Environmental Impact Assessment of an Iron and Steel Factory in Kurdistan, Iran

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, according to several international standards, should identify as many environmental aspects as possible in project appraisals. The Kurdistan Iron and Steel Factory (KISF) proposed to expand its existing plant to cater the higher demand of downstream industries. The total capacity of the expanded plant will exceed 650,000 tons/year, thus requiring an EIA. This paper describes relevant aspects of the KISF manufacturing process, and the steps taken to fulfill EIA requirements. In the first stage of the EIA, we collected qualitative and quantitative data with regard to the physical-chemical, biological, and socio-economic environments. Then, we assessed the impacts of different activities and considered a range of effective practical approaches that could be taken to prevent and control adverse impacts. We also describe the actions to be executed and the environmental monitoring plans adopted.