Environmental Assessment and Management

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Banda Field Development - Gas Project Environmental Impact Assessment August 2013 www.erm.com Public Disclosure Authorized FINAL REPORT Tullow Petroleum (Mauritania) Pty Ltd Banda Field development - Gas Project Environmental Impact Assessment August 2013 Prepared by Environmental Resources Management For and on behalf of Environmental Resources Management Approved by: Camille Maclet Signed: Position: Partner Date: 14 August 2013 This report has been prepared by ERM, the trading name of Environmental Resources Management France SAS, with all reasonable skill, care and diligence within the terms of the Contract with the client, incorporating our General Terms and Conditions of Business and taking account of the resources devoted to it by agreement with the client. We disclaim any responsibility to the client and others in respect of any matters outside the scope of the above. This report is confidential to the client and we accept no responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. Any such party relies on the report at their own risk. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND 1 1.2 PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 3 1.3 SCOPE OF THIS EIA 3 1.4 PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT PROPONENT 3 1.5 PRESENTATION OF THE EIA CONSULTANTS 4 1.6 PURPOSE OF THE EIA 5 1.7 SUMMARY OF THE EIA PROCESS 6 1.8 STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT 11 2 ADMINISTRATIVE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 13 2.1 INTRODUCTION 13 2.2 NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 13 2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN MAURITANIA 16 2.4 NATIONAL LEGISLATION 17 2.5 RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS AND AGREEMENTS 21 2.6 TULLOW EHS POLICIES AND GUIDANCE 26 2.7 INTERNATIONAL AND INDUSTRY GOOD PRACTICE AND GUIDANCE 29 3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 37 3.1 INTRODUCTION 37 3.2 DRILLING AND COMPLETIONS 40 3.3 SUBSEA INSTALLATION 48 3.4 ONSHORE INSTALLATION 53 3.5 OPERATIONS 60 3.6 DECOMMISSIONING 62 3.7 EMISSIONS, DISCHARGES, WASTES AND NOISE 62 3.8 REVIEW OF PROJECT ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BY TULLOW 72 4 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASELINE 76 4.1 INTRODUCTION 76 4.2 BASELINE STUDY AREA 77 4.3 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 79 4.4 MARINE BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT 102 4.5 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 119 4.6 PROTECTED AREAS FOR NATURE CONSERVATION 139 4.7 FISH AND FISHERIES 141 4.8 NON FISHING MARINE USERS 156 4.9 SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASELINE 157 4.10 CULTURAL HERITAGE 173 5 IMPACT IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT 180 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT TULLOW PETROLEUM (MAURITANIA) PTY LTD I 5.1 APPROACH TO THIS ASSESSMENT 180 5.2 IMPACT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 180 5.3 SCREENING/PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICATION OF IMPACTS 185 5.4 PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS 187 5.5 KEY IMPACTS IDENTIFIED- OFFSHORE DRILLING AND INSTALLATION PHASE 215 5.6 K,:;Y IDENTIFIED IMPACTS- ONSHORE CONSTRUCTION PHASE 245 5.7 KEY IDENTIFIED IMPACTS- OPERATIONAL PHASE 249 5.8 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS 270 6 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 275 6.1 INTRODUCTION 275 6.2 EMP OBJECTIVES 275 6.3 CONSISTENCE WITH TULLOW EHS MANAGEMENT STANDARDS 275 6.4 SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES 276 6.5 IMPLEMENTING THE EMP 281 6.6 MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE 281 6.7 DETAILS OF THE EMP 282 7 PUBLIC CONSULTATION 299 7.1 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 299 7.2 PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT FOR THE EIA 300 7.3 PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETING 302 7.4 ADDRESSING STAKEHOLDER CONCERNS 303 7 REFERENCES 305 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT TULLOW PETROLEUM {MAURITANIA) PTY LTD II LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Location of the Banda Field 2 Figure 1.2 Generic Overview of the Impact Assessment Process 7 Figure 2.1 Procedure for the Development, Implementation and Regulatory Approval of EIAs in Mauritania 18 Figure 2.2 Tullow Oil Environmental Standards 26 Figure 2.3 Tullow' s Corporate EHS Policy 28 Figure 3.1 Project Location 38 Figure 3.2 Base Case Production Profile 39 Figure 3.3 Typical third generation MODU, Byford Dolphin 41 Figure 3.4 Circulation of Fluid during Drilling 42 Figure 3.5 Well Schematic Diagram 43 Figure 3.6 Typical Additives in Drilling Fluids 44 Figure 3.7 Aerial View of Port of Nouakchott 46 Figure 3.8 Tullow's Facilities at Port of Nouakchott 47 Figure 3.9 Typical Support Helicopters 48 Figure 3.10 Proposed Subsea Configuration 49 Figure 3.11 Pipeline landfall and plant location 54 Figure 3.12 Provisional 3D Site Plan 55 Figure 3.13 Indicative Onshore Pipeline Installation Vehicles 59 Figure 3.14 Typical