Abstract
This paper aims to describe a process to prioritise chemical hazards from past and present coastal industrial infrastructure following events such as flooding and coastal erosion. Industrial infrastructure is commonly associated with coastal and riverine locations, affording bulk transport of materials and products. Whilst current industrial activities are highly regulated to prevent pollution, this was not always so with many coastal and riverine areas representing a legacy of potential chemical hazards. Natural processes such as coastal erosion and flooding, further increase the potential for contaminants to impact health and the environment. As it is impossible to provide contingencies for every eventuality, a framework was developed to help prioritise chemical hazards, based upon past and present coastal infrastructure. The work undertaken for the Hazrunoff Project and funded by the European Union, aims to aid contingency planning and preparedness i.e. using existing knowledge to predict potential risks and subsequent steps to manage such risks. The framework adopts a source-pathway-receptor (S-P-R) approach involving geographical and temporal scoping, together with hazard and receptor identification. An accompanying PC tool facilitates the prioritisation process incorporating toxicity and environmental behaviour of key industrial pollutants with user-defined weightings. A pilot study within the Bristol Channel region of the UK was able to prioritise chemical hazards from past and present infrastructure and identified areas of highest potential risk based upon potential contaminant distribution and location of receptors. The framework provides a relatively quick and simple approach to prioritise potential chemical hazards assisting planners to target resources and inform detailed assessment, monitoring and modelling programmes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 246-262 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
| Event | 42nd Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program - Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response, AMOP 2019 - Halifax, Canada Duration: 4 Jun 2019 → 6 Jun 2019 |
Conference
| Conference | 42nd Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program - Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response, AMOP 2019 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Canada |
| City | Halifax |
| Period | 4/06/19 → 6/06/19 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Clearly it is impossible to plan for every eventuality when preparing contingency and response management protocols. Therefore, we have developed a framework to help prioritise hazards, based upon industrial infrastructure and their legacy within an area and the corresponding principal pollutant hazards. The process is intended to assist planning and inform management strategies. The work was undertaken for the Hazrunoff Project and funded by the European Union (DGECHO, 2018). The project is principally intended to fill the knowledge and technology gaps around early warning and detection from flooding and hazmat pollution incidents in inland and transitional waters (http://www.hazrunoff.eu/), but has also considered tools and approaches to help to plan and prepare for such eventualities. The project commenced in January 2018, running for 2 years and includes a series of workstreams as illustrated in Figure 1 below.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of all Hazrunoff partners in completing this project deliverable and the European Commission DGECHO programme.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Proceedings - 42nd AMOP Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response. All rights reserved.
