The Value Of Information For Managing Contaminated Sediments

Gathering the right kind and the right amount of information is crucial for any decision-making process. This book presents a unified framework for assessing the value of potential data gathering schemes by integrating spatial modelling and decision analysis, with a focus on the Earth sciences. The authors discuss the value of imperfect versus perfect information, and the value of total versus partial information, where only subsets of the data are acquired. Concepts are illustrated using a suite of quantitative tools from decision analysis, such as decision trees and influence diagrams, as well as models for continuous and discrete dependent spatial variables, including Bayesian networks, Markov random fields, Gaussian processes, and multiple-point geostatistics. Unique in scope, this book is of interest to students, researchers and industry professionals in the Earth and environmental sciences, who use applied statistics and decision analysis techniques, and particularly to those working in petroleum, mining, and environmental geoscience.

The purpose of this book is to help engineers and scientists better understand contaminated sediment sites and identify and design remedial approaches that are more efficient and effective. Contaminated sediment management is a difficult and costly exercise that is rarely addressed with easily identified and implemented remedies. It is hoped that this book can help identify and implement management approaches that provide an optimal, if not entirely satisfactory, solution to sediment contaminant problems.​

The Nordic Council of Ministers have recognized the need to compile the knowledge of sediment remediation strategies and to evaluate different remediation approaches. The objective of this report is to give a status of regulatory framework and sediment management within selected Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark). In addition, the report gives a short overview of international knowledge on remediation approaches, techniques, and materials. Governance and regulatory instruments in dealing with contaminated sediments vary between countries. Of the countries presented, only Norwegian environmental authorities have implemented a national strategy for remediation of marine contaminated sediments. A Nordic database of clean-up projects and long-term monitoring would improve the exchange of knowledge between the Nordic countries.

The main goal of the May 2003 symposium was to identify both established and innovative physico-chemical and biological methods used to characterize and evaluate properties and behavior of contaminated sediments, as well as the potential for their transfer. Papers from the symposium describe recent