Environmental Performance
Please refer to the following sections for details on our environmental performance during this reporting period.
- Environmental incidents
- Accidental discharges
- Environmental fines
- Environmental spending
- Rehabilitation, remediation and closure
- Biodiversity
- Resource use
- Emissions
During the reporting year, we experienced an increase in natural resource consumption as well as increases in several environmental parameters due to expansions or restarting of certain operations. For a complete breakdown of all our environmental performance data, refer to the Environmental data summary.
To understand the systems we put in place to manage our performance, refer to the Environmental management section.
Environmental incidents
The BHP Billiton HSEC Consequence Severity Table (PDF 40KB) is the key tool utilised in determining the level of significance of actual or potential incidents. Significant environmental incidents are those incidents ranked three or above in the consequence severity table.
Regrettably, we had two Level 3 incidents during the reporting period. These related to acid water seepage that resulted in the release of poor-quality water outside the designed containment system at our now closed Selbaie base metals mine in Canada (refer to our case study: Selbaie Mine develops environmental program to contain acidic waters during snow-melting season). An action plan has been put in place to fully contain all subsequent seepage. Lessons learned from this incident and other potential incidents have been shared across the Company and measures are being put in place to prevent recurrence.
Accidental discharges
Accidental discharges of hydrocarbons to land and water that may impact the environment increased from 104 595 litres to 129 230 litres. The increase was mostly due to spill incidents that occurred at Jimblebar (Australia) and EKATI (Canada). A pipeline leakage, ruptured hydraulic hoses, and spills from haul trucks while refuelling were the most common causes of these accidental discharges. Containment and remediation plans are being implemented in line with the nature of the accidental discharge.
During the coming year, we will be placing more focus on hydrocarbon management and the prevention of spills through the development of hydrocarbon storage guidelines and fuel storage audits of suppliers. Details of accidental discharges are presented in the graph below.
Accidental discharges of hydrocarbons 2001/02 to 2003/04
In addition to the discharges of hydrocarbons, our Energy Coal CSG had two accidental discharges of affected water following heavy rainfall events from its Optimum Colliery in South Africa. The first discharge was an overflow from a pollution control dam into an adjacent dam downstream. The second discharge was due to the failure of a small section of a water catchment dam’s wall, resulting in the overflow of water to a nearby creek. Environmental assessments including ecological surveys undertaken following the occurrences showed no significant impact of the discharges on the environment. Action plans and measures are being put in place to prevent recurrence.
Environmental fines
Our target is to achieve full environmental compliance with no fines or prosecutions. We did not meet this target as we received environmental fines amounting to US$3330, a reduction from last year’s figure of US$37 572.
The table below presents a summary of the fines associated with environmental incidents and non-conformances for this reporting period.
Environmental fines 2003/04
| Site | Customer Sector group | Description Fine | (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appin Colliery | Carbon Steel Materials |
(a) Penalty Infringement Notice (AUD$1500) issued by New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA) for operation of spray irrigation area during wet weather. (b) Penalty Infringement Notice (AUD$1500) issued by NSW EPA for non-compliance with monitoring requirements for mine water discharge to aquifer field. |
2 220 |
| Yabulu Refinery | Stainless Steel Materials | Penalty Infringement Notice (AUD$1500) issued by Queensland Environmental Protection Agency for non-compliance with licence conditions relating to water management. | 1 110 |
| Total | 3 300 |
Environmental spending
Environmental spending for the reporting period totalled US$207 million, up from US$134 million, up last year (this is thought to reflect better definition and data gathering efforts). Environmental spending by CSGs is presented in the table below, broken down into the expenditure categories of research and development, site rehabilitation, environmental monitoring and other environmental management costs such as baseline studies. The expenditure for research and development includes collaboration with institutions and academia to minimise environmental impact of our operations or to improve environmental performance of our products, for example through recycling initiatives.
These costs exclude expenditure associated with the capital cost, operation and maintenance of pollution control equipment and the like.
