Social Impact Assessment of Coal Mining - Report Example

Social Impact Assessment Name Course Lecturer Date EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This reports details the social impact assessment of the proposed open-cut coal mine in the Upper Hunter located 10 kilometres north-west of Scone conducted by Isago and Sons Lead experts on behalf of Waratah Creek coal mining company. The aim of the study was to examine the various methods of collecting field-based information, the methodologies to be used to assess the social impact of the proposed mining activity and their limitations. Social impacts are changes that occur in communities or individuals due to externally-induced changes and hence need to be identified, measured, managed in such away that the positive externalities are maximized and the negative ones minimized. It will also highlight the methods and sources of information which can be used in assessing the potential impacts of the proposed mining industry; including related businesses and communities associated with mining activities. In addition it will provide a range of options for assessing social and economic impacts and advices on appropriate methods for particular situations. Various methods for assessing direst and indirect impacts are covered. Uses and limitations of each are discussed in this report, for example, the cost, time required to implement and the type of information it provides. Indeed this assessment will enable the decision makers to understand the consequences of their decisions before they act and people affected get the chance to participate in designing their future. Hence it will alleviate poverty, enhance inclusion and build ownership while minimizing and compensation for adverse social impacts. INTRODUCTION The mining and mineral processing sector in Australia has enjoyed several years of rising price and rapid growth. These prices have generated substantial growth of coal mining, including commissioning of proposed open-cut coal mine at the Upper Hunter which is situated 10 kilometres North-west of Scone. This proposed activity will lead to subsequent impacts on employment, business activity and populations in both local and regional mining communities. Social impact assessment (SIA) is a useful tool to help understand the potential range of impacts of a proposed change and the likely responses of those impacted if the change occurs. This knowledge will help the proponent to design impact mitigation strategies to minimize negative and maximize positive impacts of the proposed change or activity (Becker & Vanclay, 2006). SIA studies are most commonly conducted prior to the approval of the proposed projects in order to predict and mitigate the major social issues. According to the US principles and guidelines for SIA, the principal method to achieve the above goals is by comparative technique; whereby the ex post studies of the actual impacts of the planned interventions implemented elsewhere, together with the demographic trends and other statistical data are used to extrapolate what might happen in the particular community of interest due to the proposed activity in the region (Becker & Vanclay, 2006). Indeed such assessment need to be undertaken so that measures to address socio-economic impacts can be implemented as soon as possible (Becker & Vanclay, 2006). The proposed open cut coal mine will be commissioned in the Upper Hunter by the Waratah Creek Company. The economic parameters will include; employment, earnings, and dwellings, types of livelihood, household income, labour force participation and expenditure. The demographic data will indicate age/sex, birth/death rates, migration, number of single parent’s households, gender differentiation of households, and citizenship. Social infrastructure includes; childcare, cultural and language diversity, family formation and dissolution, home ownership, marriage, housing transport access, religion, access to school education, carers , water and sanitation, voluntary work . These data obtained from the Australian bureau of statistics (ABS) will provide tangible information to frame suitable methods to assess the social impacts of the proposed mining activities. A wide range of methods are used in SIA, with their selection and application typically tailored to meet specific requirements. However, these methods follow the following steps:- Scoping the nature and boundaries of the impact assessment Profiling current impacts of the activity being examined; the historical context or current status to establish a baseline level and rate of change for relevant variables related to the proposed miming activity. Formulating alternatives in which impact scenarios are developed Projecting and estimating effects of different impact scenarios Monitoring, mitigation, management and evaluation of actual impacts Generally SIA identifies the sources of information from published literature, secondary data sources including various government documents and official reports and primary data from the affected area (Becker & Vanclay, 2006). Other cases you can consult previously published social science books, journals that document knowledge of impacts and case studies from similar projects. These includes; census, compendium of statistics and several government planning and development reports. Moreover, survey research, informant interviews and participant observation are important primary data sources that could be used to verify data collected from other data sources. Conducting SIA requires the use of a broad array of data collection methods, quantitative and qualitative those are common in social science. In addition it uses participatory methods which will lead to a better understanding and ownership of the proposed project. The choice of the tools and the methods to be used in the assessment will depend on the proposed project, affected people, availability of experts, time and resources constraints. Often this assessment uses multiple units of analysis, such as households, individuals within the households and the immediate communities (Clifford & Valentine, 2010). Data collection methods can be broadly classified into quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative methods are; land acquisition survey, census survey and socioeconomic survey. While qualitative methods are; use of key informant interviews, focus group discussion, public hearing, rapid