Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
classified as acceptable scientifically - even from a long-term point of view - for
soil and groundwater protection. The same may hold for small-scale dilution and
dispersion of the polluting substance when it degrades in the soil matrix.
According to the European Union's viewpoint it is vital that soil and water
resources are valued and protected properly. There are two equally important goals
for integration of resource protection with contaminated site management. One is
to prepare an optimal plan combining use of the resource with its protection and
restoration. The other is to consider all the components of RBLM for each site to
ensure the full assessment of implications for natural resource protection, conserva-
tion and enhancement. Considering natural processes and capacities in the soil and
water environment allows for a wider range of potentially sustainable solutions.
23.7.4 Costs
23.7.4.1 Types of Cost
The cost of remediation work is often an overriding factor in decisions. It is all too
easy to take a narrow view of costs based only on obvious direct costs of remediation
and to ignore wider types of costs, some of which are related to the components of
the RBLM analysis, such as:
1. Indirect or “opportunity costs”, for example where the site is not fit for use
because remediation has not taken place, or where there is a loss of income
caused by delay in being able to use the site because the remediation process
is slow, or where a particular land use is not possible because of a restricted
remediation.
2. Components related to protection of the environment, for example to prevent
environmental damage or burdens falling on different sectors or “third parties”,
or when a remediation process which uses a large quantity of off-site material
may in effect place the burden of renewing that resource onto someone else, or a
negative impact on an ecosystem may not be noticed for many years.
3. Long-term components, particularly where there is a requirement for long-term
care, or where a resource may need to be restored in the longer-term.
4. Costs relating to different financial mechanisms for providing the funding,
such as those which use income and those which require transfer of capital or
exchange with other assets.
The comparison of costs can be made more complicated by financial accounting
conventions and by the tendency to avoid financial costs today, when they can be
postponed to the future.
23.7.4.2 Balancing Costs and Benefits
Costs and benefits can be considered within RBLM as part of integrated decisions
considering fitness for use, protection of the environment and long-term care. In
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