The Burrup region is home to major industrial and resources projects such as the North West Shelf LNG project, Pilbara Iron, the recently approved Burrup Fertilisers project, and the Port of Dampier.
According to WA Resources Minister John Bowler, it is also home to the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal rock art. Bowler said the State Government had initiated the air quality monitoring program to help preserve the rock art through responsible management of resources development.
The air monitoring is part of wider work being undertaken by CSIRO on behalf of the Burrup Rock Art Monitoring Management Committee, chaired by Professor Frank Murray of Murdoch University, a former board member of the Environmental Protection Authority.
Bowler said preliminary data from the first year of air quality monitoring in the industrial areas on the Burrup Peninsula had revealed lower concentrations of key potential pollutants than found in many cities in Australia and around the world.
“There were elevated levels of particulates [dust] in areas close to the major industrial sources of dust, but most areas of the Burrup had levels typical of the whole Pilbara region," the minister said.
Bowler said local industries had agreed to contribute $A400,000 to the project, which will double the amount of time spent on air monitoring to four years, instead of just the first and last years of a four-year program.
Continuous monitoring is thought to be in the best interests of both industrial and conservation stakeholders, with the air quality monitoring program expected to publish reports biannually for peer review by international scientists.
“In addition to the air quality monitoring, CSIRO is studying artificial fumigation of rock surfaces as well as colour changes and microbiological aspects of the petroglyphs,” Bowler said.
“CSIRO is also investigating natural processes and emissions that might degrade the rock art over time.”
According to an ABC report, Bowler said claims that up to 25% of the rock art in the area had been destroyed were greatly exaggerated.
“Our survey shows us somewhere between 2 to 3 [percent], possibly as high as 4 per cent, has been disturbed and so you know the claims are pretty wild and various," he told the ABC.