Process Flow Diagram for the Onshore Gas Plant 61 Figure 3.15 Schematics of Proposed Produced Water Treatment System 69 Figure 4.1 Determination of the Study Area 78 Figure 4.2 Prevailing Winds in the Atlantic Ocean 80 Figure 4.3 Air Temperature Statistics in Nouakchott, 2007-2012 80 Figure 4.4 Monthly Precipitation in Nouakchott, 1981-2012 81 Figure 4.5 Relative Humidity in Nouakchott, 2007-2012 81 Figure 4.6 Air Temperature Statistics at Banda 82 Figure 4.7 Joint Frequency Table of Wind Speed and Direction at Banda field 83 Figure 4.8 Wind speed statistics in Nouakchott, 2007-2012 83 Figure 4.9 Circulation of Currents off the Coast of West Africa 84 Figure 4.10 Current profile of maximum current speed 85 Figure 4.11 Total Significant Wave Height and Direction in Banda Area 86 Figure 4.12 Pipeline Route and Bathymetry 87 Figure 4.13 Bathymetric Profile of the Pipeline Route 88 Figure 4.14 Flooded Areas around the Proposed Location of the Project's Onshore Component 89 Figure 4.15 Schematic Geomorphology of the Mauritanian Coastline (North of Nouakchott) 90 Figure 4.16 Type of Sediments along the Pipeline Route 91 Figure 4.17 Sedimentology along the Offshore Pipeline Route 94 Figure 4.18 Monthly Mean Surface Water Temperature 95 Figure 4.19 Monthly Near-seabed Temperature in the Banda Field 96 Figure 4.20 Water Temperature and Turbidity Profiles in the Banda Field 97 Figure 4.21 Monthly Near-seabed Salinity in the Banda Field 97 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT TULLOW PETROLEUM (MAURITANIA) PTY LTD III Figure 4.22 Pictures of the University of Nouakchott Construction Site (November 2012) 99 Figure 4.23 Noise Measurement Locations 100 Figure 4.24 Indicative Primary Productivity (mg Cm-3 per day) Offshore Mauritania in February 104 Figure 4.25 Individual Abundance at the Sampling Stations on the Pipeline Route 105 Figure 4.26 Abundance of Taxa at the Sampling Stations on the Pipeline Route 106 Figure 4.27 Location of Carbonate Mud Mounds (Colman et al, 2005) 107 Figure 4.28 Blue Whale Recorded during the 3D Seismic Study of nearby Block 2 111 Figure 4.29 Common Dolphin Recorded during 3D Seismic Study of the Nearby Block 2 113 Figure 4.30 Known Presence of Green Turtles and Loggerhead Turtles in West Africa 116 Figure 4.31 Green Turtle Recorded within the Licence Area during the 3D Seismic Study of Nearby Block 2 118 Figure 4.32 Olive Ridley Turtle Recorded within the Licence Area During the 3D Seismic Study of Nearby Block 2 118 Figure 4.33 Monitoring Tracks and Vegetation Plots 120 Figure 4.34 Land Cover in the Local Study Area (1 km) 121 Figure 4.35 Land Cover in the Regional Study Area (5 km) 122 Figure 4.36 Foreshore from the Landfall Site 123 Figure 4.37 Coastal Dune with Zygophyllum fontanesii and Calotropis procera 124 Figure 4.38 Sebkha 124 Figure 4.39 Temporarily Flooded Area 125 Figure 4.40 Bare Soil with Zygophyllum 125 Figure 4.41 Dune with Euphorbia balsamifera 126 Figure 4.42 Inland Dune 126 Figure 4.43 Example of Hedges of Euphorbia balsamifera and Satellite View of the Hedges 128 Figure 4.44 Location of the reforested areas 129 Figure 4.45 Flora Inventoried in the Study Area 131 Figure 4.46 Birds Observed during the Biodiversity Survey 135 Figure 4.47 Species of Acanthodactylus Obersved in the Study Area 137 Figure 4.48 Arabian Hare 138 Figure 4.49 Dromedaries 139 Figure 4.50 Protected Areas in the Vicinity of the Project Area 140 Figure 4.51 Typical Artisanal Fishing Fleet 145 Figure 4.52 Targeted Species for Artisanal Fishing 146 Figure 4.53 Nouakchott Fish Market 147 Figure 4.54 Fish Meal Factory at PK28, South of Nouakchott 147 Figure 4.55 Industrial and Artisanal Fish Landings (in Tons) 148 Figure 4.56 Industrial Fish Landings in Tons per Category of Species 149 Figure 4.57 Fishing Vessel Traffic within the Vicinity of the Banda Field 151 Figure 4.58 Fishing Vessels Travelling under 4 Knots 151 Figure 4.59 Shipping Routes within 30 Nautical .Miles of the Banda Field 152 Figure 4.60 Pirogue Captain and his Team 153 Figure 4.61 Traps for Cephalopod Fishing 154 Figure 4.62 Artisanal Fishermen Landing 154 Figure 4.63 Octopuses Caught by Artisanal Fishermen 155 Figure 4.64 Seasonal Calendar of Artisanal Fishing by Species 155 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT TULLOW PETROLEUM (MAURITANIA) PTY LTD IV Figure 4.65 Shipping Density Grid in the vicinity of the Banda Oil Drilling Centre 157 Figure 4.66 Location of Surveyed Settlements 160 Figure 4.67 View of the Imraguen Village of M'haijratt 162 Figure 4.68 View of Fishermen Encampment at PK 28 163 Figure 4.69 Nearest Residential Areas to Project Site 164 Figure 4.70 Proposed pipeline route and exclusion zone at the highway crossing 167 Figure 4.71 Proposed pipeline route and exclusion zone at landfall 168 Figure 4.72 Land use in the Project Area 169 Figure 4.73 Ribat Albahr Preliminary Construction Works 173 Figure 4.74 Previously Identified Archaeological Sites in Mauritania 176 Figure 4.75 Locations of Cultural Heritage Recorded within the Project Footprint 179 Figure 5.1 Bottom Deposition Thickness 218 Figure 5.2 Bottom Deposition Thickness - 3D Perspective 218 Figure 5.3 Maximum TSS Concentration

Load more