Forthbank Wind Energy Development - Partnerships for Renewables

Forthbank Wind Energy Development
13.8.3 The impact assessment has taken into account the proposed site’s hydrological regime,
highlighting that the principal effects on-site hydrology will occur during construction. With the
implementation of the site specific EMP/PPP and the successful implementation of mitigation
measures the significance of construction effects on the water quality of the River Forth and
Black Devon catchments are considered to be negligible to minor.
13.8.4 The Firth of Forth SSSI, at the mouth of the River Leven is considered to be a sufficient
distance downstream from the site to be unaffected by the proposed wind energy
development.
Flood Risk
13.8.5 The impact assessment has taken into account the site’s hydrological regime, highlighting that
the principal effects on-site hydrology will occur during the construction and operation phases.
The assessment has also determined that the increased landtake as a result of the proposed
wind energy development will have a negligible to minor effect on the site's runoff rates
following the implementation of mitigation measures.
Soils
13.8.6 Much of the soil cover is expected to have been removed by the landfill in the south-eastern
part of the site and the historical development in the north-western part of the site. The
impacts of the proposed wind energy development on the remaining site soils are considered
to be of minor significance.
Geology
13.8.7 The excavation of foundations and, if required, the penetration of deep (piled) foundations may
have an impact on the local geological resource, in particular near surface coal seams and two
adits located in the north-western part of the site. The construction of the proposed turbine
bases will result in permanent alterations to the site geology. The location of the two adits in
the north-western area of the site will be accurately identified prior to construction to ensure
that the turbine foundations do not impact on the adits.
13.8.8 Therefore, the overall impact is considered to be minor.
Hydrogeology
13.8.9 The site is underlain by bedrock which is moderately permeable, i.e. fractured or potentially
fractured rocks that do not have a high primary permeability. The aquifers at the site vary in
classification from Vulnerability Class 1 (Only vulnerable to conservative pollutants in the longterm
when continuously and widely discarded and leached) to Vulnerability Class 3 (Aquifers
are classed as being vulnerable to some pollutants) in SEPA vulnerability classification
scheme.
13.8.10 Although the quality of the groundwater body beneath the site has been classified by SEPA as
‘poor’ with a high degree of confidence, the hydrogeology was considered to be sensitive due
November 2010 Chapter 13 Page 37
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