Environmental spending estimates 2003/04 (US$’000)
| Aluminium | Base Metals | Carbon Steel Materials | Stainless Steel Materials | Energy Coal | Petroleum | Diamonds & Specialty Products | BHP Billiton Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research and Development | 120 | 1 179 | 3 420 | 500 | 940 | 301 | 1 008 | 7 468 |
| Site Rehabilitation1 | 1 932 | 39 306 | 19 453 | 1 483 | 62 466 | 206 | 418 | 125 682 |
| Environmental Monitoring2 | 819 | 7 761 | 4 639 | 741 | 1 720 | 935 | 3 435 | 20 494 |
| Other3 | 3 596 | 7 924 | 10 950 | 8 060 | 13 939 | 8 352 | 292 | 53 613 |
| Total | 6 467 | 56 170 | 38 462 | 10 784 | 79 066 | 9 793 | 5 152 | 207 256 |
Note: These data have not been audited.
- Spending associated with ongoing current or progressive rehabilitation, excluding provisions for closure.
- Spending associated with environmental monitoring activities such as air and water monitoring.
- Other spending including costs related to environmental management such as environmental impact assessment and training.
- The BHP Billiton Total figure is inclusive of data from our closed Beenup site in Western Australia.
Rehabilitation, remediation and closure
We recognised that closure-related activities have the potential to impact on free cash flow forecasts for assets and incremental investments, accounting provisions, residual liabilities and access to future resources. Our Closure Standard has been developed in response to these issues. The Standard comprises mandatory requirements including estimating expected cost and financial provisioning for closure. Provisioning is made for the reclamation and closure of the Group’s mining and processing facilities along with the decommissioning of offshore oil platforms and infrastructure associated with petroleum activities.
At 30 June 2004, US$1702 million (2003: US$1622 million) was provided for reclamation and decommissioning costs relating to the provision for site rehabilitation at current operations. These reclamation and decommissioning expenditures generally are mostly expected to be paid over the next 30 years. Our provisions for reclamation and decommissioning are discounted to their net present value using a discount rate that approximates the appropriate risk-free rate. The estimated total site rehabilitation cost (undiscounted and in today’s dollars) to be incurred in the future arising from operations to date, and including amounts already provided for, is US$5402 million (2003: US$3391 million).
In addition, we have certain obligations associated with maintaining and or remediating several closed sites. At 30 June 2004, US$1081 million (2003: US$403 million) was provided for closed properties. Adjustments to the provisions in relation to these closed sites are recognised in the profit and loss account during the period in which the adjustments are made. Certain remediation activities are subject to legal dispute and, depending on the ultimate resolution of these matters, the final liability for these matters could vary. The amounts provided for these matters are reviewed periodically based upon the facts and circumstances available at the time, and the provisions are updated accordingly. We believe that it is reasonably possible that, due to the nature of the closed sites’ liabilities and the degree of uncertainty that surrounds them, the liabilities in relation to closed sites could be in the order of 35 per cent (2003: 50 per cent) greater or in the order of 20 per cent lower than the US$1081 million provided at year-end. The main closed asset to which this total amount relates is Southwest Copper in the US; and this is discussed in further detail below, together with a brief discussion of other closed sites.
Southwest Copper, Arizona, US
During the year ended 30 June 2004, the Company has carried out further work in relation to the Southwest Copper sites, which has led to an increase in closure provisions resulting from a re-estimation of short-term closure costs and the inclusion of residual risks, longer-term water management and other costs, and an increase in the residual value of certain assets. Despite the work carried out during the current period, uncertainty remains over the extent and costs of the required short-term closure activities, and the extent, cost and timing of post-closure monitoring and longer-term water management. We anticipate that future changes in the closure provisions for Southwest Copper may be required as the necessary site characterisation and engineering work is progressed. The closure provisions for Southwest Copper total US$771 million at 30 June 2004 (2003: US$297 million).
