The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) represent the interests of licensed firearm owners. In Victoria, they have over 40,000 members with a range of branches and sub-clubs.
A variety of potential contamination risks exists at sports shooting ranges - the most concerning for human health and environment is lead from the spent projectiles. These risks can be minimised and managed by implementing an Environmental Management Plan.
SSAA (Victoria) engaged Morphum Environmental to develop a site-specific Environmental Management Plan for two of their shooting ranges to ensure ongoing environmental sustainability. These plans are submitted to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to ensure ongoing environmental sustainability of their facilities.
Morphum approached this project in three key steps to deliver practical, stepwise and cost-effective plans:
- Research & Review
Morphum reviewed the EPA’s legislative requirements to ensure environmental management plan alignment and to plan for the site visit. A desktop review was undertaken to understand the history, geology, vegetation, wildlife, activities, aerial data, drainage layout and likely contamination pathways.
- Site Visits
We visited each shooting range to meet with users to understand the site activities, roles and responsibilities and to resolve data gaps from the earlier research findings. Site visits allowed us to understand the site characteristics, natural features, hotspot for potential site contamination and environmental constraints.
- Prepare Environmental Management Plans
- Based on the site investigations, Environmental Management Plans were developed in collaboration with SSAA and the shooting range branch committee representative. Each plan identified and mapped the site’s environmental impact areas. We recommended a series of physical and management controls to manage, minimise and contain these contaminants on site to protect the surrounding environment and comply with legislation. The plans also contained an implementation and auditing plan, a contaminant risk assessment and an environmental incident management response plan.
Each Environmental Management Plan included an implementation and monitoring framework for SSAA to implement themselves. We look forward to seeing the results they achieve.
