title: Development of a terrestrial chemical spill management system.
abstract: Adequately preparing for and responding to terrestrial (land-based) chemical spills are critical to the protection of human health and the environment. To facilitate analysis and support decision-making for such events, the authors have developed an environmental risk management system that characterizes the ability of a spilled chemical to immediately impact human health, groundwater, surface water, and soil resources, and incorporates these four risk areas into an overall measure of terrestrial chemical risk. This system incorporates a risk index model, leverages geographic information systems (GIS) technology, and contains a comprehensive chemical and environmental database to assess and delineate the immediate threat posed by a terrestrial chemical spill. It is designed to serve a variety of stakeholders, including managers and policy-makers, who would benefit from generating screening-level environmental risk assessments without requiring a technical background or collection of detailed environmental and chemical data. Areas of potential application include transportation routing, industrial zoning, environmental regulatory compliance and enforcement, spill response, and security planning.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies, Vanderbilt University, VU Station B 351831, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. derek.l.bryant@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Derek L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Abkowitz
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012308:Risk Management
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances