Port Kembla Research Articles

A boundary perturbation approach for regional wave ensemble forecast

In this study, we developed and validated two wave ensemble prediction systems (WEPS) to forecast wave conditions along the southeastern coast of Australia. Using the SWAN model (GEN3 ST6), we integrated complex bathymetric features with an unstructured grid and validated model outputs against buoy observations from Sydney, Port Kembla, and Batemans Bay. The two WEPS, SWAN-WW3 and SWAN-Pert, utilize different methodologies: SWAN-WW3 derives boundary conditions from NCEP’s Global Wave Ensemble System, while SWAN-Pert employs Latin Hypercube Sampling for boundary perturbations based on historical data. Our results demonstrate that both systems effectively predict significant wave height (Hs), with SWAN-Pert showing improved forecast accuracy in certain metrics compared to SWAN-WW3. Despite underdispersion in spread-skill diagrams, both WEPS exhibited good agreement with observed data. Additionally, rank histograms revealed that SWAN-Pert is more reliable at shorter lead times. This study highlights the potential of integrating statistical sampling methods and ensemble systems for enhancing regional wave forecasting accuracy.

50 Years Of Hanbar Concrete Units In Australia And New-Zealand: Lessons Learned From Physical Modelling Studies And Recently Built Structures

During the last 50 years, numerous breakwaters along the eastern coast of Australia, and more recently in New Zealand, have undergone construction, repairs, or upgrades using Hanbar concrete armour units. These units are distinct to Australasia, and there is limited information about their properties in standard coastal engineering literature. This paper first provides a survey and timeline of all known projects using Hanbars. An overview of the Hanbar concrete unit features and manufacturing method is then provided. The paper presents a summary of results of previous modelling studies of Hanbar applications to specific breakwaters, as well as recent research programs completed at WRL, and provides placement density guidelines as well as recommended damage coefficient (Hudson Kd) for design. The paper concludes with a brief overview of two recent case studies which have successfully capitalized on the economical, robustness and manufacturing simplicity of the Hanbar concrete units. The first case study is on the Opotiki Harbour Development (“OHD”) in New Zealand. The OHD scheme comprises twin 400 m long training wall breakwaters to train a dynamic river mouth. A multi-stage approach to physical modelling was adopted by conducting 2D modelling of key sections of the training wall trunks, quasi-3D modelling of the breakwater head, and full 3D modelling of complete structures. The second case study presents the results of a field trial investigating the potential for high-density geopolymer concrete (GPC) coastal armour units. This resulted in the casting and placing of thirteen 16 t GPC Hanbar units (SG 2.6) on the Port Kembla northern breakwater in NSW. The trial proved the viability of production of geopolymer armour units, and allowed long-term monitoring of the integrity of the concrete in the aggressive marine environment.

Utilization of Granular Wastes in Transportation Infrastructure

Abstract Attributed to environmental preservation in urban infrastructure development, the recycling of waste materials produced in the coal and steel industry as well as the reusing of waste tires is a high priority in Australia. In this article, the practical applications of (i) coal wash (CW) and steel furnace slag mixtures, (ii) CW and fly ash mixtures, and (iii) rubber elements derived from recycled tires are discussed. In this regard, some examples of real-life applications are elucidated in relation to coastal reclamation as well as road and rail construction (e.g., Port Kembla, Kangaroo Valley highway, and Chullora Rail Precinct). The article outlines various aspects of site investigation, construction techniques, and the installation of instrumentation to evaluate the field performance of these waste materials in contrast to traditional (natural) quarried materials. The results from these case studies demonstrate that properly engineered granular waste mixtures can exhibit promising characteristics even to exceed the current technical standards, implying reduced intensity of maintenance. The research outcomes strongly support sustainable solutions to be embraced in the future development of transportation infrastructure, capable of withstanding increased freight loading and enhanced longevity.

