Seagrass Recovery in Whyalla

Whyalla Steelworks has been working closely with the SA Environment Protection Authority (SA EPA) to monitor the levels of seagrass in its nearby water, False Bay. Seagrass is nicknamed ‘the lungs of the sea’ because of its ability to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. It also plays an important role in supporting fisheries and marine biodiversity – helping protect our planet from the effects of climate change. 

Seagrass meadows are under threat, with almost 30% of them estimated to have disappeared over the last century. But this year, the Whyalla Steelworks environment team and the SA EPA found that levels of seagrass in False Bay have been recovering.  

Coke is an essential ingredient in the steelmaking process. But seagrass has historically been affected by a by-product of this process, nitrogen, entering the water near Whyalla. To tackle this, Whyalla Steelworks installed a variety of measures starting from the mid-1970s to create a buffer and reduce the level of nitrogen discharged, including introducing pond systems, a sea wall, and a Reed Bed Treatment System (RBTS).  

Since introducing these measures, the Whyalla Steelworks environmental team and the SA EPA found that it not only resulted in a great improvement in seagrass condition, but also a significant expansion in overall seagrass coverage and density. Adjacent to the Steelworks, the impacted seagrass had undergone at least a five-time expansion in extent between 1990 to the current time and in some places up to ten times expansion.