Cumulative Effects Assessment August 8, 2007

PERU LNG Project

4.2.2 Defining Resources and VECs – Upstream Projects Study Area

To help characterize the Upstream Projects study area in terms of site–specific or locally
relevant VECs, the Upstream Projects study area was classified in the following resources:
• Geology and Geomorphology
• Soils
• Groundwater
• Landscape
• Social Resources
• Flora and Fauna (Biological Resources)
• Surface Water Quality
• Air Quality
As discussed in Sections 5.1.2.1 through 5.1.2.3 of this document, the potential for cumulative
effects from the second component of the study area on geology, geomorphology, soils,
groundwater, and landscape resources was determined to be low.
The services provided by each remaining ecosystem (social resources, biological resources,
surface water quality, and air quality) were then characterized in terms of their (valued
ecosystem) components and the potential pathways that reflect their relationships to well-
being (Sections 5.1.2.4 through 5.1.2.7).

4.2.3 Characterizing Cumulative Effects

Cumulative effects can occur in various ways4, and these formed the basis of the assessment
process, as follows:
• Spatial Overlap
o When the footprints of projects coincide, either in terms of the formal,
designated boundaries of the projects, or the spatial extent of their impacts.
• Physical-chemical transport:
o A physical or chemical constituent is transported away from the action under
review where it then interacts with another action (e.g., air emissions, waste
water effluent, sediment).
• Nibbling loss:
o The gradual disturbance and loss of land and habitat (e.g., clearing of
vegetation).
• Spatial and temporal crowding:
o Occurs when too much is happening within too small an area and in too brief a
period of time. A threshold may be exceeded and the environment may not be
able to recover to pre-disturbance conditions.
o Spatial crowding results in an overlap of effects among actions (e.g., noise
from a road adjacent to an industrial site; confluence of stack emission
plumes).
o Temporal crowding may occur if effects from different actions overlap or occur
before the VEC has had time to recover.
• Growth-inducing potential:
o Each new action can induce further actions to occur. The effects of these
"spin-off" actions (e.g., increased vehicle access into a previously inaccessible

4
After Hegmann et al. (1999)

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