Assessment of Constituent Leaching for Risk-Based Management Decisions. D. S. Kosson, A. Garrabrants, F. Sanchez, and H. A. van der Sloot; Vanderbilt University and Netherlands Energy Research Foundation
Environmental protection is the primary goal for evaluating leaching of constituents from soils, wastes and other materials. It is becoming more widely accepted that a single test method or release model is insufficient to meet the range of needs. The key question to be answered is "What is the amount and time frame over which a constituent of interest will be released from a material (e.g., waste, soil) given the proposed management scenario?" The framework for answering this question should be consistent across many applications, ranging from multiple waste disposal scenarios to determination of the environmental acceptability of materials that may be subject to leaching (e.g., construction materials). At the same time, the framework should be flexible enough to consider regional and facility-specific differences in factors affecting leaching (e.g., precipitation, facility design) and uncertainty. Distinction should be made based on the amount of a priori knowledge, material quantity, and balancing between testing and management costs to achieve economic efficiency. Ultimately, the results also should guide the evaluator to a technical decision about contaminant movement. This presentation provides an assessment framework and reviews the advantages and limitations of different testing and leaching assessment models to inform the land management decision process.
Research was supported by USDOE (DE-FG26-00NT40938) to the IRM/CRESPII. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DOE or of IRM/CRESP II.
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