The Environmental Co. As a result, a tool with much promise for improving cleanup strategies and reducing costs often leaves responsible parties and regulatory agencies in opposing, antagonistic relationships. Cleanup of sites becomes costly, time-consuming and ineffective. Because of increasingly tight budgets to address contamination, there is an increasing need for innovative, practical and cost-effective approaches to risk assessment that result in scientifically sound, corrective solutions and are directly integrated with the remedy selection process. Many regulatory agencies are working to incorporate this concept into existing regulations and responsible parties are making it an integral part of their environmental management program. With more streamlined risk assessment approaches becoming an obvious trend, considerable cooperation is needed between the responsible party and the lead agency to make these approaches work in reality.
Much skepticism exists on both sides of the fence.
Responsible parties view the regulatory agencies as inflexible and unrealistic, while regulatory agencies often view responsible parties as uncooperative and potentially irresponsible if left to their own devices. In our firm's experience, however, agencies and responsible parties, often with the assistance of third parties, are willing to come together to develop a practical and responsible approach that is specific to a particular site if communication is frequent and consistent. This scenario serves as a partnership or team approach which allows participants to make mutually acceptable decisions about appropriate risk assessment methodology and corrective action. It is also imperative to remain focused on the project objectives and align the risk assessment goals with the overall project goals. By following these concepts and establishing a platform of cooperation and candid communication, risk assessments can be conducted in a manner that focuses on the priorities of a remedial project.