standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

information. On the other hand, these data are probably less useful for
environmental impact analysis than the data collected later using better
technology and a higher appreciation for environmental values.
It is not useful in this Workshop to focus on the relative worth of
contractor data already obtained. However, a major goal for this Workshop
should be to provide the impetus for a comprehensive integration of such
data into a useful basis for future impact analysis for all contractors.
2.2. At-sea system testing
The maximum at-sea nodule-recovery rate to date, 30 tons per hour,
was achieved in March 1978 by the Ocean Management Inc. (OMI)
consortium. During these system tests, OMI recovered a total of 900 metric
tons. In the same year, using a different system, the Ocean Mining
Associates consortium (OMA) recovered a total of 600 metric tons during an
18-hour test 5 . The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) monitored these tests as the principal effort of the
DOMES II programme. The information collected during these activities
provided key inputs to the impact analysis presented by NOAA in its PEIS. In
the current 15-year plans of work submitted to ISA by the active contractors,
no at-sea test mining is scheduled.
Commercial recovery rates are expected to be more than ten times
the maximum rate achieved by OMI, i.e., more than 300 tons per hour. Two
to five years of testing of progressively larger systems will probably be
required before operation of full-scale prototype systems will be practical.
During this time, important environmental impact analysis will have to be
completed through monitoring of such tests. Potentially significant
environmental impacts predicted through such monitoring could provide the
basis for system modification to mitigate or avoid the impacts. Predictions
of mining impacts will have to be based on these monitoring results,
interpreted in the context of the baseline habitat characterisations
established before and during mining tests.
Perhaps the most critical issues related to phasing of the required
habitat characterisation are those related to distinguishing the
characterisation studies that must be completed well in advance of the
mining tests from those that can best be carried out immediately before
and during the testing. This critical item must be addressed at this
Workshop. Establishing standards for studies that might not be necessary
until mining-system tests are conducted many years from now is
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