--> Abstract: Development of an ASTM Practice for Conducting Exposure and Risk Assessment for Petroleum Contamination, by M. Small; #90958 (1995).

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Abstract: Development of an ASTM Practice for Conducting Exposure and Risk Assessment for Petroleum Contamination

Matthew Small

The ASTM B-50.01 Subcommittee on underground storage tanks has developed a practice for conducting Exposure and Risk Assessment for Petroleum Contamination. This standard is being prepared in cooperation with other ASTM committees working on corrective action and site assessment standards.

This practice is mainly an effort to standardize practical application of existing superfund risk-assessment practices to petroleum contamination problems. This is not an entirely new approach to the problem of petroleum contamination, but an approach similar to that which is already being applied in some states, including: MN, OH, HI, MA, SD, TX. The potential benefits include: decreased remediation and site closure costs; reduced State Fund expenditures; and reduced liability.

The Exposure/Risk Assessment practice itself uses a "Tiered Approach" for exposure pathway analysis. This approach employs increasingly site specific and data intensive analysis of contaminant pathways and receptors for each tier, to determine site specific urgency and amount of interim corrective action needed. This is NOT a substitute for remediation; even in those cases where no remediation is indicated, verification monitoring may still be needed.

The practice encourages the application of cleanup requirements at appropriate or realistic receptor points as a result of potential viable migration pathways, rather than an arbitrary boundary or hypothetical worst case. The standard will also discuss Institutional controls as an alternative for exposure pathway elimination. Appendices will include information on: Petroleum Hydrocarbon Characteristics; Integration of Modeling with the Risk-Based Corrective Action Process; Case Studies and Examples; and Institutional Controls.

The current schedule targets February 94 as the date for sending the final draft out to regulators, consultants, and public for final comments and initial balloting. Publication as an emergency standard is planned following final balloting.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90958©1995 AAPG Pacific Section Meeting, San Francisco, California