Transcript Setting indicators for cumulative impacts

Setting indicators for
cumulative impacts
David Brereton
Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining
The University of Queensland
Social and Economic Impacts of Mining Forum
Emerald
17 May 2006
1
Project Management
• Conducted by:
Centre for Social Responsibility in
Mining (CSRM)
Centre for Water in the Mining
Industry (CWiMI)
• Funded by Australian Coal Association
Research Program (ACARP)
• Overseen by an industry steering
committee – representatives of each of the
five mines in Muswellbrook Shire
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Project Objectives
• Develop a framework for assessing and
monitoring the ‘cumulative’ social,
environmental and economic impacts of
coal mining.
• Undertake a preliminary assessment of
cumulative impacts in the Upper Hunter,
using Muswellbrook as a case study.
• Deliver a process that could be applied to
other areas where there is a concentration
of mining activity.
3
Definition
In the mining context, cumulative impacts are
the environmental, social and economic
effects associated with a group of mines acting
over space and time on a system with defined
boundaries.
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Typology of Cumulative Impacts
associative
LINKED
intensity
Increasing
complexity
triggered
intensity
simple
extent
SPATIAL
TEMPORAL
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Project Background
• Previous CSRM study in 2004 in Muswellbrook
indicated:
 There were local concerns about more mines moving
closer to the town of Muswellbrook
 community stakeholders tended to talk about ‘the
mines’ rather than individual operations
 the mines reported and managed impacts individually –
no overall picture provided of how the industry was
impacting on/contributing to the community
 The term ‘cumulative impacts’ was widely used, but not
clearly defined or understood
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Location of Project
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Aerial View of Muswellbrook and Surrounding Area
(Showing Water Monitoring Points)
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Timeline for Coal Production in Muswellbrook
Saleable Production 1986-2003
25
20
1907 – Muswellbrook
1944 – Muswellbrook O/C
1960 – Bayswater No. 2
1983 – Drayton
2002 – Mt Arthur North
15
MtPA
1998 Bengalla
1998 – Bayswater No.2
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1995 – Bayswater No.3
5
1996 – Dartbrook
(Longwall)
1994 Dartbrook
19
86
19 8 7
87
19 8 8
88
19 8 9
89
19 9 0
90
19 9 1
91
19 9 2
92
19 9 3
93
19 9 4
94
19 9 5
95
19 9 6
96
19 9 7
97
19 9 8
9
19 8-9
99
9
-2
0
20 00
00
20 0 1
01
20 0 2
02
-0
3
0
Year
9
Muswellbrook Streetscape
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What We Did
1.
Consulted with a broad cross-section of stakeholders
to identify what they saw as the main impacts of
mining – both positive negative – on the area
2.
Ascertained what data were collected by the mines
and other organisations (e.g. ABS, regulators, local
council)
3.
Convened an ‘expert group’ to help us better
understand how mining was impacting on the area
and how this could be measured
4.
Selected some impacts for more intensive analysis –
based largely on data availability
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What we found
• Community stakeholders and ‘experts’ were
largely in agreement about priority impacts
for monitoring (except for biodiversity).
• The local mining industry generally agreed
that these issues were important, but:
 thought that the positive impacts of mining were
often under-valued
 queried whether mining was the cause of some of
the negative impacts attributed to it (e.g. dust)
• Mines collected and reported a lot of data, but
it was very difficult to aggregate; only limited
data available from other sources
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Aspects Examined
1. Environmental amenity (complaints, visual
impact)
2. Environmental: water quality, land
disturbance
3. Economic (employment related impacts)
4. Social (income distribution, social networks,
community spend of mines)
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Regional Complaints
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
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Township Complaints
120
No. Complaints
100
80
60
40
20
0
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Year
15
SIMPLE TEMPORAL IMPACT –
MUSWELLBROOK VISUAL EXPOSURE
1989
1995
2000
2004
Unexposed
Exposed
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Coal production and number of Muswellbrook
residents employed in local mines
1400
30
1200
25
1036
759
15
200
0
Coal Mining
Employees
(All M'Brook)
10
Total
Employment
(5 Mines)
5
Total MtPA (5
Mines)
600
400
Production
800
20
0
19
94
/9
19 5
95
/
19 96
96
/9
19 7
97
/9
19 8
98
/9
19 9
99
/
20 00
00
/0
20 1
01
/0
20 2
02
/0
20 3
03
/
20 04
04
/0
20 5
05
/0
6
Employment
1000
Time
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Developing Cumulative Impact Indicators
• Engage with key stakeholders to identify monitoring
priorities – indicators need to be locally relevant
• Define the boundaries - these may vary depending on
the type of impact and the region
• Develop technical standards and data management &
access protocols
• The aim should be to supply information that can be
used to help assess the impacts of existing and
proposed new developments, and of the effectiveness
of management strategies
• Recognise that monitoring is expensive and will
require considerable organisational effort – and new
coordination structures
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Conclusions
• Cumulative impacts are important, but not well understood
• Existing corporate and regulatory reporting and monitoring
processes make it very difficult to get a handle on these impacts
• Cumulative impacts take a variety of forms and may be regionspecific – there are no ‘one size fits all’ indicators
• Developing workable and meaningful indicators will take time
and effort, but it is important to get started
• Effective management of cumulative impacts will require a
collective approach by mines and companies and engagement
with communities, local government, regulators and other land
users.
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