Environmental Statement - Maersk Oil

Balloch Field Development Environmental Statement
Non‐Technical Summary
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
The EIA process uses a standard structured approach for the identification of environmental hazards.
This involves breaking down potential impacts from the development option into individual phases
and the key activities within each phase;
the drilling phase
the installation of infrastructure
the production phase
For each key activity, the environmental aspects and the potential effects were identified and
quantified. Potential effects were assessed both in terms of their likelihood (how often they occur)
and their significance (magnitude). The full results from the EIA identified one high risk and five
moderate risks requiring additional assessment (Table 0‐ 1). In addition to these aspects, a number of
others have been further discussed in Section 5, due to them being under regulatory control and/or of
public interest.
Table 0‐ 1 Issues identified as requiring further assessment.
Phase/Issue Aspect/Activity
Environmental
Risk (Screening)
Residual impact
(after mitigation)
Drilling Discharge of mud to sea Moderate Low
Discharge of chemicals to sea Moderate Low
Discharge of produced water Moderate Low
Installation Installation of subsea cooling spool Moderate Low
Accidental events
(Section 6)
MAIN CONCLUSIONS
Subsea blowout (drilling) High Low
Major accidental events loss of platform/pipeline Moderate Low
The proposed development will not result in any significant long‐term environmental, cumulative or
transboundary effects. Mitigation measures for minimising emissions and discharges and preventing
accidental spills will be strongly adhered to, to ensure no significant adverse impacts.
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