Best Practices for Risk-Informed Decision Making Regarding Contaminated Sites Summary of a Workshop Series (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 Monitoring
4 Monitoring
Pages 117-140
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From page 117... ...
The focus of the third session of the workshop was monitoring and institutional controls for long-term stewardship. The topic was introduced by Craig Benson, director of sustainability research and education and chair of civil and environmental engineering and geological engineering, University of Wisconsin and member of the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP)
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From page 118... ...
Monitoring by TABLE 4-1 Compliance Versus Functional Monitoring Type of Compliance: the common Function: uncommon strategy Monitoring monitoring strategy Why Because somebody made To confirm that feature is us do it functioning as expected Where Where they tell us to At location near feature monitor When When they tell us to Adequate frequency to characterize monitor behavior Advantages Confidence in methods and procedures Evaluate and/or calibrate predictive capability Disadvantages Impact of deficiency May not meet regulatory and detected long after requirements Shortcomings inception Casual deficiency May not understand mechanisms ambiguous (requires more info) Limited or no information about mechanisms (no lessons learned)
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From page 119... ...
A functional monitoring program -- including lysimeters -- provided insight into a previously unknown mechanism that contributed to excessive water percolation within the design.1 The system was installed and, at the surface, appeared to be functioning well with grass and vegetation growing as expected and with no reported problems. However, lysimeter measurements occasionally showed jumps in percolation rates on the order of 100 mm/year (a factor of 1,000 higher than the system specifications)
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The cover for the disposal cell was designed to be compatible with its natural surroundings. Native vegetation was designed into the cover along with functional monitoring.
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VOLUME II MONITORING 121 FIGURE 4-1 Remote monitoring system interface and sample data installed at the On Site Disposal Facility (OSDF) at the Fernald site.
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The flooding injects contaminants from the vadose zone, and increased levels of contaminants later appear in the groundwater. Functional monitoring allowed the hypothesis to be developed and models to be updated.
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He is credited for developing better methods to predict precipitation mechanisms in PRBs and to estimate their lifetimes. This is a great example of functional monitoring leading to improved understanding of an innovative remedy.
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noted that compliance monitoring is required by regulation and agreements. How does one convince sites to spend extra money on additional functional monitoring or to replace compliance-based monitors with functional monitors?
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Models provide predictions based on assumptions and can identify which variables may be used as leading indicators. However, the models, their assumptions, and their proposed leading indicators need validation with measurements collected through functional monitoring.
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The USGS is another federal government resource that could help with communication to provide unbiased analysis of data and technical information to stakeholders. Dawn Wellman agreed that science and functional monitoring are needed.
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From page 127... ...
The main contaminants are organic solvents and metals; there are no radioactive contaminants. Long-term controls include groundwater monitoring, monitored natural attenuation, and institutional controls, including the purchase of subsurface rights to 5 For more information on each of the case studies, see the full presentation at: http://dels.
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From page 128... ...
Wastes remaining onsite are stored in a 50acre disposal cell. Long-term stewardship includes groundwater monitoring
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. The desert terrain and climate add to the challenges including severe storms, road washouts, increased sedimentation, and potential impacts to disposal cell integrity.
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• Create a transparent culture where you invite the public to learn about the site. Engage neighboring land owners, local governments, and the community.
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b) FIGURE 4-5 The Tuba City site is located in northeastern Arizona on the western edge of the Navajo Nation (a)
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Assume the subsurface models are likely to be improved (e.g., when the 100 year flood occurs it will impact the existing site model)
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Mary Flora's Core Team Process presentation outlined a process that allowed decision makers to revisit issues as more data became available and knowledge increased. He asked
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. 4.5 THE CORE TEAM PROCESS: MAKING RISK INFORMED DECISIONS FOR ON-SITE MONITORING Mary Flora The Core Team Process was introduced at the first workshop.
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. Because of the combination of several factors, including the history of the groundwater monitoring program, the amount of data collected, and the lack of a site-wide groundwater monitoring plan, an optimization program
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R02626, 2 Figure 4-6 fixed image, color
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The Core Team recognized the opportunity to improve current groundwater monitoring activities and accepted the proposal to evaluate a set of five topics (Principle 2: Clear, concise and accurate problem definitions are critical)
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Based on the success of the Core Team Process for improving the site-wide groundwater monitoring program, it has recently been expanded into liquid waste management at SRS. 4.6 SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION SESSION Additional Case Studies Involving the Core Team Process.
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tried to bridge the two sets of Session 3 talks by connecting the concept of functional monitoring, testing, and modeling proposed by Craig Benson to LM stewardship and SRS's groundwater monitoring programs.
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