Other closed sites
The closure provisions for other closed sites totalled US$310 million at 30 June 2004 (2003: US$116 million). The key sites covered by this amount are described briefly below:
- Newcastle steelworks – the Company closed the Newcastle steelworks in 1999 and retains responsibility for certain sediment in the Hunter River adjacent to the steelworks site, together with certain other site reclamation activities.
- Island Copper – the Company ceased operations at the Island Copper mine in December 1995 and has responsibility for various site reclamation activities, including the long-term treatment of the pit lake and water management.
- Selbaie copper mine – the Company closed the Selbaie copper mine in January 2004 and has responsibility for short-term site reclamation and remediation activities.
- Rio Algom – the Company has responsibility for long-term remediation costs for various mines and processing facilities in Canada and the US operated by Rio Algom Ltd prior to its acquisition by BHP Billiton in October 2000.
Biodiversity
The reporting of biodiversity information has been refined over the year in line with the Global Reporting Initiative reporting requirements and our desire to better understand performance in this regard. To this end, our key biodiversity data are as follows:
- Eight sites reported operating adjacent to areas designated as protected areas by government authorities or national legislation. These sites include the Coermotibo operations at Billiton Maatschappij Suriname (Wane Reserve, Suriname), Cerro Colorado (Lagunillas Lagoon, Chile) and Minerva (Port Campbell National Park, Australia).
- Thirty-nine sites reported having specific activities related to biodiversity conservation. For example, biomonitoring of aquatic biota in the Olifants River Catchment at Douglas (South Africa) and re-establishment of Natterjack toads on Talacre Dunes at Liverpool Bay (United Kingdom).
- Thirty-four sites reported having biodiversity aspects included in their closure plans. For example, at Beenup in Australia, the development of self-sustained wetland systems includes native revegetation and fauna habitat creation as part of the Beenup rehabilitation plan and completion criteria. At Petangis in Indonesia, post-mining land use objectives include secondary forestry, a lake for fishery and agro-tourism activities.
Our spending on biodiversity initiatives amounted to US$1.3 million, including contributions to the Waterways Conservation Program (platypus research and waterways conservation) conducted with Zoos Victoria, Australia; the Revive our Wetlands program conducted with Conservation Volunteers Australia; research projects investigating flora development and fauna return in disturbed areas at Worsley in Australia; and research on the habitat of the Andean Flamingo at Escondida in Chile. See our section on Biodiversity in environmental management for a broader discussion on our approach.
Resource use
Refer to the following sections for details on resource use with regards to:
Land
Decisions on land use have always been part of our activities. Rehabilitation of land disturbed for mining and other uses is an important land use aspect. To this end, we require our sites to have land management plans in place to guide decisions on land use to protect other beneficial uses. Our sites are actively seeking the best options to rehabilitate disturbed land as well as ascertaining the most feasible alternatives for post-mining land use. Such initiatives include cattle grazing trials at our Queensland coal operations in Australia and at our Ingwe coal mines in South Africa.
For another example, refer to our case study: Innovative approach to reclamation at La Plata Mine is producing positive results.
As demonstrated in the graphs below, we continued to disturb more land during the reporting period than we rehabilitated, mainly due to increased mining activities at our coal, bauxite, copper and diamond operations. The area of land rehabilitated increased by 15 per cent compared to the previous year. While the trend shows a decline in land requiring rehabilitation, there remain significant areas of land to be rehabilitated in the Carbon Steel Materials and Energy Coal CSGs for coal mining operations. Of the land requiring rehabilitation (during operations, not the total area that will require rehabilitation at closure), 22 per cent is available to be rehabilitated.
Land newly disturbed 2001/02 to 2003/04
Land rehabilitated 2001/02 to 2003/04
Land requiring rehabilitation 2001/02 to 2003/04
The total footprint of land owned, leased and/or managed by our operations was 1.76 million hectares, of which 1 per cent was for infrastructure (buildings and offices, processing plants, roads and rails), 3 per cent for mining, 3 per cent for supporting infrastructure, and 4 per cent for exploration. Approximately 24 per cent of land is intended for future operation/expansion, 38 per cent is designated as buffer zones and areas not intended/planned for operation, and the remaining 27 per cent is for other purposes.
