Accelerating progress at contaminated sediment sites: moving from guidance to practice

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Risk Management
• Environmental Engineering

Background:

• Contaminated sediments pose significant economic, ecological, and social challenges in the United States.
• Current investigation, evaluation, and remediation methods for contaminated sediment sites are often slow, costly, and fail to deliver timely, risk-based solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify actionable strategies for accelerating progress and enhancing the effectiveness of risk management at contaminated sediment sites.
• To bridge the gap between current US regulatory guidance and improved practices for contaminated sediment remediation.

Main Methods:

• Convened a workshop with experts from government, industry, consulting, and academia.
• Identified and detailed five key actions to improve contaminated sediment management.

Main Results:

• Five critical actions were identified: 1) establishing explicit project vision and goals, 2) strategic stakeholder engagement, 3) optimizing risk management and remedy selection (including early actions and phased approaches), 4) implementing incentive processes for risk reduction, and 5) fostering public-private collaboration.
• These actions aim to improve the application of science and risk management for more efficient and effective contaminated sediment solutions.

Conclusions:

• Implementing the five identified actions can significantly accelerate progress and improve the effectiveness of risk management at contaminated sediment sites.
• A collaborative, strategic, and goal-oriented approach is essential for successful and timely contaminated sediment remediation.