 Environmental Management Overview Conscious of the possible social, environmental and economic effects of such a major project, Yemen LNG company succeeded in selecting a plant location and a pipeline route that have the least possible adverse impacts on both people and the environment. The company has therefore developed environmental management plans and procedures, within the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). These measures are implemented to mitigate and thereby minimise the environmental impacts identified and described in detail in Yemen LNG’s comprehensive Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), which was revised and updated in February 2006 (full ESIA is downloadable on our website). During the construction phase, binding plans and procedures were produced to ensure contractors adherence. For the operational phase, new plans and procedures are produced and implemented directly by Yemen LNG.
The Environmental Management Plans comprise the following components:
- Operational control of environmental impacts through the adoption of various plans and procedures, examples include the Waste Management Plan – including water disposal methods – as well as an Emergency Response Plan
- Training through the production of a specific manual supplemented by briefings conducted by the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) staff
- Preservation and restoration of the environment with a view to addressing the needs of every potentially disturbed area
- A series of monitoring activities including, but not limited to, air quality, water quality, coral reef conditions and control of emission and discharge
- An overall Environmental Management Review conducted regularly to ensure that the system is adequate, appropriate and effective
- Yemen LNG will report to the concerned local authorities, the Minister of Water and Environment as well as the Environmental Protection Authority, which in turn will carry out their own monitoring on a regular basis
Balhaf Physical Environment Balhaf cape headland is the first promontory into the Gulf of Aden along the south coast of Yemen in the 400 km from Aden. It represents the start of a rocky shore environment that runs eastwards from Balhaf cape past Bir Ali 100 km to Burum. Balhaf site is the point of change from the 400 km of sandy beach running back westwards to Aden. In this way, the Balhaf site consists of a sandy coastline in the eastern part. The rocky area is formed by basaltic flows caused by volcanic activity. Some inactive old volcanoes and caldera can be found along the coastline.
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