| EnviroGulf Consulting |  |
|---|---|---|
INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANCY | ||
ABN 62 713 622 437 |
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ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING |
Environmental Auditing
EnviroGulf Consulting provides an initial environmental review and auditing service to clients who wish to have their environmental management and monitoring programs critically appraised for relevance, comprehensiveness and credibility.
EnviroGulf Consulting undertakes environmental auditing assignments either as part of an audit team to complement technical and safety audits, or solely in the case of environmental reviews of small projects. The aim of the environmental audit is to provide management with information that confirms that their environmental programs meet corporate goals,and complies with regulatory authorities, company policies and standards.
Consulting Services
EnviroGulf Consulting offers the following services:
- Initial environmental reviews.
- Environmental audits:
- Credibility audit.
- Comprehensiveness audit.
- Relevance audit.
- Environmental management and/or EMS audits.
- Preparation of environmental audit reports with recommendations.
Initial Environmental Review
An initial environmental review provides a snapshot of a company's environmental performance at a particular moment in time. It involves collecting information on a company's environmental impacts and the management structures in place to deal with these impacts.
The main aim of the environmental review process is to appraise the validity and appropriateness of work performed and, as such, may be taken as a form of quality control. The environmental review involves collating all available information from company environmental reports and data summaries in order to check whether specific environmental programs are scientifically valid and that their implementation has been appropriate and timely, and that the results obtained are accurate and precise.
During the environmental review process, the original objectives and scope of work are re-appraised and the results from executed environmental programs are reviewed for relevance. In particular, current data-gathering activities are critically appraised for relevancy as follows:
- number of sampling stations.
- frequency of sampling.
- methods of sampling.
- sample processing.
- analytical methods.
- data reduction and analysis.
- statistical evaluation of data.
- data presentation.
EnviroGulf Consulting can review current work plans for specific projects. A review of the work plan also requires a clear identification of the environmental commitments and expectations that may be contained in agreements between a client and the regulatory authorities. Compliance of a client's operations within the existing regulatory framework will be a first point of reference for assessing the adequacy of environmental management and control measures.
Environmental Audit
An environmental audit is a tool to evaluate current management practices that may impact the environment. EnviroGulf Consulting conducts environmental audits in three phases:
Credibility Audit
The credibility audit is essentially technical and comprises the initial environmental review process outlined above.
Comprehensiveness Audit
The comprehensiveness audit is based on a general knowledge and familiarity of the industry being audited. A wide range of impacts associated with the kind of industry being examined is drawn upon to determine whether the existing operation has a program with adequate scope, including early warning of upset conditions that may lead to problems having environ-mental consequences. Normally, EnviroGulf Consulting sub-contracts a specialist in this field having expertise in the particular industry being audited and knowledge of processing plant operations and treatment technologies.
Relevance Audit
The relevance audit assesses the particular pertinence of monitoring programs to the nature and extent of expected and potential impacts. This audit involves a critical review of data gathering activities appraised in the credibility audit above.
Existing programs are rationalised and the quantity and quality of data gathered is made commensurate with the stated objectives.
Environmental Audit Report
The environmental audit report (EAR) will comprise:
- Introduction - Purpose of the EAR.
- Description of the project and/or facility.
- Description of the existing environment.
- Impact description and evaluation.
- Recommendations, including:
- the need to implement or amend the EMS.
- a prioritised set of recommendations that will mitigate environmental risks, or non-compliance with regulations
Environmental Management Audit
EnviroGulf Consulting's environmental management audit is a systematic examination of a company's formal or informal environmental management system (EMS) that checks:
- whether the system is being used as planned.
- whether the system actually works in practice.
- whether the system needs to be brought back on track to change with the regulatory landscape and corporate culture.
In general,companies may implement an EMS to provide opportunities to:
- Improve its overall environmental performance.
- Create economic benefits such as savings through waste and wastewater reduction.
- Improve the working environment.
Auditing an EMS presents a valuable mechanism to check regulatory compliance and that mitigation measures are actually installed and functioning.
If EnviroGulf Consulting finds something that does not comply with the requirements of the EMS, or something that seems inappropriate, we will report on these findings to management.
Confidentiality
Finally, confidentiality is strictly enforced by EnviroGulf Consulting on all our clients' data and information volunteered to any members of our environmental review and audit team.
Relevant Experience
- Offshore Waste Management Audits - Conducted oily waste and wastewater management audits of 187 offshore oil and gas production platforms in the Arabian Gulf (Northern Area Oil Operations) for Saudi Consulting and Design Office (to Saudi Aramco, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
- Analysis of public submissions on the IFA process - Analysis of public submissions on the Interim Forest Assessment process in New South Wales and production of report (to Resources and Conservation Assessment Council, NSW).
- Horn Island Environmental Review - Assessment of trace metal concentration data for mangrove cockles (Polymedosa erosa) and marine sediments in relation to metal-contaminated runoff from a former gold mining site on Horn Island, Torres Strait (to Queensland Department of Minerals & Energy).
- Torres Strait Baseline Study - Technical review, statistical analyses and interpretation of baseline results from the Torres Strait Scientific Baseline Program (to Ok Tedi Mining Limited, Papua New Guinea).
- Sansu Gold Project - Stage I review report for an open-pit mining runoff study for the Sansu Project at Obuasi, Ghana (to Ashanti Goldfields Corporation).
- Northshore Noosa Project - Review of sewage effluent management options and assessment of potential water quality impacts on the Noosa River, Queensland (with NSR/Maunsell & Partners for Leisuremark Australia Pty,. Ltd).
- Beaconsfield Gold Mine (Tasmania) - Environmental assessment of the toxicity of cyanidation tailing and tailing pond cyanogenic supernatant and prediction of potential environmental effects on the Tamar Estuary, Tasmania (with NSR for John Miedecke & Partners Pty. Ltd.).
- Bukit Young Goldmine (Malaysia) - Assessment of water and wastewater management, disposal and detoxification of cyanided gold mill and heap leach effluents from the Bukit Young Gold Mine, Sarawak, Malaysia (with NSR for Middle East Timber Company, Singapore).
- Various gold mines (Ghana) - Reconnaissance site visits and assessment of cyanide management at gold mines in Ghana; Obuasi Gold Mine, Tarkwa Gold Mine, Teberebie Gold Mine, Prestea Gold Mine, Bogosu Gold Mine (with NSR for Ghana Minerals Commission).
