PARENT SESSION

HA9 Ecological Risk Assessment: General Perspectives and Case Studies
D137-140
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Thursday

() Expediting the Ecological Risk Assessment Paradigm for Sediments.

Samuelian, J.¹, Gormley, S.², Alsop, W.³, Clough, S.³, ¹ AMEC Earth & Environmental, Portland, ME, USA² AMEC Earth & Environmental, Portland, OR, USA³ AMEC Earth & Environmental, Westford, MA, USA

ABSTRACT- Tiered approaches are commonly applied in Ecological Risk Assessments (ERAs) due to the complexity of the ecosystems under evaluation. Generally, at the end of each tier there is a decision step to determine whether an ERA is even needed, whether the ERA and subsequent steps in the remediation process can be implemented, or whether additional field work is required. The decision steps can be difficult to resolve for complex systems such as contaminated sediment sites. Sediment systems integrate physical features (e.g., grain size and sediment chemistry), hydrology, biological communities, toxicity, and transfer between system compartments. In contrast to human health risk assessments, ecological risk assessment guidance allows the integration of risk management principles into the development of the key components (e.g., assessment and measurement endpoints) of the ERA, which can expedite the decision-making process. Through the use of several examples, we will demonstrate how to maintain the focus of sediment site ERAs on the key components needed to satisfy both the technical and management components of the decision-making process.

Key words: risk management, ERAs, decision-making, sediments