Application of the original site point method in determining a baseline for two different types of sites in northern...

Determining an ecological and environment damage baseline is the foundation of natural resource damage assessment. In complex damage assessment, the importance of a baseline is often underestimated or ignored. Existing baseline determination methods are insufficiently accurate and poorly available in practical application, which affect the damage assessment work. Based on the definition of baseline and the shortcomings of existing baseline-determination methods, this paper suggests the original site point (OSP) method as a determination principle. The baseline calculation area can be directly determined according to the site conditions in a sludge storage site with clear pollution distribution, and the OSP method has the advantage of determining the baseline rapidly. For a waste oil sludge storage site with unclear pollution distribution, the baseline calculation area should be determined according to preliminary and detailed sampling data. The calculation results of the two sites indicate that the baseline determined using the OSP method and the reference point (RP) method are similar, and the results of the environmental standard (ES) method are superior to those of the other two methods. The order of accuracy of baseline determination methods is the historical data (HD) method > the OSP method > the RP method > the model calculation (MC) method > the ES method. Through two application cases, this paper discusses the applicability of the OSP method and finally establishes the determination steps of the method. The OSP method has proven effective in determining the baseline, and the fast and accurate baseline determination method is more helpful for damage assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:1263-1273. © 2021 SETAC.