almost finished significance section

1 files changed, 49 insertions, 44 deletions

diff --git a/assignment2/significance.tex b/assignment2/significance.tex
index 596f71a..427c155 100644
--- a/assignment2/significance.tex
+++ b/assignment2/significance.tex
@@ -22,6 +22,25 @@ performed only by experts and with a claim to objectivity, but should
 aim to be a collaborative procedure guided by reasoned
 discourse \parencite{lawrence-approach}.
 
+One of the goals of impact assessment is to weigh the desired positive
+impacts of a proposal against the expected negative impacts in order
+to evaluate whether the project plan should be pursued or discarded.
+The dairy factory could, for example, result in an increase in the
+number of employment opportunities, enlargen the economic basis of the
+region, increase the country's export volume, etc. While it is
+possible to quantify many of these positive effects (e.g. by
+estimating from experience with similar projects) it is not clear how
+to weigh these potential economic benefits against the expected
+negative impacts on the biophysical and social environment without
+imposing market norms on intrinsic ecosystem and community
+values. Just how much more valuable is the somewhat polluted river now
+compared to a somewhat \emph{more} polluted river if the project was
+implemented? Involving the public in a collaborative approach may not
+lead to satisfying results. As \textcite{lawrence-approach} writes,
+``the collaborative approach is viewed as too quickly equating public
+concerns and issues with impact significance, at the expense of other
+sources of insight and knowledge.''
+
 According to \textcite{lawrence-approach}, the approach to determining
 impact significance is usually ``limited to ad hoc and inconsistent
 judgments with reasons and/or to the staged application of thresholds
@@ -67,48 +86,34 @@ Following a limits-based approach and with the help of a monitoring
 network, it would be practical to impose absolute limits for a variety
 of water health indicators. Whether a residual impact on the physical
 environment is significant or not then is a matter of setting measured
-water trends against the expected level of the impacts of a proposed
-activity.
-
-In the case of the planned dairy factory, the significance of the
-impact of discharging warm water into the river not only depends on
-the absolute value of the temperature difference between wastewater
-and river water, but also on the cumulative temperature increase due
-to human activity reflected in the mean temperature of the affected
-body of water. Case studies can be used to estimate the magnitude of
-the impact. If the limit on water temperature would be exceeded by the
-plant's wastewaster discharge, the impact would be rated as
-significant and in need of mitigation to avoid significant effects on
-the aquatic ecosystem. The same approach is applicable for any impact
-that affects quantifiable environmental properties, such as the
-release of organic and inorganic compunds, or the contamination with
-residual antibiotics and pesticides.  According to the description,
-the river is already used as a sink for the wastewater of another
-dairy factory; dairy farming is said to have expanded in this area,
-indicating that the inflow of organic and inorganic components from
-farm effluent and non-point sources has also increased. It is likely
-that under these circumstances, the cumulative impacts of wastewater
-discharge would be deemed significant.
-
-
-(third part of lawrence): important to assess significance of
-*positive effects* to see if they are worth the negative impacts.
-
-- positive effects can be quantified, but it is not clear how to weigh
-  potential economic benefits against expected negative impacts on the
-  biophysical environment without imposing market norms on intrinsic
-  ecosystem values.
-
-- other impacts cannot easily be quanitifed
-
-%  - talk about drawbacks mentioned in \textcite{lawrence-approach}
-%      \begin{quote}
-%        The collaborative approach is viewed as too quickly equating
-%        public concerns and issues with impact significance, at the expense of
-%        other sources of insight and knowledge.
-%      \end{quote}
-
+trends against the expected level of the impacts of a proposed
+activity. In the case of the planned dairy factory, the significance
+of the impact of discharging warm water into the river not only
+depends on the absolute value of the temperature difference between
+wastewater and river water, but also on the cumulative temperature
+increase due to human activity reflected in the mean temperature of
+the affected body of water. Case studies can be used to estimate the
+magnitude of the impact. If the limit on water temperature would be
+exceeded by the plant's wastewaster discharge, the impact would be
+rated as significant and in need of mitigation to avoid significant
+effects on the aquatic ecosystem. The same approach is applicable for
+any impact that affects quantifiable environmental properties, such as
+the release of organic and inorganic compunds, or the contamination
+with residual antibiotics and pesticides.  According to the
+description, the river is already used as a sink for the wastewater of
+another dairy factory; dairy farming is said to have expanded in this
+area, indicating that the inflow of organic and inorganic components
+from farm effluent and non-point sources has also increased. It is
+likely that under these circumstances, the cumulative impacts of
+wastewater discharge would be deemed significant.
 
-- significant impacts:
-  - likelihood
-  - effects that affect sensitive parameters
\ No newline at end of file
+Other impacts cannot easily be quanitifed. This includes higher-order
+impacts such as the stress that an increased number of workers may
+exert on local community services. The likelihood of these impacts
+depends on the state of local facilities and the cumulative workload
+they are sustaining.  As it is difficult to find appropriate
+indicators for the state of social values and impractical at best to
+set upper limits for such ill-defined concepts, a limit-based approach
+to significance estimation is unlikely to succeed.  This is an area
+where there is probably no better way to assess significance than
+to ask for direct community involvement.
\ No newline at end of file