Project planning and the environment

May 15, 2000
We read the article titled "An Industry Can Learn From Past Project Failures" (OGJ, Apr. 24, 2000, p. 37) with much interest because it describes pitfalls commonly encountered in the planning and execution of a complex project. Although we are in agreement with much of Mr. Rothman's account of things that can go awry, we believe certain aspects of project planning and development have not been adequately addressed.

We read the article titled "An Industry Can Learn From Past Project Failures" (OGJ, Apr. 24, 2000, p. 37) with much interest because it describes pitfalls commonly encountered in the planning and execution of a complex project. Although we are in agreement with much of Mr. Rothman's account of things that can go awry, we believe certain aspects of project planning and development have not been adequately addressed.

We are responsible for permitting sources of air pollution in the state of Delaware and it has been our experience that one area that deserves greater discussion is the importance of environmental considerations. While Mr. Rothman recommends environmental considerations as part of the feasibility study, we believe that the importance of obtaining the necessary permits or approvals and addressing all potential regulatory issues should not be minimized. In this day and age of emerging technologies with oftentimes unanticipated environmental impacts, regulations sometimes play a "catch up" role. However, when these impacts are severe enough to generate public awareness, revised regulations are promulgated which may not have been anticipated in the initial planning, thus making environmental considerations more dynamic than envisaged by Mr. Rothman.

The timing for obtaining all necessary environmental permits must also be fully considered. Furthermore, while Mr. Rothman's focus is on project failures in developing countries, we think similar problems occur close to home. It would behoove us to pay attention not only to all the key steps identified in Mr. Rothman's article, but also to address environmental considerations with a greater degree of detail both here and abroad.

Ravi Rangan
Ali Mirzakhalili
Air Quality Management Section
Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control