BSP To Conduct Impact Assessment Studies
By James Kon

Bandar Seri Begawan - At the Fisheries Carnival yesterday, Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) announced that it would be conducting impact assessment studies and a project dubbed "Life Beneath The Platforms", as part of the company's joint effort to contribute to the local fisheries industry.

Impact assessment is the process of predicting future environmental, social and health consequences of a current or proposed action, and managing these through project design, mitigation and enhancement.

BSP's impact assessment will be carried out for all new activities and development of new facilities, significant modification of existing activities or facilities, which may increase existing risks or introduce additional hazard, extension of operation beyond design life of the facility and decommissioning or abandonment of facilities.

Studies that have been carried out as part of the impact assessment process have also contributed towards cataloguing the richness of Brunei's biodiversity. An example of this was the impact assessment for the Iron Duke Marine Seismic Survey.

Meanwhile, the ‘Life Beneath The Platforms’ project is a study conducted by the Brunei-based Panaga Sub Aqua Club. One of the most recent projects won the accolade of the Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for a platform environmental project on BSP's offshore platforms.

The platform environmental project began in 2003 with the objective of documenting and spreading awareness of the platform ecosystem. Another aim was to provide information that would assist in the argument regarding the placement of possible future artificial reefs and platform decommissioning.

Among other things, it demonstrated the profusion of well-established, rich ecosystems around the submerged jackets or legs of the ‘Ampa’ and ‘Fairley’ platforms.

Nearly 100 species of fish have been recorded at the platforms. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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