Positively shaping the energy and climate change agenda with our external stakeholders in both regions
Protecting the environment
We will help to protect the environment for future generations and we are committed to continuously improving our environmental performance.
The performance indicators that we monitor in this area include the amount of waste we generate and recycle, activity in land contamination management and the number of significant direct environmental incidents.
At 31 March 2009, approximately 80% of our employees worked to certified ISO 14001 environmental management systems compared to 66% at the same time last year. The main reason for this increase is the certification in November 2008 of the gas operations we acquired as part of the KeySpan acquisition. During 2009, we will be seeking certification of KeySpan electricity operations acquired.
The number of significant environmental incidents in 2008/09 arising directly from our operations was 12, which included 4 contractor-related incidents, compared with 34, including 25 contractor-related incidents in 2007/08 and 40, including 20 contractor-related incidents in 2006/07. Incidents outside of our control resulting from third party or weather-related damage to our networks were 1 compared with 1 in 2007/08 and 13 in 2006/07. The results prior to 2008/09 did not include KeySpan and so are not directly comparable. There was 1 contractor-related prosecution resulting from these incidents. In the US, we received 6 environmental citations in 2008/09 compared with 6 in 2007/08 and 9 in 2006/07, attracting a total of $86,500 in fines. Data prior to 2008/09 does not include KeySpan, so is not directly comparable. In the UK, we received 1 improvement notice.
In our 2009 employee survey, 62% (2008: 55%) of respondents considered National Grid acts responsibly in all its business dealings, including environmental management.
Significant environmental incidents
Direct Target: zero
- Data prior to 2008/09 excludes KeySpan.
Significant environmental incidents
Third party/weather
- Data prior to 2008/09 excludes KeySpan.
We manage an inherited portfolio of historically contaminated land including former manufactured gas plants, industrial landfills, former and current gas holders and electricity substations on our transmission and distribution networks. Sites can sometimes have a complex mix of contamination dating back over 100 years.
National Grid manages land contamination issues on 678 sites, the majority of which were previously used for gas production. In the US, this includes obligations in relation to land owned by third parties.
During 2008/09, environmental work stages were completed on 316 sites of which 22 included remediation. As a proportion of the programme in the UK is linked to the redevelopment of brownfield sites, the economic downturn has adversely influenced the number of remediation work stages completed.
We also take seriously the issues that surround electric and magnetic fields. We recognise that there is scientific uncertainty as to whether the electric and magnetic fields that are produced by some of our assets have an effect on health or not, and that this produces public concern. We monitor the science carefully (this year has seen new studies on issues such as Alzheimer’s disease and damage to genes) but we look to relevant independent bodies such as the World Health Organization and the UK’s Health Protection Agency for authoritative advice. In all our operations, as a minimum, we aim to comply with the relevant regulations, guidelines or practices in force in the different jurisdictions in which we operate. In addition, we actively support high-quality research and open communication (including maintaining a website at www.emfs.info) and we look for more constructive and less confrontational ways of handling this issue. All these activities are governed by our public position statement on electric and magnetic fields, which we review annually.
On our website (www.nationalgrid.com), we provide further information on the steps we are taking to reduce our impact on the environment, including our use of natural resources and minimising the impact on the environment of waste.