Publications

Full program and proceedings from CleanUp 2013 conference. Includes both volume I and II.

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CRC CARE has undertaken the development of health-based screening levels (HSLs) for petroleum hydrocarbons to address an identified need for consistent human health risk assessment of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in Australian conditions. The HSLs represent the best collective view of the available science and application of Australian approaches on selection of health criteria and exposure parameters. The document underwent several international peer reviews by experts in the United States, Canada and Australia. Given the innovative nature of the work, CRC CARE will monitor national and international developments, and publish updates as and when necessary.

CRC CARE has undertaken the development of health-based screening levels (HSLs) for petroleum hydrocarbons to address an identified need for consistent human health risk assessment of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in Australian conditions. The HSLs represent the best collective view of the available science and application of Australian approaches on selection of health criteria and exposure parameters. The document underwent several international peer reviews by experts in the United States, Canada and Australia. Given the innovative nature of the work, CRC CARE will monitor national and international developments, and publish updates as and when necessary.

The HSLs and the underlying methodology may be used for health risk assessment purposes in the context of the wider site assessment framework for petroleum hydrocarbon contamination provided in the Assessment of Site Contamination NEPM as varied. It should be noted that the HSLs were derived through the consideration of health effects only, with particular emphasis on the vapour exposure pathway. Other considerations such as ecological risk, aesthetics, the presence of free phase product and explosive/fire risk will need to be assessed separately, as they are not addressed by the HSLs.

It is strongly recommended that the HSL technical development document and the associated documents (Part 2: Application document, Part 3: Sensitivity assessment and Part 4: Extension model) are referred to for the key assumptions for the derivation of the HSLs, and for their application and limitations on their use. 

The assessment of contamination using health-based screening criteria and investigation thresholds is a complex matter. While every effort has been made to identify and assess the significant risks to human health associated with petroleum hydrocarbon contamination, it is strongly recommended that assessments are carried out by appropriately qualified and experienced persons (who understand the context, requirements and limitations of such use), in consultation with the relevant jurisdiction.

Many of the assumptions that underlie the HSL values involve policy decisions. It is possible that future reviews may lead to changes in the assumptions and the values of the HSLs. It is, therefore, important to check the CRC CARE website for relevant updates at the time of the assessment.

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Sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons represent a significant proportion of Australia’s contaminated land, and proper characterisation of these sites is therefore a major concern. Poorly planned and executed site characterisation is likely to result in additional expense, both during the investigation and subsequent remediation, and inadequate or misleading data may also result in an increased risk to human health and the environment.

Sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons represent a significant proportion of Australia’s contaminated land, and proper characterisation of these sites is therefore a major concern. Poorly planned and executed site characterisation is likely to result in additional expense, both during the investigation and subsequent remediation, and inadequate or misleading data may also result in an increased risk to human health and the environment. A number of guidance documents related to contaminated site characterisation currently exist in Australia; however, these are typically regional, outdated or do not provide information specific to characterising petroleum hydrocarbon impacts.

CRC CARE, in consultation with industry, consultants and regulators, recognised the need to prepare national guidelines for the characterisation of petroleum hydrocarbon impacted sites, to unify current guidance and provide support for innovative technologies and approaches. These guidelines have therefore been prepared under CRC CARE’s National Contaminated Sites Demonstration Program. Preparation of the guidelines forms part of a larger Site Characterisation Project scope, which has also included the formation of a Petroleum Projects Project Advisory Group (PAG) to provide direction and feedback from industry, consultants, researchers and state regulators. A review of relevant existing Australian and international guidance, protocols and techniques has also been previously completed (Davis et al. 2006) and taken into consideration during the development of these guidelines.

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Australia has no current guidance on the field assessment of volatile compounds for sites where vapours have the potential to migrate into buildings and pose risks to human health. There are recommendations to provide such national guidance. This report updates knowledge available internationally related to guidance and methods of vapour assessment. It is intended to be used with other documentation to inform the variation of the Australian National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure (NEPM) currently underway.

