Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
particular, RBLM offers a structured way of identifying the benefits and drawbacks
of different options. These can then be balanced against the costs to produce a
sustainable solution. RBLM will also make cost comparisons more transparent.
23.7.5 Involving Stakeholders
Contaminated sites are the same as other environmental issues in terms of the range
of “stakeholders” - those who have a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of
decisions. For some aspects it is more complicated, since it often touches at the
heart of a society or individuals in that it affects not only their own immediate
environment, but also the value of something precious to them: their land.
Dialogue with stakeholders may affect the choice of certain solutions over others.
It will have to deal with “values” which are difficult to express in terms of risk or
utilitarian concepts like land use or soil function. The conservation of a pristine
underground environment and the conservation of geologically or archaeologically
important sites are examples of this.
23.7.6 Managing Uncertainties
There are many scientific and technical uncertainties in contaminated site decision-
making (Ferguson et al.
1998
). Uncertainties will always be there. RBLM provides
a way to deal with them in a systematic and explicit way. This is important, because
in Risk Management, some approaches lead to more certainty than others.
23.7.6.1 Technical and Scientific Uncertainties
For instance, treatment to reduce contaminant availability is more likely to lead to
management uncertainties than excavation of contaminated soil. If the remediation
aims to reduce a particular degree of risk, there will be uncertainties in the scientific
calculations of the remediation goal. Knowledge about the toxicity of contaminants
may change in the future, leading to either more strict or less strict remediation
targets. In addition, there may be contaminants present in the environment, which
have not yet been identified as potentially toxic.
Scientists may discover much more in the future about the way in which nat-
ural resources respond to pressures such as contamination, which could lead to a
greater or lesser need to protect them, or a need to manage the remediation of con-
tamination in a different way to work with these responses. Inevitably, there will be
aspects not yet realised that have implications for long-term care, for example the
effect of climate change on other soil and groundwater behaviour that in turn affects
contamination.
Apart from the scientific uncertainties, there may be uncertainties in the needs
of society, particularly in the future. This is not just a matter of knowing whether
the land use may change or not. The way sites are used in the future may be very
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