Environmental Impact Assessment

Recent developments in the EIA process include initiatives, such as Environmental Management Systems (EMS) or Integrated Environmental Management (IEM), where the appraisal and management of environmental implications is a continuing process throughout the life of a project. Applications of EMS or IEM are mainly being developed as corporate management tools for companies, and the International Standards Organisation (ISO) is in the forefront of refining good practice standards.
Consulting Services

EnviroGulf Consulting undertakes environmental impact assessments mainly in relation to receiving freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems.

Where environmental impacts are deemed to be unavoidable, EnviroGulf Consulting analyses and evaluates the impacts with an aim to quantifying the impact, assessing its significance at spatial and temporal scales, establishing mitigative or ameliorative measures and presenting environmental safeguards. Residual impacts are those which remain after the positive effects of mitigation measures and safeguards have been applied.

The prediction and evaluation of the principal impacts are based on knowledge of the existing environments likely to be affected, the results of previous studies, specific investigations carried out in support of an environmental impact assessment that provides quantitative data to support impact prediction, desk audits of the scientific literature, and professional judgement.

In the case of some impacts, quantitative predictions can be made and subsequent monitoring need only be minimal. For some impacts on the environment, predictions are difficult to quantify with the information currently available and where such accurate predictive capability is lacking, a correspondingly greater emphasis is placed on monitoring and/or research.

When investigating the environmental impacts of a proposal, EnviroGulf Consulting takes account of the fact that impacts can vary in how, when and whether they will arise, and where and by how much they may affect the environment. Impacts can also interact to cause other impacts that might be more significant than the original impacts. Impacts vary in:

• Nature: positive, negative, direct, indirect, cumulative, or synergistic with others.
• Magnitude: estimating the size of an impact.
• Extent and location: location, distribution and size of the area(s) likely to be affected.
• Timing: during construction, operations or decommissioning.
• Duration: short term, long term, intermittent or continuous.
• Reversibility/irreversibility:degree of recoverability.
• Likelihood: risk, uncertainty or confidence in the prediction.
• Significance: at spatial (local, regional) and temporal scales.