NOWCASTING INFRAGRAVITY WAVE HEIGHT WITHIN A HARBOUR USING AN ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

Infragravity (IG) waves, sometimes known as “long waves” “low frequency waves” or “subharmonic gravity waves” are waves that are forced in deeper water through subharmonic interactions of sea and swell wave components. These waves are typically quite small (a few centimetres to decimetres) but can excite harbour seiching and amplification due to resonance. This can cause vessels to surge and sway at their berth, straining mooring lines and making loading and unloading difficult. This paper describes the design, training and application of a Bayesian regularized Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to accurately predict (“nowcast”) IG wave height outside and inside Port Kembla from deep-water swell wave spectral characteristics measured at Port Kembla Waverider Buoy (PKWRB), NSW coast (Williams, 2019).

Prediction of Mean Sea Level with GNSS-VLM Correction Using a Hybrid Deep Learning Model in Australia

The prediction of sea level rise is extremely important for improved future climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. This study uses a hybrid convolutional neural Network (CNN) and a bidirectional long short-term (BiLSTM) model with successive variational mode decomposition (SVMD) to predict the absolute sea level for two study sites in Australia (Port Kembla and Milner Bay). More importantly, the sea level measurements using a tide gauge were corrected using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements of the vertical land movement (VLM). The SVMD-CNN-BiLSTM model was benchmarked by a multi-layer perceptron (MLP), support vector regression (SVR) and gradient boosting (GB). The SVMD-CNN-BiLSTM model outperformed all the comparative models with high correlation values of more than 0.95 for Port Kembla and Milner Bay. Similarly, the SVMD-CNN-BiLSTM model achieved the highest values for the Willmott index, the Nash–Sutcliffe index and the Legates and McCabe index for both study sites. The projected linear trend showed the expected annual mean sea rise for 2030. Using the current trend, Port Kembla was projected to have an MSL value of 1.03 m with a rate rise of approx. 4.5 mm/year. The rate of the MSL for Milner Bay was comparatively lower with a value of approx. 2.75 mm/year and an expected MSL value of 1.27 m for the year 2030.

Geographies of COVID‐19

Geographies of COVID‐19

Combining multiple lines of evidence to elucidate the origin and introduction pathway of bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. rotundata) in Australia

Understanding the historical context of biological invasions can improve weed management outcomes. In this study, we aim to identify the introduction pathway of bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. rotundata) into Australia and its biogeographical origin in southern Africa by combining multiple lines of evidence from genomic tools and historical documentation. Geographic structure of genomic diversity based on SNPs supported the previous analysis of the invasion pathway of bitou bush between the two countries and within Australia, namely that all Australian material originated from the southern part of the South African distribution. Our synthesis of historical records points to the introduction of this plant into eastern Australia in Newcastle, New South Wales, from its native range in South Africa, via dry shipping ballast in about 1900. Variation in the chloroplast genome was also informative as to the biogeographical origin of Australian material and the context of the introduction. Ten unique haplotypes were discovered in South Africa with only one occurring throughout Australia, indicating an introduction from a single source population to eastern Australia. The matching haplotype was from East London, a port in South Africa with documented shipping connections to Newcastle in eastern Australia, where the weed was first recorded. Historical records suggest that the most plausible explanation for the origins of the isolated bitou bush population in Western Australia is via the shipping of steel billets or landscape plantings associated with shipping companies. The most likely introduction pathway linked the eastern Australian steel processing ports of Newcastle or Port Kembla to the Western Australian port of Kwinana in 1995. Discovering the origin and pathway of bitou bush invasions in Australia opens new opportunities for sourcing biological control agents with a higher chance of impact as well as identifying additional quarantine measures to improve outcomes and reduce long-term costs to management.

Concurrent 12. Presentation for: Recycling of Australian oil and gas assets, an Australian Basel-compliant solution

