Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Mining Sector in Nigeria.

Abstract

This study has examined Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the mining sector in Nigeria. The study has appraised the importance of EIA, the processes and application of EIA in the mining sector in Nigeria. The study has shown that the introduction of EIA in the mining sector is a recent development aimed at reducing the impacts of mining on the environment. The study equally showed that despite the importance of EIA to mining activity, there are few instances of EIA application in mining activity in Nigeria. Some of the challenges include high cost of EIA, EIA takes long time to complete, dearth of baseline information that will be used to assess the environmental impacts of the projects, lack of commitment to implementation of EIA among others. Based on the findings. The study recommends the need to develop the capacity of the Mines Environmental Compliance Department, political will to enforce compliance to the EIA Act, improvement in EIA guidelines and the processes, harmonisation and coordination of the activities of the agencies involved in conduct of EIA and improvement in the quality of industrial and medical laboratories for environmental quality and standard analysis in Nigeria.