Risk Management and Remediation of Chemical Accidents

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Transportation of dangerous goods is cross-national activity, because raw materials and products are imported and exported globally. As Finland and Estonia are located in the edge of EU, the challenges related to Russian transito traffic are similar. High volumes of chemicals are transported, which is creating constant risk. Several EU directives and legislation are used to minimize possible risks. However, as chemical transportation accidents happen, the cause of the accident is highly local matter. After the immediate rescue services, efficient and cost-effective cleaning (i.e. remediation) actions are needed. Traditionally contaminated soil is removed and remediation is done else where. The cost of this technique is considerably high. Meanwhile many innovative and cost effective techniques have been developed, but they are rarely used in Finland or Estonia. Therefore, improvement of accessibility of the new remediation services is needed. This could be achieved by producing a standardized method for assessing risk of contaminated areas. Cross-national co-operation and transmission of new knowledge about risk management are playing key role in minimizing the risk caused by chemical accidents. The main objective of the project is to improve connections within the programme area by improving risk management actions related chemical accidents. Further aim is to increase the use of new, innovative remediation techniques, which are used to clean contaminated soils and groundwater. New standardized method for remediation actions is produced in order to facilitate the decision-making process of authorities. During the implementation of the project, special attention is paid to knowledge transfer. Joint education seminars and workshops are organized to increase cross-border co-operation between authorities, transport operators, private enterprises and other stakeholders operating in the field of risk management and remediation. Horizontal objective of the project is to increase quality of environment. Better risk management and efficient use of new remediation techniques has positive environmental effects. Project work packages are divided thematically. Data mining (WP2) includes tasks related to gathering information related to chemical transportation and remediation. WP 3 includes Risk Assessment, which is done by using qualitative and quantitative methods. Method for assessing new remediation techniques is produced under WP4. As communication and networking is considered important, whole work package (WP5) is devoted to it. Workpackages are forming integrated continuum, which will consider chemical accidents and risk management from broad scientific point of view.

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