Assessing Risk First: A Novel Approach

If you've been following the posts here and at Deep Sea News about the seafloor mining activities by Nautilus Minerals in Papua New Guinea, you know that both Craig and I have been calling for a precautionary approach to deep sea mining. In particular, when the long-term effects on nearby ecosystems and human communities from such new activities like deep seafloor mining are either poorly understood or uncertain.

So it's rather serendipitous that a recent news release caught my eye and may have bearing on similar activities into the future. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is leading a review of the role of environmental impact assessments in the Pacific region. A decade has passed since the last such review was held, so it's hoped that the report will establish a clear baseline of where the Pacific island countries and territories can strengthen and improve their assessment capacities.

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making. It aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment, and present the predictions and options to decision makers. By using EIA, both environmental and economic benefits can be achieved, such as reduced cost and time of project implementation and design, and avoided treatment/clean-up costs and impacts of laws and regulations.

The key elements include scoping to identify key issues and concerns of interested parties; a screening process to decide whether an EIA is required based on information collected; identifying and evaluating alternative sites and techniques and the impacts of each; mitigating measures dealing with uncertainty to prevent or minimize the potential adverse effects of the project; and issuing environmental reports of the findings of the EIA.

To be fair, Nautilus Minerals claims to be conducting ongoing EIA of their deep sea mining work. They proudly list researchers from James Cook University in Australia, the University of Toronto, Canada, and William and Mary in Virginia as on-board staff and consultants during exploration. I don't necessarily accept university creds as indicative of above-board corporate environmental policy. And after all, Exxon Mobil has similar laundry lists of scientists on the dole. But here's the thing: with such novel environmental modification such as deep vent mining, which has never been attempted before, how do you know that you are operating sustainably and with minimal impact?

Hopefully, SPREP's review can bring greater attention and adherence to meaningful environmental risk assessment.