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Item Environmental impact assessment for the proposed MWSC customer service building development project(2016-10) SandcaysThis report discusses the findings of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out for the proposed 10-storey customer service building of Male’ Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC). The project is proposed by the MWSC, the contract for construction phase has been awarded to Amin Construction. This project requires EIA as the building has a basement, under EIA regulations 2012 buildings with basement require EIA clearance. The main objective of the EIA is to identify potential impacts of excavation, construction of foundation and dewatering and consider mitigation measures that can be adopted. In addition, the EIA would also consider other construction phase and operational phase activities such as waste management, energy and water supply although they are not directly related to the scope of the EIA. The project is to commence as soon as the EIA is approved and the duration of the project is estimated to be completed by December 2017. Substructure works, which is considered to be the most sensitive component (socially and environmentally), is expected to be completed within two months. The critical elements of excavation and dewatering are expected to be completed within 80 days. Therefore, the project has a critical impact timeframe of less than 4 months. Currently MWSC does not have dedicated customer service centre, where all services can be attained from one stop. The proposed project ensures such a service base to the customers are provided, thus meeting this existing need of the company. This improved service also means that additional jobs will be created thus contributing positively to the economy. Looking at the existing environment of the site, the site is devoid of any significant flora or fauna. The traffic is considerably high in Ameenee Magu during peak office and school hours and majority of the structures within close radius of the site is structurally sound. The groundwater quality is not very saline when compared to some other parts of Male’. Almost all of the negative impacts envisioned for the project occurs during construction phase and as highlighted previously most of these impacts are associated with substructure works. However, almost all these impacts are minor and can be reduced to negligible levels with the mitigation measures proposed in this report. In this regard, the potential negative impacts associated with this project can be summarised as impacts related to groundwater quality and quantity, impacts on nearby buildings in terms of structural damage, impacts on air quality, impact on ambient noise, impacts on utility services, impacts on traffic and impacts on health and safety. Mitigation measures proposed for the project like minimizing dewatering to the shortest possible time, ensuring proper storage and transport of construction material and waste, restricting noisy activities to day time, undertaking works by experienced operators and supervisors, avoiding closure of roads during peak rush hours and implementing international best practice health and safety standards will help to reduce the influence of most of the envisioned impacts to negligible levels. The EIA report proposes a monitoring program that will help to identify the actual impacts and to identify the effectiveness of the implemented mitigation measures. In this regard monitoring will include, monitoring of groundwater quality, monitoring of dust and noise, visual assessment of nearby buildings and monitoring of traffic condition. The monitoring reports will be submitted to EPA every two months during construction phase and once thereafter to meet the requirements of the EIA regulations. The reports will be submitted in the format specified in the EIA regulations. Overall, this project is a positive project and the negative impacts envisioned are only for the construction phase and all these impacts can be easily mitigated.Item First addendum to the EIA report for the proposed coastal protection project at Villimale, North Male’ Atoll, Maldives(2016-07) SandcaysThis report addresses environmental concerns of the proposed change to shore-protection measures for Villingilli western coast. The initial proposal had a rock boulder revetment at the western side of the island. However, due to distance between reef edge and proposed revetment, a section of this revetment could not be implemented. The proponent therefore proposes this section of revetment to be constructed using concrete T- Unit Blocks. The total length of proposed revetment is 255m; currently 200m of the revetment is constructed using rock boulders; 55m of the remaining revetment is proposed to be constructed using T-Blocks. As the only proposed change is material used for revetment, there is little change to impacts predicted during the initial EIA process. The most significant of which is change to local wave and current regime due to relatively less energy absorption by the T- Unit blocks and change to wave dispersion mechanism. Compared to initially proposed rock boulders, T-Unit blocks reflect waves more and may therefore induce turbulence; however, construction of rockboulder revetments require more space for base. The proposed location for revetment construction is very close to reef edge and a section of proposed revetment could not be implemented due to absence of enough space for rockboulder revetment base. As identified in the EIA process, during construction of the revetment, there will be some degree of sedimentation in the area. However, due