Question 1
The Pacific Northwest LNG Project Environmental Assessment Report shows a lot of flaws in public participation. However, the project can only be expected to achieve ‘reasonable’ levels of public participation. Therefore, the public participation of this project, though inadequate compared to the principles of public participation, was reluctantly acceptable.
The principles of public participation require public consultation throughout every stage of the environmental assessment (EA). They also require the use of every opinion in the betterment of the project(2). However, the PNW LNG project did not consult aboriginal groups or the public during parts of the EA. Though, this is not solely due to the proponent’s lack of enthusiasm …show more content…
Therefore, for the purposes of this question, it will be assumed that the report is comprehensive in breadth and …show more content…
Though there are residual effects that will cause harm to the biophysical environment and to public health, most effects have small magnitudes and are, in my opinion, outweighed by the benefits.
The PNW LNG Project Environmental Assessment Report notes 12 Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC). Some of these VECs have small impacts, and therefore, are of little concern. For instance, air quality falls well within regulations(5). And other VECs, migratory birds and terrestrial species, also have modest impacts due to the limited footprint of the project and the wetland compensation proposed as mitigation(5).
However, some VECs are more concerning. Three have issues with baseline data: freshwater fish habitat, shellfish pollution harming human health, and marine mammal habitat(5). While the impacts are likely small, there is too little data to rule out other possibilities. As such, two of these will be subject to future studies(5) as the timeline in the CEAA 2012 Act was too limited to complete these studies.
The project also has some moderate concerns, provided mitigation is effective. There will be some minor disturbances
The Pacific Northwest LNG Project Environmental Assessment Report shows a lot of flaws in public participation. However, the project can only be expected to achieve ‘reasonable’ levels of public participation. Therefore, the public participation of this project, though inadequate compared to the principles of public participation, was reluctantly acceptable.
The principles of public participation require public consultation throughout every stage of the environmental assessment (EA). They also require the use of every opinion in the betterment of the project(2). However, the PNW LNG project did not consult aboriginal groups or the public during parts of the EA. Though, this is not solely due to the proponent’s lack of enthusiasm …show more content…
Therefore, for the purposes of this question, it will be assumed that the report is comprehensive in breadth and …show more content…
Though there are residual effects that will cause harm to the biophysical environment and to public health, most effects have small magnitudes and are, in my opinion, outweighed by the benefits.
The PNW LNG Project Environmental Assessment Report notes 12 Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC). Some of these VECs have small impacts, and therefore, are of little concern. For instance, air quality falls well within regulations(5). And other VECs, migratory birds and terrestrial species, also have modest impacts due to the limited footprint of the project and the wetland compensation proposed as mitigation(5).
However, some VECs are more concerning. Three have issues with baseline data: freshwater fish habitat, shellfish pollution harming human health, and marine mammal habitat(5). While the impacts are likely small, there is too little data to rule out other possibilities. As such, two of these will be subject to future studies(5) as the timeline in the CEAA 2012 Act was too limited to complete these studies.
The project also has some moderate concerns, provided mitigation is effective. There will be some minor disturbances