Environmental statement - Flyndre and Cawdor - Maersk Oil

Flyndre and Cawdor Environmental Statement
Section 7 Conclusions
7. CONCLUSIONS
A detailed EIA of the development has been carried out in order to determine the potential impacts
on the environment and their significance. The identification of the potential impacts was based on
the nature of the proposed activities and was undertaken using available literature and guidance
documents, industry specific experience and discussions with relevant authorities including DECC,
JNCC and Marine Scotland. The EIA process will continue throughout the project with the
incorporation of the commitments made in this ES into the design process, construction and
ultimately affecting the way in which the field is produced.
7.1. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
The development area is considered to be a typical CNS offshore environment there are no biological
habitats or other features that are particularly sensitive to the type of development proposed. No
Annex I habitats are present within the vicinity of the development. The project may impact very
briefly upon fisheries in the area during the installation period.
The environmental aspects of the key activities during the production phase were identified and,
where possible, the potential effects quantified in terms of their likelihood, potential significance and
magnitude. The results were assessed on the basis of the risk posed to the environment and were
summarised as either low, moderate or high risk.
The initial screening assessment showed that the majority of the key activities are of low risk and that
there are no key activities which are of high risk. During the drilling phase the risk associated with the
deliberate discharge of drilling fluids and the associated chemicals were found to be moderate. An
uncontrolled 90 day blowout from wells was also found to be of a moderate risk as no beaching is
predicted to occur.
Noise resulting from piling was also found to be of a moderate risk as was the discharge of produced
water during production. Disturbance of historic cuttings piles at the Clyde platform was also
identified as a moderate environmental risk, further engineering studies are planned in relation to the
design of the riser and umbilical tie in points, only when this is completed will a better assessment of
the potential for disturbance of cuttings be possible, so this is remains a project uncertainty.
Following the identification of suitable mitigation measures, an additional assessment was
undertaken for the activities which were initially identified to be of moderate risk. With the adoption
of appropriate mitigation there are only low residual risks to the environment.
7.2. MINIMISING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Overall, the execution of the proposed development following the incorporation of the control
measures, is not expected to have a significant impact on the environment.
In order to capture the commitments and environmental issues identified from the assessment of the
Flyndre and Cawdor development, these will be transferred into Maersk Oil’s action tracker, ‘Synergi’.
The Synergi system is used for the management of reports and data relating to and actions resulting
from:
Incidents
Audits
D/4114/2011 7 ‐ 1