The Baseline - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 342

8

The Baseline

Understanding the
Host Environment

In order to assess changes that will result from a project, it is necessary to
understand the existing environmental conditions, and the likely changes that
would occur in the absence of the project. This understanding is commonly
referred to as the 'baseline'. The baseline also provides benchmark data for
identifying and measuring actual changes based on monitoring data generated
during mine operation, which then can be used to assess the accuracy of impact
predictions made at the mine planning stage. But how much baseline data is
needed? There is no fi xed number; rather the spatial and temporal extent,
numbers of sampling or observation sites and parameters to be studied will
depend on the environmental situation, the nature of the proposed project, and
the concerns of stakeholders as identifi ed through the scoping process. In the
documentation of the environmental impact assessment the baseline description
should be relatively brief, and not used to infl ate the document with largely
irrelevant information. Excessive data collection with little relevance to potential
change is a waste of time and money, and so is data presentation without data
interpretation. A good measure of relevance is the 'so what?' test. If an item can
be deleted without any detriment to the interpretations and assessments, then
it should not be included, providing of course that the item is not in response
to regulation or stakeholder request. Solar radiation is an example of an
environmental parameter that is included in most baseline descriptions but
which is rarely, if ever, used in impact assessment. The reason that solar radiation
receives this undeserved attention is that most commercially available weather
stations measure this parameter, along with many others, and hence the results
are included.

Excessive data collection with
little relevance to potential
change is a waste of time
and money, and so is data
presentation without data
interpretation.

Environmental scientists prefer to focus attention on data that serve as indicators of envi-
ronmental state, change, and trend. Environmental indicators, as discussed later in this