The US Geological Survey has assessed domestic energy resources for more than 125 years. While its evaluations also cover coal, oil shale, and uranium, its major activity remains oil and gas, where it forecasts and prioritizes volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources.
Now, a fact sheet posted July 23 on its web site describes how USGS has also begun to assess and monitor environmental impacts associated with energy development.
“Using its integrated-multidisciplinary expertise in geology, biology, hydrology, and geography, USGS created the Ecological Assessment and Monitoring process to evaluate the consequences of resource extraction, production, distribution, and use on ecosystems,” it says.
Environmental impact assessments depend first on the energy resources being considered; then on landscapes, habitats, and biota at risk; and finally the objectives of the agency charged to manage the resources, according to the fact sheet, entitled “Ecological Assessment and Monitoring for Energy Resource Development.”
Identifying stressors
The report by Tom Owens, of USGS’s Center for Biological Informatics in Denver, on the environmental assessment and monitoring (EAM) process begins with strategic planning. Once a petroleum province is identified, stakeholders begin to identify factors, called stressors, which can influence the ecosystem and shape resource management decisions.
“Most stressors are sociopolitical or economic in nature and may be affected by expanding economies and populations, commercial and industrial development, and increased standards of living. When examined cumulatively, the oil and gas wells, infrastructure, and human activities that directly affect the landscape may be substantial” in energy resource areas, it observes.
A conceptual model is developed next to link drivers, stressors, effects, and end points for planning purposes. It can indicate how stressors may produce cumulative effects, such as when suppressants used to control road construction dust can potentially damage plant communities, the report says.
What it provides
Complementing the US Environmental Protection Agency’s existing processes, a USGS EAM can initially characterize the at-risk landscape by conducting a baseline biological resources inventory, the fact sheet continues.
“Depending on the resource management questions and technical issues linked to the assessment and monitoring needs of [DOI’s] resource-management bureaus, existing data and information may be analyzed and evaluated within the context of uncertainty sufficient for resource management needs,” it says.
In the face of climate change and other shifting baselines, these resource management bureaus and their USGS partners may develop assessment, monitoring, and surveillance programs critical to the long-term sustainability of ecosystems and their resources, the report says.