Premium
Surface and Subsurface Geologic Risk Factors to Ground Water Affecting Brownfield Redevelopment Potential
Author(s) -
Kaufman Martin M.,
Murray Kent S.,
Rogers Daniel T.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2003.4900
Subject(s) - redevelopment , brownfield , watershed , environmental remediation , environmental science , overburden , subsurface flow , environmental engineering , environmental planning , hydrology (agriculture) , water resource management , groundwater , civil engineering , mining engineering , contamination , geology , engineering , geotechnical engineering , computer science , ecology , machine learning , biology
A model is created for assessing the redevelopment potential of brownfields. The model is derived from a space and time conceptual framework that identifies and measures the surface and subsurface risk factors present at brownfield sites. The model then combines these factors with a contamination extent multiplier at each site to create an index of redevelopment potential. Results from the application of the model within an urbanized watershed demonstrate clear differences between the redevelopment potential present within five different near‐surface geologic units, with those units containing clay being less vulnerable to subsurface contamination. With and without the extent multiplier, the total risk present at the brownfield sites within all the geologic units is also strongly correlated to the actual costs of remediation. Thus, computing the total surface and subsurface risk within a watershed can help guide the remediation efforts at broad geographic scales, and prioritize the locations for redevelopment.