Posted on 03 March 2011
Bangkok, Thailand: Investors in proposed
Mekong River dams need to absorb the lessons
of the Mun River dam, a notable economic
failure as well as the cause of massive
environmental and social disruption, WWF
warned today.
Thailand’s government
is considering a plan to permanently open
the gates on the Mun River dam in hopes
of restoring the river basin ecosystem and
reviving livelihoods along one of the country’s
primary Mekong tributaries. Since its over-budget
construction in the early 11000s, the Mun
River dam has decimated the fish population,
displaced communities and failed to deliver
profit for investors.
Similar risks may accompany
the proposed Xayaburi dam, slated for construction
on the Mekong River mainstream in northern
Laos, because of critical gaps in the understanding
of fisheries, biodiversity and sediment
movement on Asia’s most biodiverse river.
At stake, according
to WWF, are the livelihoods of tens of millions
of people in the region.
“The Mekong is a unique
and particularly complex ecosystem that
hosts the most productive inland fisheries
in the world and is second only to the Amazon
in number of fish species,” said Dr. Suphasuk
Pradubsuk, National Policy Coordinator with
WWF-Thailand.
“The lessons of Thailand’s
Mun River dam are still fresh: Hasty environmental
and social impact studies can lead to a
bitter lose-lose situation for both fishermen
and dam owners.”
At $233 million, the
Mun River dam cost investors twice the original
estimate, and energy production fell to
a third of expected capacity during the
dry season. Return on investment dropped
from a projected 12 per cent to 5 per cent.
Stakes high for investors
“All promoters of hydropower
in the Mekong must learn the lessons of
the Mun River dam,” said Suphasuk. “Current
limited baseline studies do not sufficiently
explain how the different parts of the ecosystem
interact, so we can’t accurately predict
the effects of any mainstream dam.”
“The stakes are very
high for people and nature, and therefore
for investors as well.”
The Xayaburi dam in
Laos, the first to be proposed on the lower
Mekong mainstream, is just ending the “consultation”
phase stipulated under the procedures of
the Mekong River Commission (MRC). This
is meant to ensure a rigorous and transparent
scientific assessment of the impact of the
dam.
A number of Thai banks,
including Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Krung
Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank, are
planning to support the Thai developer CH
Karnchang PCL on the Xayaburi project.
“From an investor standpoint,
this project is risky, plain and simple,”
says.Suphasuk. “Developers and investors
should consider the reputational risk of
damming Asia’s most biodiverse river.”
“Only the Kasikorn Bank
has had discussions with WWF about the risks
of the project, while the Bangkok, Krung
Thai and Siam Commercial banks have not
responded to WWF’s requests to meet.
“The banks could only
benefit from discussing the risks before
making such an important decision for the
people and ecosystem of the Mekong River,
as well as for their own profit and corporate
image.”
Study indicates lessons
not learned
The just-released Xayaburi
feasibility study gives no indication that
any of the Mun River dam lessons have been
learned, WWF noted.
“The study blandly assures
us that impacts of the Xayaburi dam would
be low level, without providing anything
much to justify this optimism,” said Phansiri
Winichagoon, WWF-Thailand Country Director.
“Dam proponents were equally bland about
impacts on the Mun River too, but there
was economic and environmental disaster
lurking in what was ignored and what was
only superficially considered.
“This study falls a
long way short of current best practice
in environmental assessment.”
WWF supports a 10-year
delay in the approval of all lower Mekong
mainstream dams to ensure a comprehensive
understanding of all the impacts of their
construction and operation.
Alternatively, WWF and
partners promote using assessment tools
to assist decision making for more sustainable
hydropower projects which could have much
less impact on fish migration or sediment
movement.
+ More
Deep Shell well proposal
a risk to noted Australian reef
Posted on 08 March 2011
Perth, Australia: Noted Ningaloo Reef off
Western Australia and "a blue superhighway"
for migrating whales, dolphins and turtles
could be devastated by accidental discharges
from a deep water exploratory well proposed
by oil major Shell.
The well, proposed for
mile (1.6 km) deep waters 50 km from the
World Heritage nominated Ningaloo Reef poses
unacceptable risks, WWF-Australia warned
today.
WWF-Australia Conservation
manager Gilly Llewellyn said it was inappropriate
for the Federal Government to consider Shell’s
proposal before the regulatory overhaul
recommended by the inquiry into Australia's
last major oil spill.
The blow-out at the
Montara exploratory well, in the Timor Sea
to the north of Ningaloo, covered more than
90,000 sq kilometres of ocean in the 73
days it took to kill the well. The report,
delayed while the even bigger blowout in
the Gulf of Mexico captured world attention,
found serious shortcomings by both operators
and regulators.
“Ningaloo is a stunning
marine park and the waters between it and
the proposed well are home to a blue superhighway
that literally provides a migration route
for whales, dolphins and turtles,” Dr Llewellyn
said.
“The Coral Coast is
also an important area for tourism and commercial
fishing in Western Australia, with potential
risks to those industries.
“The Montara and Gulf
of Mexico disasters demonstrated that drilling
accidents can happen to even the biggest
companies in the business, and that deep
water drilling compounds the challenges
of fixing a disaster.
“Shell’s own spill modeling
from a blow-out scenario not only reveal
impacts to Ningaloo Reef but to neighbouring
islands and coastal waters.”
Reviews conducted around
the world following the Deepwater Horizon
disaster commonly conclude the oil industry
has essentially been allowed to write the
rule book for its own operations.
Even the Australian
Government review of the Montara incident
called for the creation of a new national
regulatory and oversight authority, to come
into effect in January 2012.
The Shell proposal follows
BP’s announcement of plans to conduct seismic
exploration with a view to drilling in the
Great Australian Bight marine park. This
would result in more deep-water drilling
in areas exceptionally rich with marine
wildlife, including whales and southern
blue fin tuna.
“Important areas for
marine wildlife need to be protected by
marine parks and not left open for oil and
gas activities. Both Shell and BP’s applications
need to be suspended until a national system
of marine parks is in place and there is
stronger regulatory oversight,” said Dr
Llewellyn.
“With the potential
for yet another oil spill disaster, there
is too much at stake.”