Presented on Wednesday 18 May: Session 12 Australian offshore petroleum infrastructure decommissioning strategies are dictated by legal requirements set out in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act, requiring prima facie that assets are removed from the title area. Legally, once assets are decommissioned, they require disposal at a Basel-compliant facility. This lack of Australian capability has forced titleholders to contemplate leaving infrastructure in situ (rigs-to-reef), which may well breach Australia’s international law obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the London Convention on Dumping at Sea (and associated Protocols). Australia’s closest Basel-compliant facility is located in Turkey. The experience of the Iron Chieftain in 2019 demonstrated the difficulty in using this facility. In 2019 the bulk carrier Iron Chieftain caught fire in Port Kembla, and was declared a Constructive Total Loss (CTL). Disposal required decontamination, seeking Basel export approval, and towing to Turkey via South Africa. Following 9 months to complete the application, the vessel commenced its tow. The vessel was not permitted to stop or enter the port waters of any port other than Turkey after leaving. If it did stop, the application ceased and a new application was required to be commenced. If the vessel arrived in a condition not acceptable to authorities, the vessel would be turned away, requiring it to return to its home port of Port Kembla where the application commenced from. In response to such difficulties, a new Basel-compliant recycling facility has been established, co-located to a green steel recycling works, delivering a near carbon-neutral asset recycling and disposal solution for Australia’s offshore energy infrastructure. Strategically located in the mouth of the Spencer Gulf, South Australia, this facility will provide a green whole-of-asset recycling and disposal solution in-country, removing towage expenses and CO2 emissions. This extended abstract articulates the Iron Chieftain experience, highlighting the issues facing petroleum infrastructure decommissioning and disposal in accordance with Basel requirements. It also provides an overview of the Whyalla recycling and disposal facility, presenting the case for circular economy, ethical asset decommissioning and Australian capability. To access the presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here

Dirty Industry, Heritage, and the Erasure of Immigrant Pasts

Abstract: Industry is dirty, and land, soils, and sites remain toxic even after operations have diminished or closed. Dominant heritage frameworks, aligned with narratives that serve national interests, and environmental plans, have not yet imagined the heritage futures of industrial landscapes— nor the narratives that link the industrial pasts of workers to the present and the future. Significant labor histories are frequently diminished, marginalized, or omitted altogether. Major nation-building industries in Australia, America, Canada and northern Europe were dependent on immigrant labor drawn from Asia, Europe, and South America, and their stories are embedded in the large tracts of industrial sites that have become wastelands of defunct and demolished structures. “Dirty” extends onto a linguistic terrain of “dirty histories” and the silencing of particular histories parallel the masking of environmental toxicity. Focusing on the Port Kembla steelworks in Australia, this article examines immigrant industrial labor history and develops a perspective from which to rethink heritage practice and the theoretical development of critical carbon. If critical carbon is conceptualized as a matter that concerns both the exploitation of land and of peoples, this article argues that heritage practice needs to develop projects around immigrant heritage sites such as the steelworks.

Recycling of Australian oil and gas assets, an Australian Basel-compliant solution

Australian offshore petroleum infrastructure decommissioning strategies are dictated by legal requirements set out in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act, requiring prima facie that assets are removed from the title area. Legally, once assets are decommissioned, they require disposal at a Basel-compliant facility. This lack of Australian capability has forced titleholders to contemplate leaving infrastructure in situ (rigs-to-reef), which may well breach Australia’s international law obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the London Convention on Dumping at Sea (and associated Protocols). Australia’s closest Basel-compliant facility is located in Turkey. The experience of the Iron Chieftain in 2019 demonstrated the difficulty in using this facility. In 2019 the bulk carrier Iron Chieftain caught fire in Port Kembla, and was declared a Constructive Total Loss (CTL). Disposal required decontamination, seeking Basel export approval, and towing to Turkey via South Africa. Following 9 months to complete the application, the vessel commenced its tow. The vessel was not permitted to stop or enter the port waters of any port other than Turkey after leaving. If it did stop, the application ceased and a new application was required to be commenced. If the vessel arrived in a condition not acceptable to authorities, the vessel would be turned away, requiring it to return to its home port of Port Kembla where the application commenced from. In response to such difficulties, a new Basel-compliant recycling facility has been established, co-located to a green steel recycling works, delivering a near carbon-neutral asset recycling and disposal solution for Australia’s offshore energy infrastructure. Strategically located in the mouth of the Spencer Gulf, South Australia, this facility will provide a green whole-of-asset recycling and disposal solution in-country, removing towage expenses and CO2 emissions. This extended abstract articulates the Iron Chieftain experience, highlighting the issues facing petroleum infrastructure decommissioning and disposal in accordance with Basel requirements. It also provides an overview of the Whyalla recycling and disposal facility, presenting the case for circular economy, ethical asset decommissioning and Australian capability.

