Natural Gas Infrastructure and Efficiency Improvement Project (RRP BAN 38164) Initial Environmental Examination Document Stage: Updated Project Number: P38164 (BAN) September 2013 BAN: Natural Gas Access Improvement Project (Drilling of 4 New Wells (Well Nos.23-26) and Installation of 2 Nos. Process Plants at Titas Gas Field) Prepared by Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited for the Asian Development Bank. 1 Executive Summary 5 Abbreviation 12 Glossary 13 Chapter - 1 Need for the Project 15 1.1Project Background 1.2 Objective of the Project 1.3 Objective of IEE 1.4 Scope of Work 1.5 Methodology 1.6 The IEE Team 1.7 Limitations Chapter - 2 Policy and Legal Considerations 22 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Relevant National Policies and Legislation 2.2.1 National Conservation Strategy (NCS) 1992 2.2.2Industrial Policy(1999) 2.2.3National Water Policy (1999) 2.2.4Energy Policy (1995) 2.2.5 Renewable Energy Policy 2.2.6 Petroleum Policy (1993) 2.2.7 Petroleum Act (1974) 2.2.8 Environmental Policy (1992) 2.2.9 Environmental Conservation Act (1995; Amended in 2000 and 2002) 2.2.10Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Act (Amended in 2000) 2.2.11 Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Act (Amended in 2002) 2.2.12 Environmental Conservation Rules (1997) 2.2.13 Mineral Gas Safety Rules 1991( Amendment 2003) 2.1.14 The Penal Code (1860) 2.2.15 Acquisition and Requisition of immovable Property Ordinance (1982) 2.3 Compliance with ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement 2.4 Compliance with DoE, EIA Guidelines 2.5 Compliance with International Requirements 2.5.1 Rio Declaration 2.5.2 Conservation on Biological Diversity, Rio de Janeiro, (1992) 2.5.3 Others Chapter – 3 Project Description 30 3.1 Present Status 3.2 Project Location 3.3 Process Description (Glycol Dehydration) 2 3.4 Basic Data 3.5 Project Components and Phases Chapter - 4 Baseline Existing Environment 36 4.1 Physical Environment 4.1.1 Introduction 4.1.2 Study Area 4.1.3 Topography 4.1.4 Climate and Rain water 4.1.4.1 Temperature and Humidity 4.1.4.2 Air quality 4.1.4.3 Ambient Noise 4.1.4.4 General Soil type 4.1.4.5 Soil Fertility 4.1.4.6 Land use 4.1.5 Geology and Hydrogeology 4.1.6 Surface Water 4.1.7 Ground Water 4.1.8 Seismicity 4.1.9 River system 4.1.10 Agro-Ecological Zones 4.2 Biological Environment 4.2.1 Introduction 4.2.2 Terrestrial Habitat 4.2.3 Wetland habitat 4.2.4 Fisheries 4.2.5 Endangered and Threatened Species 4.3 Socio-economic Profile of The Project Area 4.3.1 General Chapter - 5 Public Consultation 44 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Methodology 5.3 Key Findings from Public Consultations 5.3 Expectations of the People 5.5 Public Consultation Results Chapter - 6 Identification of Potential Environmental Impacts and 48 Mitigation Measures 6.1 Environmental Impacts 6.1.1 General 6.1.2 Identification of Impacts 6.1.3 Anticipated Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures 6.1.4 Socio-economic Impact 6.1.5 Disaster Management 6.1.6 Summary 6.2 Environmental Management Plan 6.2.1 General 3 6.2.2Institutional Responsibility 6.2.3 Environmental Monitoring Plan 6.2.4 Safety and Hazard Mitigation Plan for worker and Community 6.2.5 Emergency Response Plan Chapter - 7 Grievance Redress Mechanism 59 7.1 General 7.2 Grievance Redress Mechanism 7.3 Communication Mechanism to Stakeholder 7.4 Meeting of Grievance Redress Committee 7.5 Closing of Grievance Chapter - 8 Conclusions and Recommendation 62 8.1 General 8.2 Conclusions 8.3 Recommendation Annex - 1 Photographs Annex - 2 REA Checklist Annex - 3 Parameters for Environmental Monitoring Annex - 4 Maps and Diagrams Annex - 5 Terrestrial and Wetland Habitat Annex - 6 List of Participants in the Consultation Meeting Annex - 7 No Objection Certificate 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY General Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited(BGFCL) has intended to Drill of 4 new wells (23- 26) and installation of 2 numbers of process plants at Titas Gas Field. These project components categorized as ‘category B’ for environment as per ADB guidelines and ‘red catagory’ as per Department of Environment, Bangladesh’s categorization. For implementation of the said project, an IEE is required for B category project as per requirement of ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009). Drilling and Installation of Process Plants and its operation, in general, have temporary environmental impact compared to that of the other industrial projects. Among other, identification of potential impacts of the project activities, both during construction and operational stages, on the various environmental components with the mitigation measures. An environment management plan is proposed to indicate management action on the implementation of mitigation measures. This may be achieved through use of best management practices as well as mitigation procedures and controls which will have minimum adverse impacts on the