to strong currents and small amount of excavation required, sedimentation is not expected to cause significant environmental loss. Due to limited negative impacts predicted for the proposed change in revetment, no major mitigation measures were identified. However, it is strongly recommended to adhere to mitigation measures proposed in initial EIA.Item First addendum to the EIA report for the proposed development of southwest harbour, Malé City, Maldives : part 1 : additional reclamation & shore protection(2016-06) SandcaysThis report is the First Addendum to the EIA report prepared for the development of the Southwest Harbour in Malé to address the environmental concerns regarding the proposed additional reclamation and modifications to the method of borrowing additional sand and location of the channel. The project is proposed by Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure. The environmental impacts of the harbour dredging and reclamation components have already been covered in the EIA and this Addendum will cover the additional reclamation of 3.2 hectares and some of the changes to the borrow area and methodology as well as changes to the location of the channel. The additional material to be taken from Gulhee Falhu is now proposed to be taken from atoll lagoon area identified near Uthuru Thilafalhu and to be borrowed using hopper dredger. There are no issues related to dredging from these locations, as it had become the norm and material has been taken from several surveyed locations in Malé Atoll for reclamation purposes including Hulhumalé Phase 2, Thulusdhoo, Himmafushi and Gulhee Falhu reclamation. The channel has been shifted eastwards based on the recommendations of the design consultants from Japan. Environmental impacts were assessed for both the construction and operation phase of the project. There are no changes to the environmental impacts assessed previously. The area of sedimentation slightly changes due to the change of channel location slightly eastwards, however, this change has similar degree of sedimentation and the negative impacts on the reef. The revised location has lesser wave impact and, therefore, provides safer entry. The impacts of the reclamation remain similar although the magnitude of the impacts would be slightly higher due to the increase in area and therefore volume of fill. The negative impacts of the reclamation by bringing sand from the proposed borrow area near Uthuru Thilafalhu would be some degree of sedimentation during pumping the material into the hopper and while “rainbowing” the material to site. It is believed that based on past experience in some of the projects, the hopper dredger operator will take care in pumping the material to the proposed fill area. The degree of sedimentation will be higher but short-lived compared to the rest of the dredging and shifting of shore protection structures. The area to be filled with will be confined with a sand bund with the existing tetrapods placed on the periphery as protection structures. Therefore, sedimentation on the reef from the filling using hopper material would be low. The proposed design encloses the southwest harbour at the T-jetty area, affecting circulation. Even during the construction phase, it is observed that sediment settles in the harbour basin even with the presence of good flow between both sides. Once the area is closed-off the basin will be stagnant. Therefore, as mitigation measure, two culverts of 4m diameter each and made of concrete or HDPE have been proposed to allow flushing of the harbour basin during both monsoons. The alternatives to the dredging and reclamation have been considered in the EIA report. The project benefits in improving living environment of residential areas, however, the extent of the benefit is not very clear at this stage. The no project option may be considered valid due to the huge cost of the project compared to the benefits. However, the project helps in improving the waste management operation in Malé as well as to create better living spaces. The alternative would be to minimize the scope of the project, especially to retain a large part or whole of the existing breakwater and reclaim inside the structure so as to reduce the cost of the project greatly while helping to achieve the objectives for pollution free living. However, since the project has been planned and partly executed, the scope could not be reduced or damages to breakwater structure could not be completely undone. Yet, a cost-effective redesign can still be considered. Some of the mitigation measures for the impacts that have been considered above had already been incorporated into the design and the project scope. This includes the provision of culverts for improved flushing of the harbour basin. It is recommended not to fill and close the flow in the harbour until the proposed culverts have been constructed. Regular environmental monitoring and reporting is an essential element of the EIA process. The EIA report for the South West Harbour has considered in-situ monitoring of total suspended solids and turbidity to be undertaken during the dredging process. However, regular monitoring data is not available for the ongoing dredging and reclamation works. Therefore, it is reiterated that regular monitoring of in-situ turbidity is undertaken in the area. The project appears justified socially as well as technically with low environmental impact given the current use and damage to the marine environment of the area. However, the economic costs of the project may outweigh the benefits. Hence, effective project implementation shall be in place to ensure the objectives are achieved to the maximum.