Enriching social and economic aspects in sustainability assessments of remediation strategies – Methods and implementation

Over the last decade, there has been rapid development in promoting and implementing sustainable remediation. It is now common to include at least some sustainability considerations in remediation projects. Specific challenges that have been highlighted often relate to economic and social aspects not receiving enough attention: broadening the social aspects, community and meaningful stakeholder engagement, understanding stakeholders\u27 risk perception, and a need for better estimates of site-specific economic costs and benefits. This study presents an application of the Sustainable Choice of REmediation (SCORE) framework with special focus on (1) demonstrating the working process for a broad sustainability assessment and (2) sharing the lessons learned from its application. Specific objectives are to describe (a) the types of stakeholders involved in the assessment, (b) the methods for collection of social and economic sustainability data, (c) residents\u27 perception of risks, (d) the use of the sustainability assessment results in the decision-making process, and (5) possibilities for improving the methods and working process. SCORE was applied and evaluated with input from, and together with, stakeholders at the BT Kemi industrial site in the village of Teckomatorp, south Sweden, a former pesticide production site associated with the most infamous Swedish environmental scandal. A questionnaire (n\ua0=\ua078) was used to collect input from residents regarding local acceptance and economic externalities of the remediation alternatives. Alternatives with a high degree of removal of contaminants received a high ranking in the assessment, primarily due to social and economic effects. The working process can be improved, specifically regarding workshop preparation and workshop structure. A broad representation of stakeholders and early establishment of communication channels to residents is key for robust assessment of social aspects. The information from the sustainability assessment was used in the decision-making process, not least for revising remediation options

Value of Information Analysis for Site Investigations in Remediation Projects

Site investigations of contaminated land are associated with high costs. From a societal point of view, just enough economic resources should be spent to allow societys limited resources to be allocated optimally to sustainable development. The solution is to design cost-effective investigation programmes, which can be performed using Value of Information Analysis (VOIA). The principle is to compare the expected benefit at present state of knowledge with the benefit that is expected after an investigation has been performed. Statistical methods are used to calculate the expected change, i.e. the value of the investigation. The main strength of the VOIA process is that it promotes clear thinking and forces the decision-maker to reflect on issues that otherwise would be ignored.A general framework for VOIA of site investigations is presented. The framework consists of seven modules: (1) the land use scenario, (2) the objective of investigation, (3) a conceptual site model, (4) a data collection module, (5) a prior information module, (6) an uncertainty reduction module, and (7) a decision model. The decision model is based on Bayesian risk-cost-benefit decision analysis. The result is an estimate of the value of an investigation programme, and for specific problems, the optimal number of samples. The framework can be applied on three complexity levels, where the value is expressed as: (a) the uncertainty reduction, (b) the quotient of uncertainty reduction and investigation cost, or (c) the expected monetary value. VOIA models were developed for investigations at early phases of a project, and for sampling during the later remediation phase. The models were applied in case-studies and the applications illustrate that the investigation objective, the land use, and the benefit of remediation have a major impact on the results. The main contributions of this thesis are: (1) a general framework for VOIA of site investigations in remediation projects, (2) a toolkit of VOIA models for practical application, and (3) a knowledge base of strengths and weaknesses of the methodology, including recommendations of development

Value of Information Analysis for Site Investigations in Remediation Projects

Site investigations of contaminated land are associated with high costs. From a societal point of view, just enough economic resources should be spent to allow societys limited resources to be allocated optimally to sustainable development. The solution is to design cost-effective investigation programmes, which can be performed using Value of Information Analysis (VOIA). The principle is to compare the expected benefit at present state of knowledge with the benefit that is expected after an investigation has been performed. Statistical methods are used to calculate the expected change, i.e. the value of the investigation. The main strength of the VOIA process is that it promotes clear thinking and forces the decision-maker to reflect on issues that otherwise would be ignored.A general framework for VOIA of site investigations is presented. The framework consists of seven modules: (1) the land use scenario, (2) the objective of investigation, (3) a conceptual site model, (4) a data collection module, (5) a prior information module, (6) an uncertainty reduction module, and (7) a decision model. The decision model is based on Bayesian risk-cost-benefit decision analysis. The result is an estimate of the value of an investigation programme, and for specific problems, the optimal number of samples. The framework can be applied on three complexity levels, where the value is expressed as: (a) the uncertainty reduction, (b) the quotient of uncertainty reduction and investigation cost, or (c) the expected monetary value. VOIA models were developed for investigations at early phases of a project, and for sampling during the later remediation phase. The models were applied in case-studies and the applications illustrate that the investigation objective, the land use, and the benefit of remediation have a major impact on the results. The main contributions of this thesis are: (1) a general framework for VOIA of site investigations in remediation projects, (2) a toolkit of VOIA models for practical application, and (3) a knowledge base of strengths and weaknesses of the methodology, including recommendations of development

