Scenarios and activities (Chapter 1)

Abstract

The description and quantification of the shale gas-related activities presented in this Chapter informs the assessment of ecological and social risk addressed in other Chapters. For the Exploration Only scenario, activities that will manifest as key impact drivers (i.e. those with greatest influence on risk) include the operations of seismic exploration vehicles along networks of survey transects across the study area, clearing of drilling wellpads and crew accommodation sites, the construction of access roads and traffic (especially heavy-duty vehicles using these and public roads throughout operations), rail and road transport of equipment and materials, water use, noise, light and gas emissions, visual impact, generated waste and employment. These activities, plus the installation of gas reticulation and processing infrastructure, will also manifest as key impact drivers for both the Small and Big Gas scenarios; however, their scale will increase significantly relative to exploration, particularly in the case of the Big Gas scenario.