Georgia - Electricity Market Support Project : environmental assessment (Vol. 1 of 2) : Chapter 1

E-2J3 VOL. 1 1. Environmental Analysis and Mitigation Plan 1.1 Investipation method Between 22" and 29th June. extensive inspection trips along several transmission line route sections were performed. In addition. FICHTNER's team had the opportunity to conduct comprehensive field investigations of several substations. Intensive talks with the managers and the staff of the substations about the environmental problems were also held. In addition, the investigation results of this study are based on information and data obtained during numerous meetings on the project, held with government officials and other institutions. The description and evaluation of the environmental aspects is presented in Chapter 1.4 "Project Related Environmental Problems". Notes and proposals for mitigating the determined environmental impacts are contained in Section 1.5 "Mitigation Plan". A final discussion follows in Section 1.6 "Summary". 1.2 General description of the environment and situation in Georgia 1.2.1 Baseline data Georgia is situated in the central and western parts of Transcaucasus, beyond the Caucasus Mountain Range. The country is bordered by Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Its territory compnrses about 69,700 km2. Georgia possesses such natural resources as iron, copper, manganese and coal as well as numerous medicinal mineral springs (Borjomi, Sairme, Naheglavi). Its gushing rivers represent a huge hydroelectric potential. Georgia's climate zones vary from continental to subtropical. In 1991, Georgia became independent. The separatist conflicts in Abkhazia and south Ossetia have been dormant for more than two years, although political settlements remain elusive. As a result of these conflicts, Georgia still has about 250.000 internally displaced people. 1.2.2 Project related situation Since independence, the country has been suffering from a crippling economic crisis. One of the main problems is the organized crime which impedes economic activities in various ways. Most of the people are unemployed and if they have work, such as in state enterprises, they often get no salary for months. This leads to a lack of interest in their jobs. In combination with a bad situation for getting tools and spare parts, most of the necessary repairs to equipment in substations, along transmission lines or at power plants will not be performed. In addition, the equipment usually is very old and prone to break down. On the other hand, the responsible managers and also the staff are becoming aware of the environmental problems and have expressed  their concern about the situation in the meetings. However, they are waiting for help from outside and nobody is willing (or able) to take the initiative, for the various reasons as outlined above. 1.3 Environmental legislation in Georgia Envirom-nental protection in Georgia is embodied by the Government in ,,The Law of Georgia on Environmental Protection" which consists of 59 articles and which has come into force in December 1996. Article 3 of this law is giving the cardinal purpose and task of the environmental law of Georgia: Article 3. Cardinal Purpose and Task of the Law 1. The main purpose of the law is to: a) define the principles and standards of legal relationship in the scope of environmental protection; b) protect basic human rights provided by the Constitution of Georgia in the scope of environmental protection-to live in an environment surroundings and cultural heritage; b) ensure the protection of the environment and rational use of nature by the state, as well as to provide an environment harmless for human health, .in accordance with ecological and economic interests of society, taking into consideration the interests of current and succeeding generations; d) preserve biological diversity, rare, endemic and endangered species of flora and fauna typical for the country, protect the sea and ensure an ecological balance; e) preserve and protect natural landscapes and ecosystems; f) ensure the settlement of common global and regional problems in the scope of environmental protection with legal foundation; g) ensure conditions for the stable development of the country. 2. The main task of the law is: a) protect and preserve the environment, so that it is safe for human health; c) ensure, with legal foundation, the protection of the environment against all harmful impact;  c) ensure with legal foundation the preservation and improvement of the quality of the state of the environment, d) ensure optimum mutual compatibility (harmonious combination) of ecological, economic and social interests of society; e) ensure the administration of the use of natural resources, taking into consideration the principles of potential possibilities and the stable development of the environmnent. In Article 6 the rights of citizens in the scope of environmental protection are described: Article 6. Rights of Citizens in the scope of Environmental Protection A citizen is entitled to: a) live in the environment, harmless (safe) for his or her health; b) use the natural surroundings; c) obtain the full, objective and timely information on the state of the environment, where he or she lives; d) enter the public environmental protection organizations; e) take part in the decision-making process and in the examination of this decision in the scope of environmental protection; f) get the compensation for the damage resulting from the violation of Georgia's laws on environmental protection; g) Under the rule of court, demand to change decisions on projecting, building, deposition, reconstruction and use of the units dangerous from an ecological point of view. Article 28 and 29 are making reference to environmental protection standards: Article 28. Environmental Protection Standards The Environmental protection standards are designated with a view to ensure ecological balance in the environment. There are established in the following standards:  a) standards of quality of the state of the environment; b) maximum permissible levels to the emission of materials in the environment and to other pollution of the environment with microorganisms; c) ecological requirements to the production; Article 29. Standards of Quality of the State of Environment I. The standards of quality of the state of the environment are: a) maximum permissible levels of the amount of microorganisms and of concentration of microorganisms and of concentration of substances harmful for the health of humans and for the environment in atmosphere, air, water and land; b) maximum permissible levels of noise vibration, electromagnetic field and other physical effects; c) maximum permissible levels of radiation impact. 