Risk Assessment Services

 

STS offers Risk Assessment services to assist clients with the evaluation and management of chemical contamination – at their own facilities or at facilities under consideration for acquisition. Risk assessments can be used to determine whether remedial action is actually warranted, and if so, to focus remediation efforts (or administrative and institutional controls) onto only those chemicals, environmental media, and site-specific areas that are likely responsible for the majority of the potential risks. STS also uses risk assessments to determine the concentrations of contaminants that can remain on-site and still be adequately protective of public health and the environment.

Risk-based decision-making generally consists of two fundamental components – risk assessment and risk management. Risk assessment entails the evaluation of project-specific data, information on the hazardous properties of chemical substances, and the extent of receptor exposure to these substances in order to characterize the potential health risk to various human and ecological receptor populations.

Risk assessments are applicable to all major Federal and State environmental programs and public health-based laws. Risk assessment has emerged during the past 15 years as a useful tool to assist in property transfers, due diligence compliance, liability audits, and the determination of rational cleanup levels for contaminated sites.

Risk management integrates the risk assessment results with other information (such as applicable legal requirements, economics, engineering feasibility, and community/public concerns) to arrive at decisions about the need and approach for risk reduction. STS offers a wide range of Risk Assessment services, including the following:

 
Site-Specific Risk Assessments
  • Derivation of Residual Contaminant Levels / Site-Specific Cleanup Goals
  • "Tiered" Assessments (e.g., RBCA and State-specific)
  • Product Liability Assessments
  • Contaminant Fate & Transport Modeling
  • Toxicological Profiles & Derivation of Toxicity Criteria
General Risk Assessments
  • Baseline Human Health Risk Assessments
  • Ecological Risk Assessments
  • Regulatory Negotiations
  • Quantitative Probabilistic Assessments
  • Chemical Fate/Environmental Disposition Analyses
Exposure Assessments and Multi-Media Expertise
  • Surface Water, Sediment, and Aquatic Life Assessments
  • Air Toxics Emissions and Dispersion Modeling
  • Soil & Groundwater Pathways Under Alternative Land-Use Scenarios
  • Food-chain Bioaccumulation Modeling
Related Services
  • Data Management
  • Statistical Analyses and Data Validation
  • Remedial Action Alternatives
  • Air Toxics and Risk Management Planning
  • Litigation Support/Expert Testimony