and appraisal. In key informant interview, there is use of a questionnaire which helps to establish baseline conditions prior to undertaking the proposed mining activity (Barrow, 2000). The questions will cover all aspects of social economic conditions such as religion, family size, education skills, occupation, ancestry, the birthplace, citizenship of the people, employment, home ownership, household characteristics, use of internet and computer, marriage and divorce, migration and income. This method will provide a precise estimate which ca ne backed by statistical theory which is valuable for decision making and advocacy especially if the data is collected and analyzed correctly. However, it can take human behavior out of the context in a way that will remove the events from its real world setting. The quality of information gathered will depend on the relationship that the interviewer is able to establish with the respondent , willingness to adjust interview to the time convenient and recognizing that same questions can be asked and answered in several ways (Clifford & Valentine, 2010). Scoping phase will establish the goals and boundaries of the assessment and focuses the SIA on key impacts. It aim to determine the time and resources available for assessment, the nature of the proposed activity, groups who are potentially affected, key impacts of interest(Barrow, 2000). The information obtained will be help to determine what approach to use in the assessment. Also it identifies the level and type of community participation in the process. In many instances, this assessment range from where community involvement does not occur through to full participatory approach whereby information gathering occurs in partnership with the potentially impacted community. Community participation will assist in identifying the issues of real concern to the immediate community and also enable more detailed information gathering. Hence, meaningful analysis will be carried out with the outcomes more likely to be accepted and supported by the neighbouring community (Clifford & Valentine, 2010). Participatory approach will recognize a range of perspectives about the nature of the impacts of the proposed activity and will allow dialogue and conflict resolution processes (Petkova, Lockie, Rolfe, and Ivanova, 2009). Scoping for community involvement can occur by use of existing consultation and rapid assessment. Existing consultation is used since the key impacts of interest may already have been identified and the information will be used in determining the best processes for SIA (Longhurst, 2010). Baseline profile will include the following information; type of activities which may be affected, extent of activity potentially affected and geographical location of the people affected. Public hearing allows all affected and interested persons to be involved. Description of the project and its likely impacts are made during the meeting. The people will provide useful feedback on the projects and its impacts which can be vital in the process of decision making (Becker, 1997). Land acquisition survey will provide detailed information on whom and how many people will be adversely affected by land loss (Clifford & Valentine, 2010). It is a rapid, low-cost preliminary assessment carried out at the project identification stage. It includes only persons with the legal title to land. This survey will generate rich, detailed data that will leave the participants perspectives intact. Census survey will help to determine the exact number of people who will bear the brunt of adverse projects impacts and the total property affected. The data collected need to be disaggregated by gender, tribe, religion. The socio-economic survey will generate information on impacts on critical socioeconomic aspects of the affected population (Clifford & Valentine, 2010). These will include; demographic details, production systems, sources of income ,pattern of social organization and leadership, women’s economic activities and income, levels of health and nutrition. The adequacy of sample, the cooperation of the respondents, and the experience of the survey team can be bias during the data collection. Data collection and analysis will be labour intensive and time consuming compared to the finances allocated and it is often not objectively verifiable. However the SIA expert need to balance both the quantitative and qualitative methods of collecting the data to ensure complete understanding of the projects impacts on the affected persons (Longhurst, 2010). The secondary data analysis of existing data sources will be used to identify the broad level and nature of potential impacts of the proposed activity. Time series data will identify trends in key variables over time and will be used in establishing baselines levels and rates of change that will occur outside the impacts being examined (McLafferty, 2010). The approach is useful where data of an appropriate nature is available, however if collected for unrelated purpose then it will not identity specific detailed impacts and will contain biases which would potentially misrepresent impacts if relied on. The time and cost involved in accessing and analyzing these data will depend on the amount and type of data and the extent of data manipulation and analysis required to the data sets (McLafferty, 2010). Direct data collection such as surveys and focus groups from a subset of a population will allow questions to be targeted to relevant issues, these include; the nature and extent of specific types of social or economic impacts. From this it will allow wider and more detailed range of information to be investigated than from secondary data since both qualitative and quantitative information and data can be collected. Surveys with a more qualitative focus will seek to obtain more descriptive information through a less structured approach like the use of open-ended questions. Quantitative surveys will provide both descriptive and analytical statistics that provide the general background context. These methods will produce detailed, in-depth information that can draw out more meaning on complex issues. However, these methods are time consuming and expensive and it depends on the size of the sample population and the level of survey coverage. Focus groups are a data collection technique that involves organized group discussions with selected individuals to gain information