East arm wharf environmental compliance

The east arm wharf facility is the largest industrial port on Australia’s north coast. There are increasing demands on wharf infrastructure as well as identified future requirements from major Darwin industries, including the Department of Defence and the oil and gas industry.

In 2007 the Northern Territory Government proposed to expand the east arm wharf. Expansion of the wharf is necessary to meet Darwin’s needs into the future, particularly the increasing demand in bulk mineral export volumes and the growth of the oil and gas industry.

The project will be the next stage of the expansion of the existing port infrastructure to meet the needs of the Northern Territory community and economy into the future.

The east arm wharf expansion works were approved under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation(EPBC) Act (1999) by the Department of Environment(DoE), (formerly the Department for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities [SEWPAC]) in March 2012 in the form of Approval EPBC 2010/5304.

This approval was made subject to conditions that include the publishing of an annual report on the website addressing compliance conditions.

About the project

With the 2004 opening of the Adelaide to Darwin railway line and high overseas demand for Australia’s bulk mineral exports east arm wharf is handling more and more freight.

Expansion of east arm wharf was required to handle this growing pressure and meet the future needs of the Northern Territory economy.

The expansion of wharf, under approval EPBC 2010/5304 involves the following major features;

• Developing a Marine Supply Base(MSB), primarily to service the existing and developing oil and gas industries in the Timor Sea, Browse Basin and adjacent areas.

• Constructing a Multiuser Barge Ramp Facility (MUBRF) including a barge ramp and hardstand area, berthing for barges and facilities for loading and unloading.

• Development of a moorings facility to accommodate tugs, customs boats and other smaller vessels (Tug Pens).

The MSB and MUBRF are now fully constructed.

Location

East arm wharf is located on the East Arm Peninsula, within Darwin Harbor in the Northern Territory.

The east arm wharf extends into Darwin Harbor and is bounded by Bleesers Creek to the north and Hudson Creek to the east.

Two small islands lie directly south and east of the project area – South Shell Island and Catalina Island respectively.