Improving Dredged Material Management Decisions with Uncertainty Analysis
Abstract
Uncertainty regarding the ecological and human health risks associated with dredged material disposal alternatives can lead to delayed, costly and unwise decisions. Uncertainty about the likelihood for unacceptable impacts can result from the lack of knowledge about critical elements or processes contributing to risk or natural variability in the same elements or processes. The objectives of this effort were to (a) describe in detail the uncertainty sources within the tiered evaluation process, (b) rank sources of uncertainty within the tiered evaluation process by degree of contribution, and (c) make preliminary recommendations for further refinement of the ranking. The most significant sources of uncertainty within the tiered evaluation process included identification of the contaminants of concern, the selection and use of reference sediments, trophic transfer of sediment-associated contaminants, the potential for chronic toxicity and the use of chronic sublethal bioassays, defining assessment and measurement end points during the conduct of an environmental risk assessment, the use of contaminant fate and transport models, tissue-based measures of toxicity, dose-response models for human receptors, and the toxicity of complex mixtures. Specific recommendations for the need for more extensive field validation for many of the components in the tiered evaluation process were made.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA363151
Entities
People
- Donna J. Vorhees
- Katherine Von Stackelberg
- Susan B. Kane Driscoll
- Todd S. Bridges