2. The standards of quality of the state of the environment are defined every five years in the regulations "On the Standards of Quality of the State of the Environment" which is elaborated and approved by the Ministry of Health Care, in compliance with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection. This law is the basis for more than 100 planned specified regulations. Some of them, like the Law of Georgia on "Envirom-nental Permits" or on ,,State Ecological Expertise" etc. have already come into force. According to Article 37, an ,,Environmental Impact Assessment" is required to get the environmental permission according to Article 35 "Environmental Permit" for activities on the territory of Georgia. Article 37. Environmental Impact Assessment 1. In order to prevent or mitigate the adverse effects on the environmental it is essential to carry out environmental impact assessment before environmental permit has been issued, for the activities of different categories specified by the law of Georgia. 2. Environmental impact assessment shall reveal the potential effects on the environment resulting from the activity, as well as it shall evaluate the social, economic and ecological results caused by these effects.  3. The subj ect of the activity shall submit the results of environmental impact assessment as an account of environmental impact assessment. Article 35. Environmental Permit I. Environmental permit is essential for the implementation of an activity on the territory of Georgia, in order to take into consideration ecological, social and economic interests of public and state and to protect human health, natural surroundings, material assets and cultural heritage. 2. The rule of the issuance of an erivironmental permit is designated by Georgia's law - On Environmental Permit". The Georgian law on "Environmental Permit" has come into force in January 1997. Conclusion The environmental legislation in Georgia is currently evolving. As shown above, a sufficient basic environmental legislation already exists in Georgia. This legislation is planned to be supplemented by laws to address specific environmental problems. However, due to lack of money most of these laws are still held up. So there are no Georgian laws limiting exposures to electrical or magnetic fields or limiting the concentration of chemicals in soil, surface water and groundwater. Concerning limiting values of electromagnetic fields e.g. at places of work, the previous regulations of the former USSR have been adopted until Georgia can introduce its own new regulations (see Section 1.4.3). An essential article of the Georgian Environmental Law is the requirement that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a prerequisite for granting an Environmental permit for "Activities on the territorv of Georgia". However, knowledge of the limit values and their significance is often very poor. There are no measuring instruments for monitoring magnetic or electric fields and the safety margins for transmission lines are not clear to the staff, and are not checked. 1.4 Project related environmental problems 1 .4.1 Transmission lines 1.4.1.1 General environmental aspects At today's state of the art of transmission line design, up to the voltage level of 400 kV basically two solutions are possible: * overhead transmission lines (OHL) * underground cables  The design of overhead lines and of underground cables, the principal criteria are mainly based on * economy * route planning and right of way considerations v maintenance and access considerations * environmental impact considerations. * safety These criteria are included in the design standards on which the respective project is based. Nowadays, the extent of residential and industrial areas as well as intensive land use make identiifying and approval of transmission line routes increasingly difficult. None of the above criteria can be met to the same degree and a compromise has to be accepted. A techno-economic comparison of OHL and cables comes out clearly in favor of the overhead line. This is due to the fact that the underground cable price is 6 to 8 times as much as the high capacitive charging current of alternative current cables. This capacitive current limits cable line length. Costly intermediate compensation installations would be necessary for long cable lines. Also the reliability and especially the outage time for repairing line faults are much more unfavorable for cables. Consequently, the proportion of high voltage cables installed worldwide is very small compared to similar overhead lines. In practice, the use of cables is today restricted to very high-density residential and industrial zones, and to areas where the visual impact of the line is not acceptable (national parks, recreational areas etc.). A comparison of the environmental point of view between OHLs and cables shows advantages for each solution: * in favor of cable * no visual impact * less electrical influences (electric field, radio interference, audible noise) in favor of overhead transmission * less disturbance during construction phase * line right-of-way can be put to other uses, whereas for cables it ha6 to be kept free for possible repairs  * better cooling conditions, no heating of subsoil. Implementation of new transmission lines and substations will have impacts on the environment during two periods: * during construction * during operation of the installations. a) During the construction phase, the main impacts on the environment are: * opening up new access routes * damage to natural surroundings due to construction activity and vehicle traffic for transporting construction equipment (noise, air pollution, driving across fields) * site organization, storage of materials * utilization for construction works of