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Recommendations for Developing Effective Risk Management Policies for Contaminated Site Cleanup

Recommendations for Developing Effective Risk Management Policies for Contaminated Site Cleanup. An Overview of Risk Management Concepts and How Risk Management is Used to Set Priorities in Two Contaminated Site Remedial Programs in the U.S. Presentation by Emily Pimentel

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Recommendations for Developing Effective Risk Management Policies for Contaminated Site Cleanup

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  1. Recommendations for Developing Effective Risk Management Policies for Contaminated Site Cleanup An Overview of Risk Management Concepts and How Risk Management is Used to Set Priorities in Two Contaminated Site Remedial Programs in the U.S. Presentation by Emily Pimentel U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 pimentel.emily@epa.gov

  2. Presentation Overview • Risk assessment and risk management concepts and issues. • Recommendations for setting remedial program priorities. • Overview of two US programs to remediate contaminated sites. • Summary of key points.

  3. Recommendations for SettingPriorities • Prioritize remedial programs based on: • Sites with a known responsible party (owner), • Sites that are abandoned, • Other sites with complex policy issues. • Prioritize contaminated sites with a known release and a pathway that poses greatest threat of exposure. • Manage based on chemicals associated with industry-sectors. • Promote early risk reduction and site stabilization at all contaminated sites.

  4. SEMARNAT’s Goal: To establish a process to identify and prioritize contaminated sites that pose the greatest risk to human health and the environment.

  5. Risk Defined “The combination of the probability or frequency of occurrence of a defined hazard and magnitude of the consequences of the occurrence.”

  6. Risk Assessment “The use of the factual base to define the health and ecological effects of exposure of individuals, populations, or environments to hazardous materials or situations.” United States National Academy of Sciences Risk Management Involves determining and accomplishing those actions that will reduce risks to the greatest degree given any particular level of resources. Balances risk reduction against resources. Balances the risk of one action against the risk of another. Risk Assessment Risk Management

  7. For those of you whoare more visual! Risk Perception Risk Assessment Risk Management

  8. Risk Communication Challenges • Due to scientific uncertainty, it is difficult to provide exact numbers to estimate risks. • Two of the most prominent sources of risk communication are the government and industry, yet they are the most mistrusted. • Media plays a big role in providing information, but they often they simplify it, get it wrong, or distort it. • The public evaluates risk based on perception and their own judgment of what is acceptable risk. Scientist/Engineers Decision-makers Stakeholders

  9. Major Concerns of Traditional Risk Ranking Models • Risk alone should not predominate decision-making. • Risk assessment and comparative risk models are not solely science-based; they involvement judgments and a high degree of uncertainty. • Risk management projects often neglect public participation and social values needed to make good decisions. A regulatory process for the explicit consideration of social and political factors is typically not provided

  10. Recommendations for Setting Priorities for Remediation of Contaminated Sites • Prioritize remedial programs based on: • Sites with a known responsible party (owner), • Sites that are abandoned sites, • Other sites with complex policy issues. • Prioritize contaminated sites with a known release and a pathway that poses greatest threat of exposure. • Manage based on chemicals associated with industry-sectors. • Promote early risk reduction and site stabilization at all contaminated sites.

  11. A Review of What Mexico Wants and Progress Made • SEMARNAT’s Goal: • To establish a process to identify and prioritize contaminated sites that pose the greatest risk to human health and the environment. • Progress to date includes: • Evaluated a variety of programs; • PROFEPA begana list working with 17 states; • DGGIMAR created a list of 31 sites.

  12. Prioritize contaminated sites based on whether they are: • Known PRP • Abandoned • Complex sites Mexico’s List of Concerns • Mining (exploration, production) • Petroleum (exploration, production, sales) • Manufacturing (cement, electronics, paper) • Energy (production, conveyance) • Transport (trucks, railroads, bus, shipping) • Agriculture (pesticide use, solid waste) • Landfill (Solid and hazardous waste)

  13. Other SitesExamples of possible “other site” categories • Agriculture and Mining: • Large landscape impacted; • Prevention practices being implemented today; • Costly and length process; • Policies still require work. • These sites are also important, but need to: • Create manageable work-loads so that resources • are not invested into a small number of sites. • Allow time to develop experience and policies to • address the more complex remedial program issues • for these sites.

  14. SEMARNAT is Already Making Risk Management Decisions that Could be Considered in the “Other Sites” Category: Prioritized remediation of heavy metals in mine tailings adjacent to a small community in Sonora.

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