Scoping study of the economics of CO2 transport and storage options for steel manufacturing emissions in eastern Australia

The main source of CO2 emissions in an integrated steel manufacturing plant comes from the need to use a carbon source, often coal, in the steel making process. Amongst the pathways for reducing CO2 emissions is the application of carbon capture, transport and storage (CCS) technologies. This paper presents a scoping-level economic evaluation of transport and storage location options for CO2 captured from an iron and steel plant located in Port Kembla, NSW, Australia. Pipeline (single and hub) and ship transport of CO2, and two injection locations are considered. Estimated costs are lowest for the hub transport case injecting at the Gippsland basin (∼35% lower than for single source cases) and highest for the shipping case. For the single-source cases, transport via pipeline to the Darling basin is slightly more attractive in terms of unit costs. The hub transport cases were between two-thirds and half of the cost of the shipping case. Although the shipping transport option presented the highest cost of the cases considered, there is still a case to be made for ship transport if the project duration is short.

COVID‐19 and the shifting industrial landscape

The COVID‐19 coronavirus pandemic has fuelled debate about domestic industry and manufacturing in light of shocks to global supply chains and shortages of medical and personal protective equipment (PPE). Nevertheless, debates have been poorly attuned to geography and history. Calls for reinvigorated domestic manufacturing conceal the degree to which industrial landscapes are already entwined in geometries of power. This is especially so at ports—increasingly privatised—that have become sites of policy focus and biosecurity panic. Crucial trading zones, ports are being refashioned as growth machines for commodity export, energy, and logistics, undergirding national manufacturing capacity via trade and material commodity flows. Yet ports have also always been vectors for disease transmission and are central places for COVID‐19 crises. Writing from Port Kembla, south of Sydney, Australia, we catalogue five themes warranting geographical analysis and global comparison in light of coronavirus: disruptions to supply chains (with implications for global production networks); domestic industrial capacity and the future of manufacturing; biosecuring industrial sites; precarious labour and work; and vernacular emergency response capacities within industrial communities. Amidst heightened geopolitical tensions, geographers reveal how industrial landscapes are contested. Logistical and biosecurity roles are enveloped by enduring infrastructural materialities, local histories, and regional legacies of skill and ingenuity.

Scoping Study of the Economics of CO2 Transport and Storage Options for Steel Manufacturing Emissions in Eastern Australia

The main source of CO2 emissions in an integrated steel manufacturing plant comes from the need to use a carbon source, often coal, in the steel making process. Among the pathways for reducing CO2 emissions is the application of carbon capture, transport and storage (CCS) technologies. This study undertakes a scoping-level evaluation of the economic viability of transport and storage location options for CO2 captured from an iron and steel plant located in Port Kembla, NSW, situated on the eastern coast of Australia. Both pipeline and ship transport of CO2 are considered, as well as two injection locations: the Darling Basin in NSW and the Gippsland Basin in the state of Victoria, Australia. The cost of CO2 transport and storage are estimated for four specific transport and storage options in south-east Australia, including the cost of pipelines/shipping, boosters, wells, other facilities, monitoring, energy and on-costs. The cases consider either a single CO2 source (emissions from Port Kembla) to a single pipeline or shipping port, or the contribution by the CO2 source from Port Kembla to a collection of CO2 sources including other CO2 sources in NSW, into a pipeline network. The sensitivity of the results to several economic and design parameters, such as flow rate, and project lifetime, is also assessed. Scoping level cost estimates for transport and storage of the CO2 are lowest for the hub transport case injecting at the Gippsland basin and highest for the case involving shipping with injection in the Gippsland basin. For the single-source cases, transport via pipeline to the Darling basin is a slightly more attractive option in terms of unit costs. Although pipeline transport to both the Darling and Gippsland basins are very close in terms of transport and storage costs (less than 0.2% difference), the cost of transporting to the Darling basin is less sensitive to variations of the cost parameters explored in this study. The lowest transport and storage costs found in this study were for the pipeline hub transport cases, more than 35% lower on average than for the single source cases. Regardless of the sensitivity scenario, the hub transport cases were between two-thirds and half of the cost of the shipping case. This highlights the importance of economies of scale in CO2 transport, achieved by employing larger diameter pipelines. This leads to decreases in both the unit capital costs by allowing larger capacities of transport, as well as in operating expenses by decreasing pressure losses along the pipelines, thus requiring less energy for compression. Although the shipping transport option presented the highest cost of the cases considered, there is still a case to be made for ship transport if the project duration is short. As ship transport is less CAPEX intensive (35% of total cost), this mode of transport becomes competitive with pipeline transport if the project duration is decreased, or if the discount rate is increased. Further, shipping also becomes more competitive for longer transport distances. For example, if the hub transport options would take several years to implement, a case could be made for utilising ship transport for a few years while the hub pipeline is constructed, and then transporting via the hub once it is available.

