This Pre-construction Environmental Monitoring Report has been produced in order to discharge Li-cence Condition 12 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 (Deemed Marine Licence under the Marine and Coastal Ac-cess Act 2009) of the Kentish Flats Extension Order 2013. The purpose of this document is to provide an overarching summary of all pre-construction survey reports produced on behalf of Vattenfall Wind Power Ltd for the Kentish Flats Extension (KFE) Offshore Wind Farm project. All technical reports are appended to this report which summarises the benthic and intertidal ecology, geophysical, fish and shellfish, ornithological and archaeological monitoring within the Order limits1.
A pre-construction benthic grab sampling campaign was undertaken to survey the abundance and dis-tribution of benthic fauna and analyse sediments within the Order limits. The biological, physical and chemical components of the samples were analysed to provide a detailed baseline of the benthic habi-tats and associated macrobenthic assemblages. If necessary, post-construction survey results will be compared with this baseline to assess any changes to be benthic communities resulting from the con-struction and operation of the KFE project.
A pre-construction Phase 1 intertidal walkover survey was undertaken at the landfall site of the KFE ca-ble route to collate baseline maps and data about the intertidal habitats present against which any future change may be measured post-construction.
Pre-construction geophysical surveys were undertaken to determine and report on the seabed condi-tions in the KFE project area, including the export cable corridor, to provide a pre-construction baseline against which any impacts of the construction of the wind farm on the seabed can be assessed. A range of surveying tools were employed including multi-beam echo sounder, side scan sonar and side bottom profiling to provide bathymetric information, map seabed features and locate any anomalies of interest.
Pre-construction fish and shellfish monitoring was undertaken using otter, beam and bass trawls, oys-ters were also collected for contaminants analysis. Data was collected to characterise the baseline abundance and distribution of key fish and shellfish populations within and adjacent to the KFE project. Where necessary, the baseline will be compared with post-construction fish and shellfish population da-ta and assess any changes associated with the construction of the KFE project.
Monthly pre-construction boat based surveys are currently being undertaken within a 4km buffer zone of the KFE boundary to collect data about existing ornithological activity, the aim is to monitor impacts on sensitive species in the vicinity of the KFE project. As the surveys are currently on-going the pre-construction survey shall be submitted to the Regulators separately following survey completion.
A review of all geophysical datasets from was undertaken to inform the Archaeological Geophysical As-sessment. This details all known and predicted seabed and palaeogeographic features of potential ar-chaeological interest and proposed mitigation measures for consideration in planning construction and development activities.