% 830 words

\section{Proposed activities and their potential effects}

All three major stations in the lifecycle of the proposed dairy
factory have to be considered for an assessment of the potential
effects of the project: preparation of the site and construction,
operation, and eventual close-down of the facility. For the purposes
of this assignment only the potential impacts of the first two stages
shall be addressed as they dominate the life cycle effects. This
includes the following activities:

\begin{enumerate}
\item site preparation and construction work
\item water allocation and abstraction
\item treatment of solid and liquid wastes
\item waste water discharge
\item packaging of produced good
\item transport of raw materials and goods
\end{enumerate}

The different activities at different stages may result in similar
effects on a given component of the socio-economic or physical
environment, and many impacts can cause a cascade of other effects of
varying significance. All project activities are to be evaluated
against selected components of the environment, including

\begin{inparaenum}
\item air and atmosphere;
\item water and soil;
\item vegetation and habitat;
\item human health;
\item amenity values and cultural heritage;
\item economic base; and
\item demography.
\end{inparaenum}

\subsection{Overview}

The proposed dairy processing facility is supposed to be located close
to the river for easy access to water and for the convenient discharge
of waste water back into the river.  The preparation of the site for
construction in proximity to the river as well as the proposed take
and discharge activities during operation of the factory have direct
effects on water quality parameters. Changes to the properties of the
body of water (e.g. sediment load, changes in flow patterns, increases
in nutrient levels) affect not merely aesthetical values held by
residents of the affected region, but are likely to have impacts on
the composition of aquatic communities and the health of riparian and
aquatic ecosystems.

Major impacts on air quality and amenity values are the emission of
particulate matter, gases and odours, generation of noise (during
construction and transport of products and raw materials), and `visual
pollution.'

\subsection{Construction}

Preparing the selected site for construction requires the displacement
of existing uses. On a site close to the river in a rural area, the
site may be populated by riparian vegetation. Vegetation in the
riparian area and the adjoining uplands may serve as a filter,
reducing the amount of sediment, excess nutrients and other pollutants
entering the river \parencite{riparian}. This filtering ability is
particularly valuable in a region where dairy farming is expanding and
with it the cumulative impact of non-point sources of farm effluent is
increasing. The clearing of vegetation may also directly reduce
available habitat for native species, such as frogs and insects with
aquatic larvae \parencite{riparian-management}. This impact can mostly
be avoided by selecting a site that has already been cleared and does
not serve as important habitat to native species.

During dredging and excavation works on the construction site or
during the removal of sediments away from the site, sediments may
spill into nearby water bodies. An excessive increase in suspended
sediments in the river affects water clarity, thereby reducing
penetration with sunlight which is needed by aquatic plants and algae
to grow. Increased turbidity may also make it difficult for fish to
find food or detect predators \parencite{niwa-sediment}. As the
sediment load of a river increases, its flow characteristics
change\footnote{The cascading effects of changes to flow parameters
are addressed in later sections.} and invertebrate habitat may be
destroyed by smothering animals, plants and the
river-bed. Sedimentation is less of a problem when the construction
site and the transport routes are chosen to be not in the immediate
vicinity of the river or other bodies of water.

\subsection{Effects during operation}

During operation of the diary factory water is abstracted from the
nearby river to sustain the production activities. The amount of water
that is used by a dairy factory depends on a variety on parameters,
including the range of products that the factory produces and the
operations that are involved in production; in New Zealand about 2.2
litres of water are used for every litre of milk that is being
processed \parencite[Fonterra data, cited
in][]{vanasselt}\footnote{When dairy farming is included in the
calculations, one litre of milk requires almost 1,000 litres of water
on average.}. According to \textcite{vanasselt}, dairy processing
plants use water mainly for cleaning and sanitising operations, as
well as heating and cooling.

The \textcite[][p. 110]{growing} summarises the potential impacts of
water take as follows:

\begin{quote}
  The environmental effects of water allocation are twofold – the
  effects of the reduction of water in the water bodies and the
  effects the use of that water may have on water quality.
  Abstraction of water from surface water or groundwater, will have an
  impact on the ecosystems reliant on that water, for example, by
  reducing the flow of a river, or increasing the temperature of the
  water. Thus a reduced flow may mean that the river is no longer a
  suitable habitat or breeding ground for a type of fish.
\end{quote}

The major waste material from processing milk in a dairy factory is
wastewater carrying organic components (such as proteins, lactose and
fat) and inorganic components (e.g. nutrients). Wastewater includes
both water that has been removed from the milk and abstracted water
that has been used to sanitise equipment, clean the factory, or for
heating and cooling.

According to \textcite{vanasselt}, milk is repeatedly heated and
cooled during its way through the factory. UHT (ulta-high temperature)
treatment and other processes used to kill off harmful bacteria in the
milk, for example, results in heated wastewater. As most aquatic
ecosystems are very sensitive to temperature, discharges of warm
wastewater could significantly affect the composition and dynamics of
aquatic communities around the discharge location; hence, wastewater
discharges are usually required not to alter the natural temperature
of the sink waterway by more than one to two
degrees \parencite{chemical}. 

When organic components in dairy factory effluent reach rivers they
are converted to carbon dioxide and water by bacteria under use of
oxygen.  Whether the inflow of organic components leads to oxygen
depletion with fatal consequences for fish and other members of
aquatic communities depends on the re-aeriation characteristics of the
river \parencite{chemical}. 

\subsection{Other activites and socio-economic effects}

% TODO
- workers during construction
- more jobs during operation
- positive impact on economy (higher exports, more competition?)
- higher stress on social services for workers in the region
- loss of vegetation + discharge of wastewater: less beautiful
- transportation of milk and products, use of fossil fuels, noise
- increase in solid waste production from packaging

- other contaminants in the milk: antibiotics, pesticides used on the
  feed: WHO: direct evidence that antibiotics use results in resistent
  salmonella in humans (p. 5 of ecofootprint-dairy)


% Dairy farming has recently expanded in the Waiwhetu region, providing
% a boost to the local economy. To cope with the increased milk
% production, a dairy company is proposing to set up a new factory. The
% factory will be located close to the Waiwhetu River, the region’s main
% waterway. To operate the new factory, the proponents want to take
% water from the river and discharge wastewater from the plant back into
% the waterway.
% 
% There is already a dairy factory in the area producing milk products.
% The factory has existing discharge permits which are not up for review
% for another 10 years. At present, it uses 10,000 cubic metres of water
% from the river and discharges the same amount into the waterway. The
% wastewater is two degrees celsius warmer than the temperature of the
% river.
% 
% Many prominent people are welcoming the growth of dairying in the
% region and believe the new factory will bring more jobs to the area.
% However, others are concerned about the potential environmental
% impacts of the development. Environment groups and iwi argue water
% quality is already being affected by waste generated from local farms
% and want to see the river cleaned up.
% 
% Note: Waiwhetu is a fictitious region