Performance of EIA Study of Gas Transfer Pipeline from Hamadan to Bijar with Focus on Using RS and GIS

The Hamadan-Bijar Gas Transfer Pipeline has the duty to transfer sweet gas to northern and northwestern regions of the country. According to regulations of DOE, establishment and operation of gas transfer lines needs carrying out EIA studies. Due to linear nature of this project it is necessary to compile a particular methodology for carrying out these projects. For this purpose, first attempt has been made to obtain a real knowledge of the environment where the project is going to be carried out through conducting library and field studies. At the same time, having reviewed the technical resources of the project, all the activities of the 2 constructional and operational phases were detected. Finally two checklist methods of explanatory and Leopold matrix were chosen to study EIA. With due regard to the compiled methodology it was necessary to use RS and GIS tools, in all stages of identification and conduction of this project, in studying the current environmental conditions, environmental routing of the choices, and preparing precise applied drawings for gas transfer line. The results of the study show that although the environment will incur many damages due to soil excavation operations, earth filling and explosions that may be necessary in some places, performance of this project particularly on operation phase, would be of great local, regional and national benefits because of its socioeconomic advantages. In another words, constructional and operational of this project is quite in accordance with the goals of sustainable development in three mentioned levels. Also carrying out this study suggests that using RS and GIS tools is not only inevitable in the process of performing these types of projects (linear projects) but it provides the environmental assessors with very precise information in order to achieve applied results. The method of using these tools has been discussed to a great extent in this article.