Management of abandoned and contaminated land - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 181

Figure 7.3 Risk management scheme of contaminated land (RA: RiskAssessment, RR: Risk Reduction).
5.1 Problem definition and conceptual risk model of
contaminated sites
The identification of contaminants, their sources, the time and spatial scale of their
emission and transport, the characteristics of the environment and past and present
land uses are all pieces of necessary information needed to understand and define
the problem and to draw/prepare the conceptual model of the site. To collect all this
information the research in archives and databases as well as communication with all
stakeholders are equally important. Former and present production, raw material used
and technologies applied as well as the products all provide important information for
the identification of the problem and risk.
The conceptual model of the site showing sources, transport routes, potential or
proven contaminated environmental compartments and the users of the land exposed
to the contaminants through the environment can only be plotted based on available
information. In addition to the availability of information, we must be able to select
useful information, which is necessary in the following management and decision-
making steps. For the selection and collection of necessary information, only the data
need of the next management step—risk assessment and risk characterization—should
be clear. This means that the steps of problem definition and risk assessment are in a
close, iterative type of relationship with each other.