An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an assessment of the possible impact either

positive or negative; that a proposed project may have on the environment, together

consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. The purpose of the assessment is to

ensure that decision makers consider the ensuing environmental impacts to decide whether to

proceed with the project. The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA)

defines an environmental impact assessment as the process of identifying, predicting,

evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development

proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.

If the EIA is not done before a project start, there would be a lot of problems to occur. For the

example, there is an issue that is Chevron Texaco's toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian,

where the company had cause the unhindered oil pollution of Ecuador’s pristine rainforest.

What happen is they dumped in excess of 18.5 billion gallons of acutely toxic “water of

formation” into more than 650 open and unlined pits, as well as directly into the swamps,

streams and rivers that make up the Amazon rainforest of northern Ecuador. “Water of

formation” contains some of the most dangerous known chemicals, including benzene,

toluene, and Policyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). The result has been what experts

believe to be the worst case of oil pollution on the planet and possibly the second-worst

environmental catastrophe in human history. The result is, children suffering from leukaemia

at four times the national average. Birth defects and miscarriages were soaring. Drinking

water also polluted by carcinogens for hundreds of square kilometres.

In this case, the environmental management plan was not properly done. To a great extent,

compliance with environmental protection programs depends on mitigating and

compensatory measures. Indeed, it is these measures that make human actions feasible from

the environmental perspective.

The mitigation is an ongoing process during the environmental impact assessment and starts

when the action is identified and adjusted (in the design phase) with a view to reducing or

preventing certain kinds of significant impacts. Texaco which is then replaced by Chevron,

chose not to use a standard oil industry practice of firing toxic waste back into the bored well

cavity in an operation called re-injection. It thus saved itself between $1.5 and $4.5 billion in

operation expenses in a conscious, rapacious decision to choose profit over the lives of the

local population. In the event that the mitigating measures are not sufficient to reduce

environmental impacts, compensatory mechanisms may be considered. These are designed to

create environments similar to those affected or to support environmental protection

programs. As a result, an independent expert has proposed that Chevron pay a minimum of

$7 billion and up to $16 billion to compensate for environmental contamination caused to

Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest during a 26-year period when the oil giant operated a large

concession in the country.

As the conclusion, EIA is very important as a guideline for the developers before a particular

project is done, so that the environment is not affected too much that can lead to the

destruction of the environment.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_assessment

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2006/667/6673