Police stop St Kilda locals DIY pumping to save mangroves, following state government report

Police were called to stop frustrated St Kilda locals and independent scientists DIY pumping hypersaline water away from the mangroves in a bid to save them from further damage.

Police were called to attend the citizen action at St Kilda on Thursday afternoon and shut down pumping of brine out of the leaky pond.

Hypersaline water leaked from the evaporation pond at the former salt mining operation and caused the damage to the vulnerable ecosystem late last year.

Salt left behind after pumping and evaporation over the warmer months redissolved after recent rain, raising the risk of further damage to mangroves and saltmarsh, independent scientists say.

Faith Coleman of environmental consultancy firm EcoProTem led three hours of pumping on Thursday, shifting about “18 tonnes of salt to where the miner will be able to discharge it to the Bolivar Channel” before police arrived and kindly asked her to withdraw the pipes from the miner’s ponds.

“We think we got well and truly more done than the government’s got done in a year, so that’s a bonus,” she said.

“It was quite evident that it was the miner who asked for police to move me on. And it’s really evident that he doesn’t want the clean up done for him and he doesn’t want to clean up.”

Independent scientist Faith Coleman, Founding Partner of EcoProTem, has hired equipment to pump hypersaline water out of the leaky pond. Picture: Emma Brasier

On Thursday morning Environment Minister David Speirs said a licence from the Environment Protection Authority was needed and he was worried that pumping could have “perverse environmental consequences … potentially killing more mangroves”.

But that afternoon, the EPA said a licence was not needed in this case as it was only required for discharge to the marine environment, as opposed to shifting water from one pond to another within the Dry Creek salt field site.

“However, it is possible her actions could interfere with a licensed activity,” a spokeswoman said

Opposition environment spokeswoman Susan Close said the confusion was not helpful.

“The local community has lost faith in the government managing the mangroves and conflicting messages from the EPA, David Speirs and the Mining Department makes the whole mess worse,” she said.

The gofundme.com campaign raised more than $3000 to hire equipment and run the portable pump. Funds left over will go towards groundwater monitoring devices in the township

Dying mangroves at St Kilda, north of Adelaide. Picture: Alex Mausolf

The Energy and Mining Department said the citizen action was not necessary, pointing to their peer-reviewed scientific report that showed the area of dieback at St Kilda was smaller than first thought.

“Pumping is not recommended adjacent to the impacted mangroves,” a spokeswoman said.

“The best scientific advice is that recent winter rains pose no additional risk to the area, and there is no evidence of any new impacts on the mangroves. The Government continues to monitor the site, including through its groundwater monitoring network, which is showing significant improvements.”

But the independent citizen scientists are critical of that report for failing to take stressed vegetation into account, which conservationists have estimated at 150ha or more.

The report used new high-resolution aerial imagery to revise the total area affected down from 45ha to 24ha.

This included 9ha of dead mangroves and 10ha of dead saltmarsh.

And images from 1997 were used to suggest much of the saltmarsh had already been degraded for a long time. The report also said scientific monitoring showed the area has stabilised, with reduced salinity levels.

The Energy and Mining Minister, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, welcomed the report and said remedial actions taken had improved the overall health of the site.

Salinity readings have dropped and groundwater pressure has reduced.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan dismissed the community concerns about recent rains redissolving salt left behind after evaporation, raising the risk of further damage to mangroves.

“There is no indication at this stage that recent rain will cause any further impact to the mangrove area,” he said.

“While monitoring of salinity trends continues, it is expected that groundwater flows will continue to decline over time.”

St Kilda resident and independent scientist Peri Coleman of Delta Environmental Consulting testing the water next to the St Kilda Mangroves Boardwalk trail. Picture: Dean Martin

Peri Coleman of Delta Environmental Consulting said there was more brine in the pond now than when the EPA started pumping in summer.

Mr Speirs said the state government would continue to monitor the area.

“The St Kilda mangroves are of national significance as a sanctuary for migratory and resident shorebirds and the State Government is committed to protecting this important habitat,” Mr Speirs said.