Capricorn Greenland Environmental Impact Assessment, 3D Seismic Survey Programme for Pitu, Offshore West Greenland July 2011 Version 2 www.erm.com Delivering sustainable solutions in a more competitive world Cairn Energy PLC Environmental Impact Assessment, 3D Seismic Survey Programme for Pitu, Offshore West Greenland July 2011 Reference 0125335 Prepared by: Jonathan Perry and Carys Jones For and on behalf of Environmental Resources Management Approved by: Jonathan Perry Signed: Position: Partner Date: 12 July 2011 This report has been prepared by Environmental Resources Management the trading name of Environmental Resources Management Limited, 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. Environmental Resources Management Limited Incorporated in the United Kingdom with registration number 1014622 Registered Office: 2nd Floor, Exchequer Crt, 33 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8AA CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1-1 1.1 BACKGROUND 1-1 1.2 SCOPE 1-1 1.3 PROPONENT 1-3 1.4 PROJECT SCHEDULE 1-4 1.5 SOURCES OF INFORMATION 1-4 2 POLICY, REGULATORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 2-1 2.1 NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND GUIDELINES 2-1 2.2 INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS 2-2 2.3 INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS FOR THE EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION INDUSTRY 2-5 3 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 3-1 3.1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCESS 3-1 3.2 SCREENING 3-1 3.3 SCOPING 3-2 3.4 BASELINE DATA COLLECTION 3-4 3.5 INTERFACE WITH PROJECT PLANNING AND DESIGN 3-5 3.6 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS 3-5 3.7 MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING 3-10 3.8 REPORTING AND NEXT STEPS 3-10 4 DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 4-1 4.1 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING SCOPE 4-1 4.2 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 4-1 4.3 BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT 4-15 4.4 PROTECTED AREAS AND THREATENED SPECIES 4-37 4.5 RESOURCE USE 4-40 4.6 OTHER SEA USERS 4-48 4.7 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 4-49 5 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1 5.1 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE 1 5.2 PITU 3D SEISMIC SURVEY 2 5.3 SURVEY VESSELS 6 5.4 LOGISTICS 8 5.5 EMISSIONS AND RELEASES 9 5.6 DEMOBILISATION FROM THE STUDY AREA 13 6 ALTERNATIVES 6-1 6.1 INTRODUCTION 6-1 6.2 ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 6-1 6.3 TIMING 6-3 6.4 CONCLUSIONS 6-3 7 DISCUSSION OF IMPACTS 7-1 7.1 INTRODUCTION 7-1 7.2 POTENTIAL IMPACTS 7-1 7.3 IMPACTS FROM PLANNED EVENTS 7-2 7.4 IMPACTS FROM UNPLANNED EVENTS 7-18 7.5 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS 7-24 7.6 IMPACT SUMMARY 7-24 8 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PLAN 8-1 8.1 INTRODUCTION 8-1 8.2 PRE-SURVEY MEASURES 8-1 8.3 OPERATIONAL PHASE MEASURES 8-3 8.4 POST SURVEY PHASE 8-3 8.5 EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROCEDURES 8-3 9 CONCLUSION 9-1 Annex A: Fish Species List Annex B: Detailed Species Descriptions Annex C: Vessel Specs Annex D: Details of Noise Assessment 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND This study constitutes an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for 3D seismic survey operations to be conducted off the west coast of Greenland, to start around mid August 2011 (the Project). This EIA has been produced by Environmental Resources Management (ERM) on behalf of Capricorn Greenland (Capricorn). Capricorn is planning to carry out a 3D seismic survey over an area in the Pitu Licence Block in northwest Greenland as well as the Saqqamiut Licence Block and the adjacent Prospecting Area in south Greenland. This EIA is concerned with the activities that will occur within the Pitu Licence Block. Details of the survey in the Saqqamiut Licence Block and adjacent Prospecting Area will be given within separate EIAs. Capricorn has an ongoing exploration programme offshore Greenland involving a number of licence areas and Figure 1.1 below shows the locations of Capricorn’s assets in Greenland as of November 2010, including the Pitu Licence Block. The 3D seismic survey will investigate the geological structures and characteristics within the Pitu block. The objective of the proposed survey is to obtain a 3D seismic image of the sub–seabed geology in the proposed survey area. The 3D image will facilitate the identification of geological configurations favourable to hydrocarbon accumulations. 