Developing an expert-knowledge scoring system for evaluating reductive dechlorination at TCE sites

摘要

Decision-making approaches that are not only transparent but also science- and case-based are in high demand in the hazardous waste industry. The present work focuses on developing an explicit methodology to allow translation of expert knowledge about any complex process involved in a remedial decision into an easy-to-use decision tool. The methodology is applied to evaluate reductive dechlorination as a remedial possibility at sites contaminated with trichloroethene (TCE), building on an existing protocol/scoring system put forth by the US Air Force and the US EPA. This paper presents the development of an alternate scoring system, which has two major advantages, namely that it (ⅰ) attributes relative weights to findings based on expert beliefs and (ⅱ) systematically includes negative weights for negative findings.