environment. Objective of the IEE This main objective of the IEE is to conduct preliminary examination of the environmental consequences of the project area, assess potential environmental impacts due to project related activities on the surrounding environment and suggest mitigation measures by consultation with the project affected persons. The objective is also to identify the key environmental resources of the project area and an assessment of the impacts, which might result from the drilling of wells, civil construction work and installation and operation of the gas processing plant of the project. Scope of the IEE The scope of the IEE includes: (i) a review of the policies and guidelines of ADB and the Government of Bangladesh relevant to environmental safeguards and compliances; (ii) an examination of the salient biophysical and socioeconomic conditions of the project area; (iii) an identification of the relevant environmental parameters in the project area through scoping, survey and literature review; (iv) an assessment of the magnitude of the potential impacts of the project actions; (v) identification of mitigation measures and monitoring requirements during implementation; and (vi) description of consultation and disclosure requirements. Project Component BGFCL has planned to carry out drilling of 4 more new wells at Titas Gas Field has been under Long-Term Gas Production Plan. On the above circumstance, drilling of 2 new appraisal-cum development wells (Titas-23 and 24) and installation of 1(one) gas process plant has been planned at the southern part of Sarail upazila which is located 3 km north from Location-D of Titas Gas Field and other 2 wells (well no.Titas-25 and 26) and installation of 1 (one) gas process plant which is at northern part of Sadar upazila is located 2 km west from Location-D of Titas Gas Field. By drilling of the proposed wells, gas 5 production would not only be increased but also this will enable better sketch of the structure and pay zones of the field. It is expected that an additional quantity of approximately 30MMSCFD (Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day) gas will be produced from each well and an amount of 30 barrel/day as condensate will be produced from each well. Methodology The period of preparing the IEE was from June to September 2013, and field visits for data collection were done in April 2012. The task of preparing the IEE report consisted of the following sequential components: (i) Familiarization with and review of various project actions of the BGFCL projects; (ii) Identification and screening of the environmental parameters relevant to the proposed project actions in the project area through a scoping process; (iii) Assessment of the categorization of the project componants based on magnitude of the potential negative impacts for relevant environmental parameters through the use of rapid environmental assessment(REA) checklists. Formulation of avoidance/ mitigation measures to address the potential negative impacts, and preparation of an environmental management plan(EMP) during the period of project implementation; (iv) Outlining a set of recommendations/ suggestions for institutional strengthening of the BGFCL to develop its in-house capability in environmental assessment tasks, especially issues of implementation, monitoring and compliances of EMP. Baseline Information In order to establish a comprehensive database on the Biophysical baseline conditions existing around the project area, the study team has compiled the required data in relevant chapter. This includes information on parameter such as surface and ground water, air quality, metrology, soils, noise and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. Key features of the existing biophysical environment are described below: The region is characterized by average 2200 mm/year partially in the month of June to October; The major sources of air pollution in the project area are road dust, motor vehicles, construction dust, wind blown dust from agricultural lands, biomass burning, brick kilns, etc.; The major habitats present within project area are cultivated land, homestead, vegetation, road side plantation and other vegetation, ponds, wetlands, etc.; Most of the study is comprised of agricultural land, wetlands for fisheries; Main crops grown in the study area are Aman and high yielding varities of rice(e.g.Irri paddy) in the main two seasons of the year. Besides these potatoes, vegetables, maize, wheat, mustard, etc. are also cultivated in the project area. Fruits like mango, jack fruit, lemon, and water melon are cultivated in the project area; The major employment activity in the project area is agricultural production with wage laborers; The dominant religion in the area is Islam, with some areas of Hindu and a very few numbers of Christian and Buddhist communities; 6 Except for the Sylhet-Chittagong and Dhaka- Sylhet highways passing by the side of the Titas field the majority of the roads in the area are unpaved.