Welcome

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Impacts of High-Voltage Power Transmission Lines Project

Second Seminar, 5th Time

Ma Nandar NweDip.EIA/EMS (2)Mining Engineering Department, YTU

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Types of Environmental Impacts Found in Transmission Projects • Agricultural Lands Impacts• Forest Impacts (WoodLands)• Wetland and Riparian Impacts • Biodiversity Impacts • Safety and Public Health • Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) • Cultural Sites • Aesthetic Impacts • Resettlement

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Agricultural Lands Impacts • impacts depend on the transmission line design and the type

of farming • Increase soil erosion by requiring the removal of

windbreaks that were planted along field edges or between fields

• Create opportunities for weed and other pest encroachment• Compact soils and damage drain tiles• Hinder or prevent aerial spraying or seeding activities by

planes or helicopters

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Mitigation of Agricultural Impacts

• Avoid or minimize construction; • Identify, address, and document concerns before

construction begins; • Find resolutions for anticipated impacts

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Forest Impacts (Woodland)

• the permanent removal of woody vegetation• bare land or land covered by completely different

vegetation communities

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Mitigation of Impacts to Woodlands

Impacts to woodlands can be minimized by a variety of methods. Example methods include: • Avoiding routes that fragment major forest blocks; • Adjusting pole placement and span length to minimize the

need for tree removal and trimming along forest edges; • Allowing tree and shrub species that reach heights of 12 to

15 feet to grow within the Right of Way(ROW);

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• Heavy machinery can crush wetland vegetation; • Wetland soils, especially very peaty soils can be easily

compacted, increasing runoff, blocking flows, and greatly reducing the wetland’s water holding capacity;

• The construction of access roads can change the quantity or direction of water flow, causing permanent damage to wetland soils and vegetation;

Wetland and Riparian Impacts

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Mitigation of Impacts to Wetlands

• Avoid placing transmission lines through wetlands • Limit construction to winter months when soil and water are

more likely to be frozen and vegetation is dormant; • Use mats; • Use alternative construction equipment such as helicopters;

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• can affect biodiversity in many ways, including habitat conversion and fragmentation, pesticide use and construction roads

• For Example: trees used by birds for nesting might be cut down or soil erosion may degrade rivers and wetlands that provide required habitat

Biodiversity Impacts

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Mitigation of Impacts to Biodiversity

• Doing preliminary research and field assessments • the design of the transmission line,• reducing the workspace at a particular location, • employing special construction techniques, or limiting

construction activities to specific seasons.

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Safety and Public Health • a risk of electrocution to the public• by direct contact with high voltage equipment and lines, and

also by induced voltages• Humans and farm animals can also risk electrocution or

nuisance shock

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Occupational Health and Safety Monitoring• Transmission lines must meet the requirements of the

international standard• built with a grounded shield wire placed along the top of the

poles, above the conductors • Monitoring should be design and implemented by

professionals • Maintain a record of accidents and diseases

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Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF)

• The effects (EMF) on humans are scientifically uncertain at this point

• health effects, including childhood leukemia and miscarriage, others

• But there is no data demonstrating adverse health effects

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Reducing Magnetic Field from Transmission Lines

• to bring the lines (conductors) closer together • Use of underground cable, especially in populated areas.• Identification of potential exposure levels in the workplace• Establishment and identification of safety zone

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• can affect cultural sites such as areas of archaeological, historical, or religious significance

• Burial sites and buried artifacts may be disturbed• can damage sites by digging, using heavy equipment,

uprooting trees, by making the sites more accessible to vandal

Cultural Sites

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Mitigation of Cultural Impacts

• If during construction an archeological site is encountered, construction at the site is stopped

• makes recommendations from related organizations on how construction should proceed

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Aesthetic Impacts Aesthetic impacts depend on: • The physical relationship of the viewer and the transmission line (distance and sight line); • The activity of the viewer (e.g., living in the area, driving through);

A transmission line can affect aesthetics by: • Removing a resource, such as clearing fencerows; • Degrading the surrounding environment (e.g., intruding on the view of a landscape); • Changing the context of the view shed (e.g., evoking an image of development in a previously rural area).

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Mitigation of Aesthetic Impacts

• to avoid areas considered scenic • The form, color, or texture of a line can be modified to

somewhat minimize aesthetic impacts

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Resettlement

• removal of people living in project locations• socially and economically disruptive to the

people affected

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Resettlement Plans and Compensation Plan

• must adhere strictly to due process of the relevant laws in each country, as well as to international guidelines

• Other economic losses :for example, lost agricultural production, lost of land or farm

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The Role of the Public Service Commission An applicant must receive a Certificate of Pubic Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Commission for transmission line projects that are either: • 345 kV or greater; or, • Less than 345 kV but greater than or equal to 100 kV, over

one mile in length, review process includes a public hearing in the affected project area.

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ADB Environmental Assessment Requirements for Transmission Projects

• Category A: An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is required

• Category B: An initial environmental examination (IEE) is required

• Category C:. No EIA or IEE is required, although environmental implications are still reviewed

In general, power transmission projects are assigned to Category B.

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Conclusion• described the main types of environmental impact

encountered in electricity transmission projects;• Can prevent necessary case in construction time and future;• Can get many help from international organization;

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References• International Best Practices for Assessing and Reducing the• Environmental Impacts of High-Voltage Transmission Lines• http://www.powerconsumer.com/2015/05/understanding-the

-power-system/

• Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Electric Power Transmission and Distribution

• IFC Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability

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Thank You!