Value of information analysis for site investigation programs accounting for variability, uncertainty and scale effects with the Aspo HRL prototype repository as an example

An important feature of underground projects is the early site investigations, performed as a means to identify and quantify hazards. A methodology is presented for identifying the most cost-effective investigation program among a set of alternatives. Methodologies are presented for both investigation of thermal conductivity in hard rock and collection of rock mechanic data for stress induced spalling problems. The cost-effectiveness of an investigation program is estimated by means of value of information analysis (VOIA). Each investigation program of thermal conductivity is associated with uncertainty due to natural variability and lack of knowledge. These uncertainties are taken into account in a simulation model with the aim to estimate the distribution of thermal conductivity values at different scales. The output is a set of thermal conductivity values from which a design parameter can be estimated. The simplest measure of the value of a site investigation is the expected reduction of uncertaintyofthedesignparameter. The methodology is demonstrated with a case study for the prototype nuclear waste repository at Aspo Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden. A set of four investigation programs for thermal conductivity were evaluated, and the most effective one identified. The application illustrates that an investigation program may supply very different value to a project, depending on how the objective of the investigation is defined. This is demonstrated by using two different objectives and comparing the results. Practical applications of the methodology on both thermal properties and rock mechanics are discussed, with emphasis on site investigations performed by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management (SKB). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Value of Information Analysis in Remedial Investigations

Site investigations of contaminated land are associated with high costs. From a societal perspective, just enough economic resources should be spent on investigations so that society\u27s limited resources can be used optimally. The solution is to design investigation programs that are cost-effective, which can be performed using Value of Information Analysis (VOIA). The principle of VOIA is to compare the benefit at the present state of knowledge with the benefit that is expected after an investigation has been performed. A framework for VOIA of site investigations is presented based on Bayesian risk-cost-benefit decision analysis. The result is an estimate of the value of an investigation program, and for specific problems, the optimal number of samples. The main strength of the methodology is that it promotes clear thinking and forces the decision-maker to reflect on issues that otherwise would be ignored. The main weakness is the complexity of VOIA models

What\u27s the point? The contribution of a sustainability view in contaminated site remediation

Decision support tools (DST) are often used in remediation projects to aid in the complex decision on how best to remediate a contaminated site. In recent years, the sustainable remediation concept has brought increased attention to the often-overlooked contradictory effects of site remediation, with a number of sustainability assessment tools now available. The aim of the present study is twofold: (1) to demonstrate how and when different assessment views affect the decision support outcome on remediation alternatives in a DST, and (2) to demonstrate the contribution of a full sustainability assessment. The SCORE tool was used in the analysis; it is based on a holistic multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach, assessing sustainability in three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic. Four assessment scenarios, compared to a full sustainability assessment, were considered to reflect different possible assessment views; considering public and private problem owner perspectives, as well as green and traditional assessment scopes. Four real case study sites in Sweden were analyzed. The results show that the decision support outcome from a full sustainability assessment most often differs to that of other assessment views, and results in remediation alternatives which balance trade-offs in most of the scenarios. In relation to the public perspective and traditional scope, which is seen to lead to the most extensive and expensive remediation alternatives, the trade-off is related to less contaminant removal in favour of reduced negative secondary effects such as emissions and waste disposal. Compared to the private perspective, associated with the lowest cost alternatives, the trade-off is higher costs, but more positive environmental and social effects. Generally, both the green and traditional assessment scopes miss out on relevant social and local environmental secondary effects which may ultimately be very important for the actual decision in a remediation project