Environmental Impact Assessment for the Myitsone Dam

Date: 
Thursday, September 29, 2011

China Power Investment funded and commissioned the Changjiang Institute of Survey, Planning, Design and Research (CISPDR) to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Myitsone Dam with Burmese experts from the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA). In March 2010, CISPDR finalized the full EIA, which was finally published in September 2011. The original document can be found on the developer's website, but for those who cannot view it there, please see a copy of the document below.

In 2013, International Rivers working with local environmental NGOs in Myanmar complied a survey of the EIA. The survey found that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) contains some serious deficiencies and flawed conclusions. Based on the reviews from 12 experts in fields including ecology, fisheries, environmental and social impact assessment, public health, flood management and hydrology, the survey found that the analysis of the dams’ impacts on terrestrial fauna was “relatively robust,” but that there were serious flaws in the methodology and structure of the EIA, total neglect of the temporal and spatial scale of the social and environmental impacts of the dams, superficial analysis of the dams’ impacts on freshwater biodiversity, and that public participation failed to meet best practice.

Environmental Impact Assessment for Myitsone Dam