Q&A: Risk Assessment

How does risk assessment benefit projects?

Risk assessment provides the technical basis for no further action or remediation at a site. It benefits projects because it identifies the risks to human health and/or ecological receptors posed by the presence of chemicals or contaminants. Risk assessment is a reliable, cost-effective tool to help evaluate property transfers or redevelopments, address regulatory enforcement, and avoid unnecessary costs related to contaminant concentrations that exceed regulatory screening criteria but are not based on site-specific risk.

What are the different levels of risk assessment?

A screening-level risk assessment is the first step in deciding whether to remediate, as it compares chemical concentrations to conservative regulatory levels. If the screening-level risk assessment shows that exposure to the contaminants present does not pose an unacceptable health risk, then remediation is not necessary.

When a site does not pass the screening-level risk assessment, the next step is a baseline risk assessment. In contrast to a screening-level risk assessment, a baseline risk assessment applies site-specific exposure assumptions to determine if remediation is necessary.

When should I incorporate risk assessment into a project?

Conducting a scoping meeting upon project approval is an effective way to determine the tasks—including risk assessment—that should be performed to meet the project goals. During the meeting, team members can discuss what information should be collected, how it should be collected, and how the information can be collectively used to benefit the project.

By engaging a toxicologist on a project, the team can better understand the recommended level of risk assessment. The toxicologist can also identify the types of data that will be needed to successfully perform the risk assessment. It should be noted that the data requirements for site characterization may not reflect those of a risk assessment.