Environmental impacts from operational sites can arise in a variety of ways, including machinery noise; vehicle movements; impact on ambient air quality; emissions of odour or dust; the management of waste, residues, and by-products; and discharges to water. Ensuring environmental compliance is essential to comply with the various environmental regulatory and contractual requirements.  

Our Energy Disputes Guide describes some of the environmental compliance issues of the operation phase of an energy project and recommends the following mitigation measures:

• Maintain strong incident response procedures to deal with problems quickly and reduce the risk of regulatory sanctions.
• If the regulator is investigating a potential breach, it may be prudent to offer an Enforcement Undertaking with a view to avoiding prosecution. Such offers are more likely to be accepted when they are offered early and proactively. 
• Stay on good terms with neighbours, new and old, to avoid private nuisance actions.