SBIR Phase I: Ground Truthing Approach to Risk Assessment and Communication Under Uncertainty

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9661182 Knowlton This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project to be carried out by Decision TX focuses on the development of improved methods and a related software system for assessing and communicating environmental health risks, as well as estimating potential financial burdens associated with such risks. The suggested methods will allow risk assessors and risk managers to efficiently evaluate the accumulated risks at contaminated industrial and waste management sites affected by parameter uncertainty and variability, while making the best objective use of site contaminant data. The software system will facilitate objective analysis of costs associated with remedial actions that might be undertaken to remove contamination, and the associated financial risks d liabilities imposed by the environmental contamination. A particularly timely application of the proposed approach is to the numerous Brownfield sites located throughout the United States. Many of the graphical constructs suggested for the software system will greatly simplify the communication of risk issues to site stakeholders. The methods proposed incorporate both established concepts and recently-researched technologies; however, the Decision TX approach represents a novel attempt to combine all of these complementary concepts into an easy-to-use package. The technologies developed under this research can be applied to streamline waste site investigations and remediation projects in both government and private sectors. Entities standing to benefit from the tools include commercial and industrial businesses whose sites fall under the purview of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and other environmental regulations and drivers. In addition, these software tools would greatly aid the legal, financial, industrial, insurance, and real estate communities, in determining liabilities and financial risks associated wit h the purchase or redevelopment of contaminated properties.