Impact on the Environment

Every incident reported to the Council is graded according to the impact it has on the receiving environment- that is, where it ends up. In 2008-09, 19% (184) of incidents reported to the Council had no detectable impact on the environment and 56% (531) had only a minor impact on the environment. They were short-lived and/or affected only a small area and caused no significant damage to the environment.

On the other hand, 7% (66) of the incidents reported to the Council had a significant impact on the environment. They were longer-lived and/or occurred over a larger area and had a significant affect on the environment.

Three of the incidents reported to the Council in 2008-09 had a large impact on the environment (shown as 0% in the graph below). These incidents had a long-term impact and, in some cases, the environment needed restoration.