on particular issues. It is used to draw upon respondents’ feelings, experiences and reactions in a way which would not be feasible using other methods (Longhurst, 2010). They are suited for obtaining several perspectives about the same topic and will allow related topics to be explored as they arise in the discussion. However the findings are limited in their generalization to a whole population mainly due to the small number of people participating and the likelihood that the participants will not be a representative sample (Longhurst, 2010). In addition the process of identifying the most appropriate participants for a focus group and recruiting them can be time consuming. This group can gather a wide range of information in a relatively short time which are used to design projects , programmes, generate ideas and hypotheses for intervention models and help in assessing responses to recommend innovations. The cost may include; incentives relating to participants’ attendance, recruitment processes, venue hire and facilitation (Longhurst, 2010). Use of interviews with the stakeholders will sort to gain the information about the attitudes towards the mines, values interest and aspiration in relation to positive and negative social, economic and environmental past, current and future impacts of the mines on self and others in the community and perceived solutions to these issues (Burdge, 2004). Surveys will be conducted with the mine workers, businesses and immediate community to compare the perceptions of the social and environmental impacts of the coal mining and to be able to identify socio-demographic characteristics. All the surveys will be based on random samples of the target populations (Burdge, 2004). The fundamental information collected will be based on the length of residency, location preferences and factor that drive location choice, attitudes towards environmental issues, the perception about the standard of facilities, services and community infrastructures. Snowball sampling technique which is a form of non-probability sampling can be used with participants being asked to nominate other individuals or groups who they thought should be involved (Longhurst, 2010). The indirect impacts of the proposed activity will be created at an advance level due to the impacts felt by those individuals, groups and firms directly associated with change. These impacts include; impacts on economic activity in the region due to changes to consumption and production activity, changes in the employment and income, changes to population in the region including age, employment and length of residence and also changes to levels of service provision and social capital in the community. These impacts are examined by use of regional profiling, surveys and modeling approaches (Lockie, Rockloff, Helbers, Gorospe-Lockie, Lawrence, 2009). Regional profiling will involves identifying the geographic communities likely to be impacted by the proposed activity and also gathering secondary social and economic data. This method utilizes the available secondary data from a variety of government industries and community sources (Goldman, 2000). For elaborate understanding of the region, descriptive and statistical social, economic and environmental information need to be added. These information are; population, labour force, industry structure and performance, measures of social capita and social well-being. Indeed regional profile data will identify specific local conditions that may be influenced by the commissioning of the proposed activity and their broad levels of significance (Longhurst, 2010). However, it relies on the availability of appropriate secondary data but often limited in scope and hence may not provide the level of detailed information required to assess the potential impacts. Modelling approaches will attempt to understand the industry linkages in the region and able to identify the economic impacts of the proposed activity to connected industries. Other complex methods are; regional input-output analysis, integrated modelling and computable general equilibrium modelling (McLafferty, 2010). An alternative method of assessment is rapid assessment which will involve limited consultation with the respondent but will rely on the proponent to identify impacts that can be assessed in a short time period. Moreover it will form the basis of subsequent in-depth impact assessment that involves direct consultation with the stakeholders. It is important to understand the current impacts of the activity being examined; the historical context, current status of the operation and to identify the groups and information associated with the proposed activity (Becker, 1997). This method will not be able to collect tangible information because of short time period and limited in scope. In addition various parameters concerning the proposed coal mine need to be assessed to yield a good report. References Nicholas Clifford, Gill Valentine, 2010.Key Methods in Geography, SAGE Publications Ltd. Lockie, S., Rockloff, S., Helbers, D., Gorospe-Lockie, M., Lawrence, K. (2009). Assessing the social impacts of extensive resource use activities, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 52 (4). 437-455. Petkova, V., Lockie, S., Rolfe, J., and Ivanova, G. (2009). Mining Developments and Social Impacts on Communities: Bowen Basin Case Studies [online]. Rural Society, 19(3). 211- 228. Longhurst, R. (2010). Semi-structured Interviews and Focus Groups, Key Methods in Geography, (Eds. Clifford, N., French, S. and Valentine, G.) Sage Publications, London H. A. Becker, Frank Vanclay, 2006.The international handbook of social impact assessment: conceptual and methodological advances , Edward Elgar Publishing. Christopher J. Barrow, 2000.Social impact assessment: an introduction, Arnold. Henk Becker, H. A. Becker, 1997.Social impact assessment: method and experience in Europe, North America and the developing world, UCL Press. Kurt Finsterbusch, Lynn G. Llewellyn, Charles Parker Wolf, 1993.Social impact assessment , Sage Publications. Laurence Goldman, 2000.Social impact analysis: an applied anthropology manual, Berg. Rabel J. Burdge, 2004.The concepts, process, and methods of social impact assessment, Social Ecology Press. McLafferty, S. L. (2010). Conducting Questionnaire Surveys. Key Methods in Geography (Eds. Clifford, N., French, S. and Valentine, G.) Sage Publications, London Read More