Risk Management and Liability Control PrinciplesApplied to Groundwater Remediation Projects

摘要

By its very nature, groundwater remediation poses risks and liabilities to all stakeholders but especially tornfacility owners and operators, and their corporate entities. An understanding and appreciation of riskrnmanagement and liability control processes typically employed by owners (and their legal and riskrnadvisors) may give drillers and contractors, consultants and remediation system managers an insight intornthe reasoning behind client remediation decisions. While it is conventional wisdom that certainrnmethodologies, for example horizontal directional drilling and well installations, are intrinsically lessrnenvironmentally 'risky' than alternative systems, rarely are systematic qualitative or quantitative riskrnmanagement processes applied by consultants and contractors to test these assumptions. Typically it isrnthe owner or client who will employ the risk management and loss liability process to determine thernrelevance of specific applications. More often than not, the contractor is left wondering how and why thernclient reached a particular decision. In many, if not most cases, the application of qualitative riskrnmanagement and loss liability processes to any given environmental decision are controlled by corporaternrequirements and non-technical constraints rather than technical concerns.rnThis paper reviews one form of basic qualitative risk management as well as loss liability controlrnprinciples and their applications to ground water remediation operations and processes. A multi-level riskrnmanagement procedure (risk characterization, alternatives identification, selection, implementation, andrnmonitoring) coupled with the necessity for adequate communications, and loss-liability control conceptsrnand strategies (technical, procedural, legal and programmatic) are discussed. Although a knowledge ofrnthese risk management and loss-liability controls and analyses may not be quite a safe-harbor forrncontractors and consultants, at least some level of confidence may be gained by understanding thernprocesses that clients typically employ in making remediation or other environmental decisions based onrntechnical and non-technical issues.