Australia has no current guidance on the field assessment of volatile compounds for sites where vapours have the potential to migrate into buildings and pose risks to human health. There are recommendations to provide such national guidance. This report updates knowledge available internationally related to guidance and methods of vapour assessment. It is intended to be used with other documentation to inform the variation of the Australian National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure (NEPM) currently underway.

In this report:

• the processes underlying vapour behaviour are described
• available guidance is reviewed
• a framework for vapour assessment and screening is suggested
• design issues for field assessment of vapours are described
• investigation and sampling techniques are compared, and
• observations from the work are summarised.

It is found that a well-described conceptual site model (CSM) of vapour risk embodies understanding of site conditions, potential vapour behaviour, and priorities for investigation. It serves as the basis for vapour risk assessment along with data quality objectives (DQOs).

Extensive vapour intrusion and assessment guidance documentation has been developed within the United States of America and by industry, but limited guidance is available for other countries. A staged approach (Tier 1, 2, 3 or 4) for vapour assessment is generally adopted across nearly all guidance, however, the breadth of investigation required in each stage is not consistent across the available guidance. The stages of investigation for vapour assessment do not always align with accepted stages of a more general site investigation (Phase I or Phase II Environmental Site Assessments – ESAs, or Preliminary/Detailed Site Investigations ­– PSIs/DSIs).

There is substantial information that would support an exclusion distance approach applicable at a Tier 1 screening level, whereby if a property or building is beyond a set distance to the edge of a vapour source, then it could be excluded from further investigation. Consideration of the use of soil gas vapour concentrations (representative of the direct pathway of exposure), rather than soil concentrations alone, for comparison to health-based investigation level (HIL) screening values seems warranted. In Australia, this may require the development of soil gas HILs for volatile compounds. Where soil vapour assessment techniques are not used at Tier 1, then soil and/or groundwater investigations will be required to assist in the definition of the exclusion distance or to provide data for comparison to HIL screening values.

A variety of vapour assessment techniques are available. Advantages and disadvantages of many are tabulated. Choices of vapour investigation approaches should target improvement and modification of the CSM. Guidance documents recommend a number of approaches. Common elements are, where required and practical, (a) subsurface soil gas samples should be taken no shallower than 1 m, unless adequately justified, (b) to determine maximum vapour concentrations in the subsurface, samples should be recovered as close as possible to the source (it is acknowledged that this may be particularly difficult for groundwater sources and may not be warranted for very deep sources), and (c) depth profiles can be useful.  Seasonal and short term atmospheric changes (barometric, etc.) can influence vapour concentrations but this effect decreases rapidly with depth depending on the period of the transient disturbance and the re-equilibration time of the vapour concentrations through the soil profile. Vapour behaviour may need to be assessed over time where shallow sampling is undertaken and where transient behaviour might be expected to occur.

Most experience and investigations have been carried out for petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvent vapours. Whilst the techniques and approaches may be valid for use for other volatile compounds, for some compounds (e.g. mercury, butadiene) there is limited experience, and hence careful adoption of field approaches would be required.

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This guide draws on the wealth of literature on LNAPL remediation globally, and on the documented experience of remediation practitioners in Australia, Europe and North America, where many of the approaches, terms and technologies discussed in this document have been developed.

It is aimed at industry project managers, environmental consultants, remediation practitioners, owners and operators of contaminated sites, and state and territory regulators in Australia – that is, those with an interest in the effective, efficient and sustainable remediation of LNAPL contaminated sites. The guide provides a practical step-by-step approach to site characterisation, remedial decision making, technology selection and implementation of remediation in an Australian context.

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Addressing issues of public confidence during contaminated site assessment and remediation is a necessary step requiring community consultation and participatory decision making. This is now widely recognised among the contaminated land practitioner community.

Engaging the community: a handbook for professionals managing contaminated land presents a framework for community consultation in the context of contaminated site projects, and describes the communication principles that can be used in community consultation.

How does this work?
The handbook is broken up into five parts, providing readers with the principles of community engagement, national and international perspectives on best practice in risk communication, Australasian case studies, and a structural framework for involving the public in environmental decision making.

Who will benefit from this?
This book is designed with the following groups in mind:

• state and local authority officers, site planners and environment agencies, and
• land owners, environmental consultants, contractors, and others involved in the management of contaminated sites.

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