High-density geopolymer concrete for Port Kembla breakwater upgrade

Marine environments can pose continuous threats to coastal infrastructure, especially during episodic storm events. Thus, monitoring and maintenance of rock or concrete units-armoured coastal breakwaters are required, especially under present climate change scenarios, where changes in wave behaviour are anticipated and coastal structures are likely to be exposed to even greater wave energy resulting in higher rates of damage. A possible pathway towards the upgrading of existing breakwaters is to introduce high-density armour units, suggested by theoretical estimates and physical model test findings. In this project, a unique, sustainable high-density geopolymer concrete (GPC) mix was developed and trialled in fabricating armour units for upgrading existing coastal breakwaters. The system developed in laboratories was upscaled for field applications and is being tested at the Northern breakwater of NSW Ports’ Port Kembla Harbour. The concrete uses steel furnace slag (SFS) aggregate in an alkali-activated blended fly ash-blast furnace slag binder proportioned to facilitate the elimination of delayed expansion of the aggregate. The concrete properties were measured and microstructural analyses undertaken. The results show that SFS aggregate offers higher bulk density to the concrete alongside satisfactory strength in on-site curing and can reduce armour mass requirements at the same level of structural stability. Microstructural analyses confirm the elimination of SFS aggregate free-lime expansion. This important result provides a novel approach to both repair of existing structures and construction of new structures with reductions to both cost and carbon footprint.

Trace element soil contamination from smelters in the Illawarra region, New South Wales, Australia

This study investigated the regional distribution of trace elements in 395 soil samples in the vicinity of the industrial complex of Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia, which comprises former lead and copper smelters, an integrated steelworks and associated industries. Total trace element concentrations in the soil samples showed the extent of contamination by Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Se, Sn and Sb was greatest in samples located close to the Port Kembla copper smelter stack and the Kanahooka lead smelter, indicating direct contamination due to anthropogenic activities. The mean enrichment factors for the eight trace elements ranged from 1 to 6 × background, but the maximum concentrations ranged from 15 to 78 × background. Soil samples from highly contaminated areas, that exceed the acceptable total trace element ranges in ANZECC and ARMCANZ sediment quality guidelines, pose a significant potential health risk and require further environmental assessment for bioavailability.

Effect of shipping on the distribution of trace elements and petroleum hydrocarbons in the coastal basins of Australia: a review

This study surveyed levels of trace elements and hydrocarbon contamination in Australian seaport environments. Different activities contribute to discharges of trace elements and hydrocarbons into estuarine and marine environments. The elements of highest concern are As, Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni at Port Derwent, with Cd, Zn, Cu and Pb at Port Kembla and Zn and Cu at Botany Bay all exceeding the Australia and New Zealand Environment Conservation Council standards. Concentrations of some elements (Zn, Pb and Cu) in sediments at Port Kembla, Port Newcastle and the Derwent estuary are also higher than the Inter Sediment Quality Guidelines. The concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and chlordane in the aquatic biota at two eastern ports (Port Jackson, Port Brisbane) are also among the highest in Australia and similar areas around the world. These findings provide baseline information on which to prioritise further research and formulate strategies to improve water quality in Australian port environments.

Space of energy well‐being: Social housing tenants’ everyday experiences of fuel poverty

This paper contributes to geographical perspectives on energy justice by arguing for the concept of “spaces of energy well‐being.” We build on the concepts of capabilities, home, and emotional embodiment to offer an understanding of the spatiality of well‐being. The paper draws on empirical material from a study conducted with social housing tenants in Port Kembla, Australia, following recent energy price increases. Interviews illustrate that social housing tenants engaged in reducing domestic energy consumption occupy a paradoxical space of well‐being. We argue that energy bills are lived and felt daily through bodies as anxiety, given that participants experience social housing as a therapeutic and safe place that allows possibilities to refashion the self. We better understand the dynamics of pride and shame from limiting energy use. Our analysis suggests that essential to understanding the ways social housing tenants relate to uneven access to fuel is as an emotionally embodied home making and unmaking practice.

Distribution and sources of trace element pollutants in the sediments of the industrialised Port Kembla Harbour, New South Wales, Australia

A detailed geochemical analysis of sediment samples from the heavily industrialised Port Kembla Harbour, 70 km south of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, has delineated areas that are heavily contaminated with trace element pollutants. Local creek delta sand accumulations, basin mud deposits, reclamation deposits and exposed bedrock on the present harbour floor are consistent with the twentieth century Port Kembla industrial land and harbour development history, as well as known maritime shipping practices. The closed electrolytic copper refinery, one of the two major pollutant sources, has provided a very clear signature in the harbour opposite the main drain that discharged from these works. Copper pollution (up to 6070 mg/kg) is strongly correlated with high concentrations of gold, selenium, antimony, arsenic, lead and zinc. These pollutants appear to occur as silt- and sand-sized particulate matter, as well as pollutants that are probably chemically bound to clay, pyrite and organic matter. The second main pollutant source is the BlueScope steelworks that has been responsible for high concentrations of iron (and minor associated cobalt), kish, pyrolytic carbon and fly ash. The steelworks, along with other industrial, urban and automobile sources, supply additional quantities of copper, lead and zinc to the aquatic environment. Coal and coke dust also form important pollutants. The pollutants are currently fairly stable under the prevailing alkaline reducing conditions within the sediment. The proposed future reclamation and dredging within the harbour needs to consider the implications of moving highly contaminated sediment, without altering its alkalinity or oxidation potential, to prevent release of contaminants.

A morphology-based drowning risk index for rock platform fishing: a case study from southeastern Australia

There has been an increase in drownings over recent decades in Australia, particularly among rock fishers swept from the edge of rock platforms. Platform morphology is central to understanding what makes one stretch of coastline more hazardous than another. This paper describes the development of an easily replicable site-specific risk index for rock platforms along the Illawarra coast, southeastern Australia. It can be applied to other microtidal wave-dominated coasts where airborne topographic LiDAR data are available, without requiring nearshore bathymetric data. The index is designed to assess the relative risk of being washed into the sea and will assist coastal managers in an effort to reduce the number of injuries and drowning incidents. The approach is based on subdivision of the terrestrial seaward edge of platforms into segments, classified according to mean elevation, orientation and edge type, to model different hazard scenarios. These are combined with the popularity of individual fishing locations, assessed during fieldwork, to estimate risk. Results of 620 segments from 26 rock platforms indicate that most of these platforms lie above high tide level and that approximately 3/4 of them are of type A (ramped) edge morphology and oriented at an angle facing northeast to southeast quadrants. The most hazardous segments for southeasterly wave scenarios are concentrated along sections of the platforms between Coalcliff and Austinmer, Woonona, Port Kembla south and Red Point. The southern sections of Red Point platform were considered the most risky of all due to fishing popularity.

Assessment of trace elements pollution in sea ports of New South Wales (NSW), Australia using macrophytobenthic plant Ecklonia radiata as a bio-indicator

In this study seaweeds (Ecklonia radiata) from six major sea ports of NSW, Australia were used as a bioindicator to assess the distribution and levels of trace elements accumulation in the ports compared to the background ecosystem. Bioconcentration ratio (BCR), biota sediment accumulation factor (BSAF), enrichment factor, multivariate statistical analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to identify trace elements contamination. The results illustrate BCRs of Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, As and Ba in E. radiata whereas the BASFs portray boron enrichment in all sea ports along with bioaccumulation of As in Port Jackson and Pb in Port Botany. However, trace elements variations between studied and background locations was found to be significant for Port Kembla and Newcastle. The principal component analysis result explained four principal groups with 76.25% cumulative variance. Cluster analysis was further performed to detect major groups of elements and sites to portray interconnection between the contaminants and the locations.