| Cumulative environmental impacts can result from the creation of a multitude of individually insignificant yet cumulatively important effects. Despite the requirement for cumulative effects assessment in Alberta's environmental assessment legislation, and the requirement to make energy development decisions based partly on the effects of the decision on the environment, the Energy and Utilities Board finds the assessment of cumulative effects problematic. The Waterton natural gas field of south-western Alberta is used to illustrate the incremental nature of wellsite approvals, and analysis demonstrates how the direct and indirect effects of wellsite approvals creates a significant surface cumulative impact.;The review suggests that by creating policy with an objective to reduce the incremental effects of individual wellsites on the environment (incremental impact reduction), the EUB could begin to manage the overall effects of the type found in the wellsite situation. Cumulative effects could also be managed by reviewing energy development activities in a collective regional context. A broad policy approach to the reduction of incremental effects could be pursued, thereby collecting the cumulative effects into a single decision making process.;Several recommendations are provided which will help the regulatory administration of the EUB address, and also reduce, the cumulative effects of the thousands of wellsite and energy facility applications it reviews each year. |