chemical products (paints, solvents, grease etc.) * foundation works * disposal of waste and surplus materials from construction sites. All these influences can be kept within reasonable limits by a suitable choice of working practices and by proper organization of the activities. b) During the operation of the installations, their main environmental impacts are: * physical presence (land occupied) * visual impacts on the landscape * effect on wildlife, especially on birds (avifauna) * electrostatic effects of the electric field under the high voltage installations * voltages induced in telecommunication lines and other long conductive insulated elements close to the line (pipes, fences etc.) * influence of the electric and magnetic fields surrounding the high voltage installations * influence due to the manifestations of the corona phenomenon on high voltage installations, i.e.: audible noise radio and TV interference generation of ozone and nitrogen oxides  * endangering the environment due to oil leakage or accidental spillage from power transformers * audible transformer noise * socio-economic effects on the population. Some of these potential environmental effects arise only with very high currents and voltages, and, in practice, are of no consequence in the case of the OHLs. This applies to the magnetic fields under the lines, as well as to the generation of ozone and nitrogen oxides. 1.4.1.2 Situation in Georgia Generally, the existing transmission lines in Georgia have not been constructed according to current international standards. Towers have often been constructed on the top of hills and are visually intrusive against the skyline from long distances. Towers have been erected on steep slopes with subsequent erosion problems. Access tracks which are no longer needed after construction have not been rehabilitated (Photo 9. 1). Most of the transmission line routes do not run parallel to other existing linear structures (like main-borne services and coimmunications, roads) and are not bundled with other overhead transmission lines, which would be advantageous under ecological aspects. Conclusion Generally, existing transmission lines in Georgia have not been constructed according to current international standards. If new lines have to be constructed or parts of existing lines have to be moved from the old corridor, the mitigating actions listed in Section 9.5.1 have to be given due consideration. 1.4.2 Substation 1.4.2.1 General environmental aspects There are two general types of substations: the classical open air substation and the GIS substation. In Georgia, all high voltage substations belong to the open air type. The circuit breakers are of the air-blast and bulk-oil types, mostly pneumatically operated. New circuit breakers are of the SF6 type and are spring or hydraulically operated. Nevertheless in the following, some main features of GIS substations are given: a) GIS substations are compact. They occupy only a fraction of the plot area necessary for an open air substation. This is the most important point favoring this technology, which is finding increasing application in modern power systems. In heavily built-up areas with residential and industrial land use, the GIS  usually constitutes the only technical solution for installation of a high voltage substation. b) GIS substations in buildings are very well adapted to the urban environment from the architectural point of view. This contrasts greatly with classical open-air high-voltage substations. c) Through their metal-clad construction, GIS substations effectively shield the electrical field from the surroundings. Thus the electrical field outside GIS substations is negligible in practice. d) Gas-insulated breakers are far less noisy than the classical alternative switchgear. In addition, they are placed inside the GIS building which acoustically isolates them. e) The SF6 gas itself is an inert gas which has no influence on humans, animals or plants. However, as a result of the electric arc (with SF6 used as a medium for arc breaking), extremely small traces of agents detrimental to health may be fonned. From the enviromnental point of view, final disposal of the circuit breaker SF6 gas should comply with certain precautions to ensure safety. Moreover, SF6 destroys ozone and, when released in the atmosphere, contributes to the reduction of the atmospheric ozone layer. However, the affects of SF6 used in GIS are extremely small compared to other industrial ozone-destroying substances. The lifetime of GIS installations is in the order of 30 years and gas leaks are very seldom. One of the main problems with open air substations can arise from the transformer oil. In Germany up to 1980/85, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) containing oils have widely been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment because PCBs possess good insulating properties and are fire retardant. However, PCBs can have some severe effects on the environment and directly on human beings. PCBs are a group of manufactured organic chemicals that contain 209 individually chlorinated chemicals, known as congeners. PCBs are either oily liquids or olids and are colorless  to light or yellow. They have no known smell or taste and there are no kniown natural sources of PCBs. People exposed for long periods to PCBs in the air have experienced irritation of the nose and lungs, and skin irritations such as acne and rashes. Some studies have shown that babies born to women who consumed PCB-contaminated fish had problems with their nervous system at birth. Animals that breathed very high levels of PCBs showed liver and kidney damage. Animals that ate food with smaller amounts of PCBs had liver, stomach, and thyroid gland injuries, as well as anemia, acne, and problems with their reproductive systems. Skin exposure to PCBs in animals resulted in liver, kidney, and skin damage. It is not known whether PCBs cause cancer in human beings. In a long-term (365 days or longer) study, PCBs caused cancer of the liver in rats that ate certain PCB mixtures. In 1968, the toxic potential of PCB became evident, when in Japan 1600 people were poisoned with rice bran oil containing PCB and several people died. Very severe impacts do arise if PCBs catch fire. Between 600