Estate Service Asset - PDO

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Petroleum Development Oman Estate Services Asset Environmental Assessment 2002 Review and Update 5.5 Climate Historical meteorological data recorded at Seeb Airport show a mean annual temperature of 28.7 ºC. The mean monthly temperature ranges from 20.4 ºC at the minimum (January) to 34.6 ºC at the maximum (June). The extreme temperatures are as high as 49 ºC in summer and as low as 10 ºC in winter. Relative humidity is usually high and will be in 90s during the summer months. The mean total annual rainfall is 86 mm, and most of the rainfall occurs during the period of January-March. Fog is rare and may occur about twice a year. The mean wind speeds range between 3 and 7 knots, with high wind speeds encountered during the summer months. The dominant wind direction is northeast during June-September and southwest during November-January. Close to the coastline, the wind direction is influenced by land-sea interactions. However, this effect is quite restricted due to the surrounding hills. 5.6 Ambient Air Quality Since 1984, limited studies were conducted to assess the ambient air quality in the MAF area. The early studies were directed toward the monitoring the concentrations of hydrocarbons and odorous substances in the ambient air. In 1997, MRME&WR installed a continuous ambient air quality monitoring station in the MAF area near PDO’s Security Gate No. 2 for monitoring the concentrations of SO 2 and O 3 . Very recently (December 2002), the MAF industries jointly installed a continuous ambient air quality monitoring station in the MAF area near PDO’s Junior Staff Camp. In this station, all pollutants including particulates, NO x , O 3 , SO 2 , CO, HC and odorous sulphurous gases (H 2 S and mercaptans) are monitored. . The data available so far are not sufficient to adequately characterise the air quality in the MAF area. However, based on limited data, it may be stated that the concentrations of particulates, SO 2 and CO are quite low. The concentrations of NO x and O 3 are however significant, though still within the maximum permissible limits. The vehicular traffic on the public highway (Qurum Heights) passing adjacent to the MAF industrial area is considered to be mainly responsible. Concentrations of HC and odorous sulphurous gases are noticeable on some instances. It may be noted that the estate services activities hardly contribute to the ambient air quality in the MAF and RAH areas. The principal contributors are the mobile emissions from highway traffic, stack emissions from Oman Refinery Company and fugitive emissions from PDO’s marine export facilities and petroleum product storage facilities of Shell Oman Marketing Company and BP Oman. ©HMR Environmental Engineering Consultants C5 - 4 Oman’s Environmental Consultancy HMR\1501\Estate Services
Petroleum Development Oman Estate Services Asset Environmental Assessment 2002 Review and Update 5.7 Ambient Noise No data are available on the ambient noise levels in the MAF area. Considering that there are no high noise generating sources in the MAF area, it is reasonable to expect that ambient noise levels will be generally within the permissible limits. 5.8 Terrestrial Ecology 5.8.1 Flora MAF is highly urbanised, and consequently any natural vegetation might have been destroyed. Nonetheless, small pockets of natural vegetation remain on the rocky coastal hills. This vegetation is similar to that of the foothills of the northern mountains and can be classified as an open xenomorphic Euphorbia community type. Characteristic taxa include Acacia Tortillis, Commiphora spp., Grewia Erythraea, Euphorbia Larica and Ochradenus Arabicus, species that can live on rugged relief with rapid water run off and little soil cover. With respect to endemic species, Carulluma Aucheriana is identified as endemic to Oman. It is considered as vulnerable, fragmented and its population continues to decline. However, the reuse of treated sewage, supplemented by fresh water has enabled PDO to introduce and stabilise various forms of vegetation into the MAF and RAH areas. 5.8.2 Fauna Mammals in MAF and RAH areas and are low in diversity, largely due to the lack of suitable habitat. The important species of mammals found in this region include the Arabian red fox (Vulpes Vulpes Arabica), the Ethiopian hedge dog (Paraechinus Aethiopicus) and Sundervall’ jird (Meriones Crassus). Rodents such as the Egyptian spiny mouse (Acomyscahirinus), house mouse (Mus Musculus) and the black rat (Rattus Rattus) are also seen. There are an estimated 152 species of birds present in MAF. The majority of the species are migratory, but seven species are recorded as breeding in the Muscat area. They include brown-necked raven, collared dove, common mynah, house crow, house sparrow, Indian roller, laughing dove, purple sun bird, red billed tropic bird, sooty falcon, rock-dove and yellow throated sparrow. A number of species of reptiles and amphibians are commonly observed in the MAF area. These include skink, geckoes and snakes. Geckoes are the most common ©HMR Environmental Engineering Consultants C5 - 5 Oman’s Environmental Consultancy HMR\1501\Estate Services
Page 1 and 2:
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF ESTATE
Page 3 and 4:
Petroleum Development Oman Estate S
Page 5:
Petroleum Development Oman Estate S
Page 8 and 9: Petroleum Development Oman Estate S
Page 31: Petroleum Development Oman Estate S
Page 83: Petroleum Development Oman Estate S
show all

Estate Service Asset - PDO

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?