Environmental Impacts

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 co

1. BackgroundProject Overview The Myitsone Hydroelectric Project is located at the confluence of the Mali and N'Mai rivers and is the largest of seven dams (total capacity 13,360 MW) planned along the Irrawaddy, Mali Hka, and N'Mai Hka rivers in Burma. Scheduled for completion in 2019, Myitsone will become the 15th largest hydropower station in the world, with installed capacity at 6,000 MW. The dam project is expected to costs USD $3.6 billion dollars and is being developed by Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power-1, China Power Investment Corporation, and Asia World Company of Burma. Region

An international coalition of NGOs for the protection of transboundary rivers, Rivers without Boundaries, has presented evidence of undisclosed environmental risks to investors in advance of EuroSibEnergo's IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The report presented on the International Day of Action for Rivers exposes the environmental risks associated with EuroSibEnergo's plans to use the proceeds from its IPO to build two mega dams in the fragile river system in Siberia, including those connected to protected Lake Bakal, the largest freshwater system in the world. In connection with E

From September 2010 World Rivers Review Activists Step Up Campaign to Stop River-Killing ProjectActivists protest the 4-Rivers Project at the South Han River Park Jong-hak/KFEM Since we last reported on South Korea's massive 4-Rivers diversion project (WRR, Sept. 2009), a great deal has happened and the battle to stop the project has intensified. The project continues to be severely criticized by well-qualified scientists, environmentalists, and citizens in Korea and abroad. A lawsuit was filed in November 2009 by academics, 10,000 citizens, and 420 citizen's groups, reflecting the depth of

ALTAMIRA, Brazil, Aug 10 (IPS) - "It's a fait accompli," acknowledges André Villas-Boas, head of the independent SocioEnvironmental Institute (ISA), resigned to the fact that the legal actions and protests have failed to block the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil's Amazon jungle region. But the battles lost against megaprojects harmful to the environment and to indigenous peoples and other local communities have not discouraged activists from mobilising. However, they have made social organisations and experts question the government's decisio

An article has been published in Science Magazine about the mega-hydroelectric development threat to Chile's Patagonia. This article is particularly noteworthy because of the analysis that considers the potential impacts of both the massive HidroAysén project, as well as the proposal by Xstrata subsidiary Energía Austral to build another series of large dams in the region of Aysén. The article is worth the read, and is available for download below. Science July23 2010 DamsforPatagonia