Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/164

Environmental Impact of the Oil Industry

Good EIA is not just done and then forgotten about. It not only enables a minimisation of adverse environmental impacts but it also enables good and economic project management throughout the life of the project.

Enabling a continual improvement in management processes.

15.1.5 EIA ASSESSES THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE IMPACT OF A HUMAN ACTIVITY UPON THE ENVIRONMENT

The significance of human activities are defined in terms of:–
 * a description of the impact;
 * the measurability of the impact;
 * the human ecological consequences of the impact;
 * the cost of managing the impact (i.e. the costs of avoiding it, of mitigating it or compensating for it); and
 * the geographical extent of the impact.

Moreover assessments of the significance of the environmental impact of human activity are, in the end, unavoidably subjective. This is because, even with all the available information in front of them, decision-makers have to make essentially arbitrary, valueladen decisions about the significance of certain impacts. For instance, a leaking flowline may be disastrous for the small farmer upon whose land oil is being leaked. But nonetheless, in relation to the Niger Delta as a whole, and, in relation to the other environmental problems that the region suffers, one small leak from a flowline will be seen by rational decision makers as having a low significance. Nonetheless, many small leaks accumulating over time are likely to have a significant impact.

15.1.6 EIA IS A PARTICIPATORY PROCESS

Participation makes the EIA process more efficient for two reasons: MORE ABOUT INTERESTED PARTIES AND PARTICIPATION
 * Interested Parties have knowledge that outside EIA agencies (such as outside consultants) often do not have; and
 * Interested Parties have an interest in the outcome of the EIA process. Local People have a special interest because they are the people most likely to suffer from the adverse environmental impacts of a badly designed and managed project.

Generally, Interested Parties will include:
 * Local people and local government;
 * Relevant government agencies;
 * Oil companies; and
 * Relevant NGOs.

In reality, despite good intentions, the participation of interested parties in the EIA process, is not often satisfactorily achieved. However the importance of 162