Risk management of BTEX contamination in ground water--an integrated fuzzy approach.
Abstract An integrated fuzzy simulation-assessment method (FSAM) was developed for assessing environmental risks from petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in ground water. In the FSAM, techniques of fuzzy simulation and fuzzy risk assessment were coupled into a general framework to reflect a variety of system uncertainties. A petroleum-contaminated site located in western Canada was selected as a study case for demonstrating applicability of the proposed method. The risk assessment results demonstrated that system uncertainties would significantly impact expressions of risk-level outputs. A relatively deterministic expression of the risks would have clearer representations of the study problem but may miss valuable uncertain information; conversely, an assessment under vaguer system conditions would help reveal potential consequences of adverse effects but would suffer from a higher degree of fuzziness in presenting the modeling outputs. Based on the risk assessment results, a decision analysis procedure was used to calculate a general risk index (GRI) to help identify proper responsive actions. The proposed method was useful for evaluating risks within a system containing multiple factors with complicated uncertainties and interactions and providing support for identifying proper site management strategies.
Qin
X S
XS
Faculty of Engineering, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2.
Huang
G H
GH
Li
Y P
YP
D000465:Algorithms; D017143:Fuzzy Logic; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods*; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical