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Home > Environment > Environmental Risk Management
The Power and Water Corporation provides electricity, water and sewerage services across the vast distances of the Northern Territory, from arid Central Australia to the monsoon tropics. We operate in a sparsely settled and undeveloped environment, with relatively undisturbed ecosystems and with our landscapes largely intact.
We recognise that our activities have the potential to adversely affect these ecosystems and landscapes.
The challenges we face come from providing services in an often hostile environment of climatic extremes and long distances.
We deliver a consistent level of services in small remote communities and major urban centres. We generate electricity using equipment ranging from state of the art gas turbines to small diesel powered generators, and our water sources range from large dams to small borefields.
Within this context, we are committed to achieving community recognition as a clean and green provider of sustainable power, water and sewerage services. We recognise that, no matter where we are in the Territory, we are in our own back yard and have a responsibility to keep it clean.
Our environmental goalsWe want to:
Our intent is to manage risks to an acceptable level within the bounds of technical and economic feasibility. More detail is provided in the following sections.
The Territory has very clean air, and ambient levels of pollutants are among the lowest in the world. The one exception is due to airborne particles from bush fire smoke in the Top End during the dry season, and occasionally in Central Australia after good seasons, when levels may exceed recommended standards on some days.
The Northern Territory is a signatory to Australia’s National Environment Protection Measure on Ambient Air Quality that sets standards for six of the most significant pollutants – ozone, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, lead, particles and carbon monoxide.
The Northern Territory’s air quality monitoring plan details regional airsheds (“air catchments”) and spells out monitoring needs for each.
So that we can keep our air clean, Power and Water will manage our emissions to ensure that there are minimal impacts on the air quality of the Northern Territory’s recognised airsheds. We will meet our obligations to minimise emissions of gases that contribute to the global enhanced greenhouse effect, and those controlled substances that deplete the ozone layer.
WaterProtecting the Northern Territory’s water resources is important to ensure that people, ecosystems, plants and animals continue to have their needs met now and in the future. We are fortunate to have access to unspoiled water bodies such as estuaries, rivers, wetlands and aquifers.
We work towards ensuring that providing sustainable power, water and sewerage services does not impact on the environmental values of these water bodies. The National Water Quality Management Guidelines define environmental values for a number of "beneficial uses" of water bodies. Our discharges to declared water bodies need to be licensed under the NT's Water Act to protect these beneficial uses.
The Northern Territory does not have a history of heavy industry activities that can cause pollution, and contaminated sites are rare.
The management and clean up of contaminated sites in the NT is controlled by the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act, administered by the environmental regulator.
We have in place environmental management measures to safeguard against land contamination arising from our activities, to ensure there are no onsite or offsite threats to human health or the environment and that future uses of land are not compromised.
The Northern Territory constitutes about one-sixth of the area of Australia, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is sparsely settled, and has undisturbed landscapes and relatively intact ecosystems. The Territory is rich in natural resources and biodiversity values.
Our activities have the scope to impact on the values of any one of the Territory’s 20 terrestrial biogeographic regions or the three marine biogeographic regions. In particular, we have a responsibility to ensure that the biodiversity values of areas under our direct management are protected and enhanced where possible.
ResourcesWe use a mix of fossil fuels and renewable energy to generate electricity for customers across the Territory. Natural gas is the principal fuel type for the major urban centres, but diesel is the mainstay of the smaller communities without access to gas. Solar and wind power are small but growing renewable energy sources, particularly in remote communities where it is economically feasible to partially substitute renewable sources for diesel.
Most potable water supplies across the Territory come from groundwater. In the Top End, surface water storages such as Darwin River Dam and Katherine’s Donkey Camp Pool are additional important sources. For example, Darwin’s water supply is sourced from Darwin River Dam and the Howard East Borefield and blended to produce optimal quality for human consumption. It is important that we protection our sources to ensure continuity of a quality supply to customers.
Reusing treated waste water and biosolids generated by sewage treatment is a chance to conserve resources. There are also opportunities to reuse or recycle other wastes generated by Power and Water activities.
We focus on using fuels efficiently reusing and recycling wastes, and encouraging our customers to use electricity and water efficiently.
mmunity We have an integral role in the life of communities across the Northern Territory. Our customers’ quality of life depends on the services we provide, and our activities can also affect communities.
We also recognise that, no matter where we are in the Territory, we are in our own back yard and have a responsibility to our neighbours.
We are conscious of our role as a corporate citizen. We strive to meet community expectations to ensure ongoing recognition as a clean and green provider of utility services.