Wednesday, April 14, 2010: 4:40 p.m.
Continental C (Westin Tabor Center, Denver)
Recently environmental cleanup standards in many states have been lowered because of the increase in the precision of measurement instrumentation and advancements in toxicological knowledge regarding the biological effects of environmental contaminants. At the same time, regional hydrogeologic information has become readily available, thereby allowing more complex analyses to be performed. Environmental modeling can assist in meeting these challenges and help to develop an understanding of sites by integrating site knowledge within conceptual site models, analyzing impact issues (cause-and-effect), and testing parameter sensitivity. When used from the inception of a project, environmental modeling can help to determine data needed to be measured and identify data-gaps. Environmental models are necessary tools to support risk-based corrective actions, and to create a plan to adequately remediate a site.
This paper presents a case study demonstrating how modeling, used from the beginning of a project, improved characterization and remediation of the contaminated site. It illustrates how it gives project management the tools to diagnose the site, to evaluate the quality of the data, and to efficiently allocate resources. Vadose zone leaching and groundwater fate and transport models were used early during site characterization, along with all available regional and site specific information to estimate the extent of site contamination, identify the levels of contaminants that were likely to cause impacts to the groundwater and, therefore needed to be removed, and identify an appropriate verification sampling plan The use of these models lead to a cost-effective remedy by preventing unnecessary sampling and remediation, and at the same time lead to an increase in regulatory agency confidence that the conclusions reached were accurate. A technical and economical comparison focuses on the impact of the early application of environmental modeling.
This paper presents a case study demonstrating how modeling, used from the beginning of a project, improved characterization and remediation of the contaminated site. It illustrates how it gives project management the tools to diagnose the site, to evaluate the quality of the data, and to efficiently allocate resources. Vadose zone leaching and groundwater fate and transport models were used early during site characterization, along with all available regional and site specific information to estimate the extent of site contamination, identify the levels of contaminants that were likely to cause impacts to the groundwater and, therefore needed to be removed, and identify an appropriate verification sampling plan The use of these models lead to a cost-effective remedy by preventing unnecessary sampling and remediation, and at the same time lead to an increase in regulatory agency confidence that the conclusions reached were accurate. A technical and economical comparison focuses on the impact of the early application of environmental modeling.