Details of land use performance by the CSGs are presented in the Environmental data summary.
Energy
We achieved our target for all sites with greenhouse gas emissions greater than 100 000 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per annum to have energy conservation plans with specific targets.
Our energy consumption increased from 292 petajoules in the previous reporting period to 327 petajoules. The Aluminium and Carbon Steel Materials CSGs are the major consumers of energy, as presented in the graph below. Details of energy performance by the CSGs are presented in the Environmental data summary. The increase in energy consumption was mainly due to increased production in our aluminium smelting operations and, to a lesser extent, an increase of production at our iron ore operations.
Total energy use 2001/02 to 2003/04
The graph below shows a breakdown of the Company’s energy use by fuel type. Purchased electricity and coal and coke are the major energy types used, with natural gas the next most used fuel.
Energy use by type 2003/04
The energy intensity index1 is used to track our energy consumption performance. There has been consistent improvement in the Company’s overall energy intensity index. During the year, our energy intensity reduced, resulting in an overall reduction of our intensity index to date of 4 per cent against the baseline, as shown in the graph below. Energy conservation initiatives across the Company contributed to the reduction in the energy intensity index.
BHP Billiton energy intensity index 2001/02 to 2003/04
For details on energy consumption of some of our products, see our Energy intensity of selected products (PDF 36KB).
- The intensity index has been developed as a Company-wide performance indicator on environmental parameters, such as energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and fresh water consumption. The ‘index’ concept allows performance from different business groups or sites, all of which may have different operating conditions and product mixes, to be added together to form an overall indicator per unit of production. The baseline year for the intensity indices is BHP Billiton’s Fiscal Year 2001/02 and, as such, has a value of 100 for that year.
Water
Use of water resources is of increasing importance to many of our facilities. Water management plans are in place at all of our sites with fresh water consumption greater than 500 megalitres per annum. Many sites with consumption below this threshold also reported having water management plans in place. Initiatives to effectively manage fresh water consumption range from increasing water recycling in coal wash plants, to modifications of process water reticulation circuits to establish a closed-loop system, to setting water efficiency targets as part of an Operational Excellence improvement project. Water conservation campaigns also extend to the community for some of our operations. Worsley Alumina in Australia, for example, assisted the local shire and schools around the refinery to develop water conservation programs.
For more examples, see our case study: Engineering a sustainable future at Yabulu Refinery.
Total fresh water consumption increased from 132 630 megalitres in the previous reporting period to 154 540 megalitres, as shown in the graph below. The increase was mainly due to increased production at our base metals operations, in particular copper production at Escondida in Chile, and less than expected water recovery rates from the new Escondida Phase IV tailings dam. The amounts consumed by the CSGs are presented in the Environmental data summary.
Fresh water consumption 2001/02 to 2003/04
Sources of fresh water for our operations are mainly ground and surface water, as shown in the graph below.
Sources of fresh water 2003/04
We encourage our sites to use natural resources efficiently. To this end, the use of recycled water has been maintained at a similar level to last year, as presented in the graph below.
Recycled water use 2001/02 to 2003/04
Major contributors to the use of recycled water are Cerro Matoso in Colombia, Escondida in Chile, and GEMCO in Australia.
The ratio of fresh water to recycled water used in 2003/04 increased from the previous year, as shown in the following graph.
Fresh and recycled water use 2003/04
Our fresh water intensity index1 is shown in the graph below. During the year, our water intensity increased, resulting in an overall increase of our index to date of 10 per cent against the baseline, mainly due to higher water use per unit of production in some of our base metals operations, as previously discussed.
BHP Billiton fresh water intensity index 2001/02 to 2003/04
For the coming year, we will be developing a water strategy to better understand our risks relating to water quantity and quality and how we can plan for further minimisation and recycling efforts.
