Investigations of the impact of effluent from the Ok Tedi copper mine on the fisheries resource in the Fly River, papua new guinea

Abstract

The Ok Tedi copper mine currently discharges overburden and partially treated ore residues into the Ok Tedi, a major tributary of the Fly River. At peak production these discharges will result in an increase in the suspended solids levels in the Fly River from a background of 76 mg L(-1) to approximately 800 mg L(-1), and an increase in median particulate copper levels from 90 μg g(-1) to 1220 μg g(-1). The dissolved copper levels are not expected to exceed 10 μg L(-1). The Strickland River, a tributary of the Fly River, has natural suspended solids levels in excess of 500 mg L(-1) and provided a natural bioassay for the impacts of elevated suspended solids levels. The fish communities of the Strickland River were dominated by the sediment-tolerant Ariidae catfish, but the levels of biomass caught per standard sampling effort were comparable to those in the Fly River. Laboratory bioassays were performed to assess the impact of particulate associated copper. The fish fauna of the Fly River does not include any standard test species, and it is unlikely that standard species would be unaffected by the high suspended solids levels of the Fly River. Test species were selected on the basis of ecological importance. Two freshwater prawns,Macrobrachium rosenbergii andMacrobrachium sp., a catfish,Neosilurus ater, and a cladoceran,Ceriodaphnia dubia, were tested for acute toxicity and bioaccumulation of copper from particulates. There was no evidence of acute toxicity to prawns or fish, nor for bioaccumulation by prawns. Acute toxicity toC. dubia and bioaccumulation byN. ater were probably due to dissolved copper in the test environments. The test results indicated that provided dissolved copper levels did not exceed the predicted levels, there should not be toxic affects of particulate-associated copper in the Fly River.