| Popis: |
The Beaufort Sea oil and gas development proposals, possibly costing 840,000 million and involving three oil companies in northern Canada, form the largest industrial project to undergo environmental appraisal anywhere in the world. The area covered is around one-third of North America. A seven-man panel was established through the government to identify the project's impacts (physical, biological, social, etc), and to make suitable recommendations. This article describes why a panel was preferred to other options, the skills it had, and the way it worked. A final conclusion of the panel was that there were conditions under which the companies' proposals were acceptable, and that developments and impacts should be monitored carefully. Overall, the experience shows that it is possible to conduct appraisals in controversial fields, where parties have much at stake, and for a generally acceptable outcome to result. |