See our Water intensity of selected products (PDF 32KB) for further details on water intensity by product type.
- The intensity index has been developed as a Company-wide performance indicator on environmental parameters, such as energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and fresh water consumption. The ‘index’ concept allows performance from different business groups or sites, all of which may have different operating conditions and product mixes, to be added together to form an overall indicator per unit of production. The baseline year for the intensity indices is BHP Billiton’s Fiscal Year 2001/02 and, as such, has a value of 100 for that year.
Waste
We achieved our target for sites to have waste minimisation programs in place. Sites are actively putting initiatives in place to better manage waste materials. For example, Whaleback (iron ore operation in Western Australia) has programs in place to recycle packaging material, aluminium cans and plastic bottles. Ingwe sites (South Africa) implement programs to recycle general waste as well as operational waste such as scrap metals and conveyor belts.
For another example, refer to our case study: Waste management practices at Cannington are delivering benefits for the operation and other stakeholders.
The graph below shows the different types of wastes disposed by the Company.
Waste disposed (excluding mineral processing waste) 2003/04
The following sections provide further details on:
For details on waste generation by the CSGs, see the Environmental data summary.
General waste
General waste or domestic waste types include paper, cardboard and building and construction material. Our operations generated 173 940 tonnes of general waste in the reporting period, of which 28 per cent was recycled/reused/composted and 72 per cent was disposed to landfill; only 460 tonnes was incinerated. The graph below shows the general waste disposal methods.
General waste disposal methods 2003/04
Our general waste disposed to landfill increased from 115 280 tonnes in the previous reporting period to 124 990 tonnes, as shown in the graph below. This increase was due to higher operational activities at Escondida (Chile), Yabulu Refinery (Australia) and Petroleum assets in Algeria.
General waste disposed to landfill 2001/02 to 2003/04
As a result, during the period our general waste intensity increased, resulting in an overall increase of our intensity index (not shown) to date of 25 per cent against the baseline.
Hazardous waste
We categorise hazardous waste into waste oil and other hazardous waste, which includes chemical waste, spent pot linings and hazardous baghouse dust.
Of the waste oil disposed, the majority was either burned as fuel for energy recovery on-site or sent for recycle/reuse/burning off-site.
During the period, our hazardous waste intensity reduced, resulting in an overall reduction of our intensity index (not shown) to date of 12 per cent against our baseline. Indicative trends of waste disposed by the Company are presented in the graph below.
Waste disposal 2000/01 to 2003/04
Mineral waste
This year, we initiated the collection of data on mineral hazardous waste that is disposed. This is classified as those mineral wastes deemed to be hazardous in some jurisdictions (e.g., due to their leaching characteristics) and includes certain tailings, sludges and slags.
During the reporting period, 16 million tonnes of mineral hazardous waste was disposed. We will endeavour to broaden these data in the future.
Wastewater and effluent discharge
This year we have enhanced our reporting of wastewater and effluent discharge, consistent with GRI requirements. The amount of wastewater and effluent discharge by the CSGs is presented in the graph below and in the Environmental data summary. The total amount of wastewater and effluent discharged to various end points was 83 630 megalitres.
Wastewater and effluent discharged 2003/04
In addition to reporting the quantity, we also require our sites to report on key constituents discharged with wastewater and effluent. The reportable key constituents include biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and key metals discharged. The amount of key constituents in the wastewater and effluent discharge is presented in the graph below.
Key constituents in the wastewater and effluent discharged 2003/04
As this is our first year reporting these data, no trends as to the quantity and quality of the wastewater and effluent discharge are available.
Other consumables
This year, we have introduced the reporting of consumables used on a Company-wide basis. Because of the diversity of our operations, only consumables of significant quantities were reported. These include acids (800 110 tonnes), caustic soda (459 200 tonnes), explosives (498 360 tonnes), purchased gas other than natural gas (47 400 tonnes) and 230 000 tonnes of other materials (lime, stone dust, magnetite and others).
