Sinclair Knight Merz was commissioned to conduct a Marine Environmental Study for Groote Eylandt Mining Company’s (GEMCO’s) manganese mining operation in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The project was part of GEMCO’s response to detecting free phase petroleum hydrocarbon on the groundwater table below its Milner Bay ore handling facilities, which included recovery operations and the establishment of a marine environmental monitoring program.
GEMCO appointed a team of scientists to examine issues relating to potential effects upon seafood species and those who might consume them. Sinclair Knight Merz led the study team, comprising specialists from Menzies School of Health Research, Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute, RMIT Cey Centre for Applied Nutritional Toxicology, Kewagama Research and local Aboriginal participants. The team studied patterns of seafood consumption on Groote Eylandt. Priority seafood species, representing the "worst case scenario" for exposure and intake pathways, were identified, collected and analysed for petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants.
An assessment of potential ecological and human health risk was made, based upon the highest observed contaminant levels and making conservative assumptions about distribution patterns and intake levels.