1.2 SCOPE The purpose of the EIA is to: Describe the physical, biological and human components of the environment within the study area and to assess their sensitivities in the context of the intended 3D seismic survey. Present details of the Project. Identify potential environmental and social impacts associated with the proposed 3D seismic survey. Assess the nature, significance and probability of impacts on environmental and social resources and receptors. Develop appropriate mitigation measures, together with management and monitoring procedures that will seek to avoid, minimise or reduce potential impacts. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CAPRICORN 1-1 This report has been compiled in order to meet the applicable requirements of Greenland legislation and standards, international guidance and Capricorn’s corporate policies and expectations. A description of the most relevant legislation, standards and guidance applicable to the Project is provided in Chapter 2. In preparation of the EIA, a desktop study was undertaken to inform the baseline environment chapter. A literature review was conducted using reports written by environmental organisations from Denmark and Greenland as well as information sourced during internet research. The geographical scope of this EIA encompasses the Pitu Licence Block (also referred to herein as the Licence Block) together with the wider marine and coastal environment where relevant to the potential impacts of the Project (refer to Figure 5.1; 3D Seismic Survey Location). The EIA is accompanied by a Non-Technical Summary (NTS) and in addition to this Chapter 1, it contains the following: Chapter 2 presents the policy, regulatory and administrative framework and discusses certain relevant standards and guidelines. Chapter 3 describes the approach and assessment methodology. Chapter 4 presents the ‘baseline’ information on existing environmental and socio-economic conditions pertinent to the study area and intended Project activities. Chapter 5 describes the Project. Chapter 6 discusses the different project options considered. Chapter 7 assesses potential impacts, describes proposed mitigation measures and summarises the likely residual impacts, ie those predicted to remain after the application of mitigation measures. Chapter 8 sets out the Environmental Protection Plan that Capricorn propose to apply to the Project. Chapter 9 summarises the key findings and conclusions of the EIA. In addition, the Appendices contain a number of items of supporting information relevant to the EIA, such as species lists and technical vessel specifications, which are referenced within the text. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CAPRICORN 1-2 Figure 1.1 Capricorn Greenland Assets (November 2010) 1.3 PROPONENT Capricorn Greenland (‘Capricorn’) is a subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC (‘Cairn’). Cairn is an independent, public oil and gas exploration and production company based in Edinburgh, Scotland and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Cairn Energy, through its subsidiary Capricorn, has secured a working interest in a total of 11 exploration licences off the south and west coasts of Greenland (see Figure 1.1). Several of these licence blocks have been the subject of previous Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CAPRICORN 1-3 Impact Assessments, seismic surveys and exploratory drilling by the company. 1.4 PROJECT SCHEDULE The 3D seismic survey requires sufficiently ice free waters to begin and complete the survey. Due to typical ice and weather conditions the survey is planned to start in August 2011, depending on ice and weather conditions. The proposed 3D seismic survey will use a survey vessel, a support vessel, and two chase vessels. The survey will normally continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week and in total the Pitu survey is expected to last for a period of approximately 35 days. The speed and progress of the survey programme will be heavily influenced by the meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) conditions and the presence of ice in the survey area. 1.5 SOURCES OF INFORMATION Key information sources used in the preparation of this EIA were sourced from: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR); National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), Aarhus University, Denmark; Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), Denmark; and Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP), Greenland. Operational and management information was provided by the client. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CAPRICORN 1-4 2 POLICY, REGULATORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 2.1 NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND GUIDELINES The following table (Table 2.1) summarises the national legislation and guidelines most applicable to the proposed offshore survey operations (the Project) which is the focus of the assessments: Table 2.2 Summary of National Legislation and Guidelines Applicable to the Project Title Summary & Relevance Year BMP Guidelines – for preparing Set out the process for preparing and submitting 2011 an