Supply chain management
In line with our HSEC Management Standards, we require sites to minimise any adverse HSEC consequences associated with the contracting of services and the purchase, hire or lease of equipment and materials. Of operated sites, the majority reported having policies and/or systems for assessing our suppliers’ environmental performance.
Emissions
Refer to the following sections for details on our environmental emissions.
For a breakdown of our environmental emission data, refer to the Environmental data summary.
Greenhouse gases
We achieved our target for all sites with greenhouse gas emissions greater than 100 000 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per annum to have greenhouse gas management programs.
The main greenhouse gases of concern to us are carbon dioxide (a product of energy use and the use of fluxes) and methane (which occurs at coal mines and from oil and gas production facilities). Emissions of perfluorocarbons associated with our Aluminium CSG also contribute to our greenhouse gas emissions; however, as a proportion of our total emissions, these are not as significant.
Our total greenhouse gas emissions increased from 47 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the previous reporting period to 52 million tonnes. Higher production and associated energy use contributed to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions.
The graph below shows the Company’s greenhouse gas emissions trend over three years by CSGs. The sources of these emissions are presented in the subsequent graph.
Greenhouse gas emissions 2001/02 to 2003/04
Sources of greenhouse gas emissions 2003/04
The greenhouse intensity1 index is used to monitor our performance against our target. The graph below shows our greenhouse intensity index for the past three years. During the year our greenhouse gas intensity reduced, resulting in an overall reduction of our intensity index to date of 9 per cent against the baseline. Our performance is ahead of schedule to achieve our greenhouse gas target of an aggregate Group reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production of 5 per cent by 30 June 2007.
BHP Billiton greenhouse gas intensity index 2001/02 to 2003/04
See our Greenhouse gas intensity of selected products (PDF 32KB) for details on greenhouse gas intensity by product.
- The intensity index has been developed as a Company-wide performance indicator on environmental parameters, such as energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and fresh water consumption. The ‘index’ concept allows performance from different business groups or sites, all of which may have different operating conditions and product mixes, to be added together to form an overall indicator per unit of production. The baseline year for the intensity indices is BHP Billiton’s Fiscal Year 2001/02 and, as such, has a value of 100 for that year.
Ozone-depleting substances
The amount of ozone-depleting substances discharged or leaked to air increased from 160 kilograms chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) equivalent in the previous reporting period to 353 kilograms CFC equivalent. This was mainly due to our Petroleum businesses contracting transport vessels that have CFCs in their air-conditioning systems. We are striving to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances across our operations.
Oxides of sulphur
The graph below shows that emissions of oxides of sulphur (SOx) to air decreased from 50 020 tonnes in the previous reporting period to 48 230 tonnes. The reduction was due to a number of factors such as the move to lower sulphur fossil fuels across the Company and the revision of the emission factor used to calculate SOx emissions at one of our Stainless Steel Materials CSG operations.
As shown in the graph below, SOx emissions for the Aluminium CSG increased compared to the previous year, mainly as a result of higher production.
A breakdown of SOx emissions by the CSGs is presented in the Environmental data summary.
SOx emissions to air 2001/02 to 2003/04
Oxides of nitrogen
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions are produced by the combustion of fuels that potentially can have an adverse impact on the environment. NOx emissions increased from 49 640 tonnes in the previous reporting period to 54 590 tonnes, as shown in the graph below. The increase was due to higher fossil fuel consumption across the Company associated with higher production levels.
A breakdown of NOx emissions by the CSGs is presented in the Environmental data summary.
NOx emissions to air 2001/02 to 2003/04
Fluoride
Fluoride emissions from our aluminium smelters decreased from 909 tonnes in the previous reporting period to 900 tonnes, as shown in the graph below. While there has only been a slight reduction in total emissions, fluoride emissions have significantly reduced per unit of production due to process improvements.
Fluoride emissions to air 2000/01 to 2003/04
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