Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of any rubbish, dirt, fi lth or debris or any waste water from any sink,
sewer or drain or other dirty water or any chemical or other substance
deleterious to animal or vegetable life, or any other noxious matter or
thing, into any watercourse” (The Mining Act of 1978). The act allows
the director to issue permits for discharge of wastes and mine tailings as
deemed fi t and also gives the director the power to require the discharg-
ing party to supply an alternative water supply to residents if their water
supply is believed to have been compromised. The maximum fi ne imposed
for any violation of the act is $200 FJD (The Mining Act of 1978). Under
the Mining Act, the Mineral Resources Department (MRD) is respon-
sible for inspections and environmental monitoring at Vatukoula.
However, according to the Director of Environment, Epeli Nasome, these
monitoring requirements are weak, and EML, on occasion, has blocked
MRD inspectors from completing inspections (Epeli Nasome, personal
communication, August 9, 2007).
The tourism and mineral water industries have enjoyed similarly weak
environmental regulation and even weaker enforcement. The Fiji Director
of Environment outlined the weaknesses of the existing Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) process during our 2007 study: “The Depart-
ment of Environment undertakes the whole process of approving EIA
Reports through the powers of the Director of Town and Country Plan-
ning or through the own initiative of developers who recognize the
environmental impacts on their developments and the need for the process
to be done” (Epeli Nasome, personal communication, August 9, 2007).
In 2005 a new Environment Management Act was passed, which calls
for EIAs for all new development projects, requires environmental bonds
for mitigation purposes, and imposes strict fi nes (up to $1 million
FJD) for violations (Environment Management Act of 2005). However,
the specifi c regulations required to actually enforce the act were
not promulgated until 2008 (Timothy Young, personal communication,
September 16, 2008; Epeli Nasome, personal communication, August 9,
2007). The new regulations provide a mandate for the Department of
Environment to undertake the EIA process through direct legislative
requirements.
Domestic regulatory frameworks in developing countries may still take
considerable time to develop to prevent a “race to the bottom,” whereby
multinational companies seek to take advantage of lax enforcement to
obtain higher profi ts. While both the mining and bottled-water sectors
that were studied in this investigation are determined to some extent by
predetermined geological characteristics rather than factors such as tax
