operations was 1-17% of the overall risk, with potential risks identified with the consumption of drinking water impacted with copper which was a result of localised impacts from the home or property.

The HHRA was submitted to the NSW EPA and was independently peer reviewed.

Human Health Risk Assessment | Cadia Valley Operations | Newcrest                                                                                                                                                                                                 

SAGE have been engaged to prepare a Human Health Impact Assessment (HHIA) to support the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being prepared for the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct (MASDP) Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The MASDP is a proposed development being coordinated by the NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) on behalf of the Northern Territory (NT) Government.

The proposed MASDP involves the development of 1,500 hectares of land located on the Middle Arm Peninsula for an industrial precinct. The EIS is being prepared to assess the cumulative impacts associated with the development and support the subsequent SEA of the proposal. The SEA is subject to assessment under both NT and Commonwealth legislation.

The HHIA will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the risks to human health associated with the proposed development. The scope of the HHIA is to provide a cumulative impact assessment over a 50 year timeframe using the outputs from the various technical studies (including air quality and water quality assessments). This information will be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively to characterise the existing site condition and understand the potential human health risk for each proposed industry.

Amanda with a previous employer was the lead verifier and Expert Witness for the proposed (subject to approval) Energy from Waste Facility proposed at Eastern Creek, NSW.

The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) involved quantitative assessment based primarily on outputs from the Air Quality Impact Assessment (AQIA) of current and potential future surrounding land uses. Amanda worked collaboratively with external providers of the AQIA to ensure that modelled coordinates fulfilled the requirements of the HIA. The HIA considered a number of uptake mechanisms resulting from deposition from the stack to the surrounding soil environment.

The project has undergone a number of design and throughput changes and has required iterative versions of the HIA to be developed.

In her role, Amanda engaged with local councils and community forums as well as with State Government and Independent Planning Commission.

The project was consideration in the Land and Environment Court  Section 32 mediation and Amanda was an Expert Witness.