1.2.1 Evolution and Current Situation of Investigation
and Assessment in Developed Countries
In the 1970s, HWLFs in the United States seriously threatened public health and the
environment due to improper disposal. In view of this, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed risk assessment guidelines,
technical specifications and related laws, and began the risk assessment of typical
contaminated sites (U.S.EPA. 1992, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2012, 2015). Following this,
other countries turned attention to the investigation and assessment of contaminated
sites, and the philosophy of environmental protection shifted focus from
post-contamination treatment to pre-contamination prediction and management,
giving rise to environmental risk assessment. In 1980, the World Health
Organization (WHO) worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) and the US EPA to build a framework for assessing human
health risks and ecological risks. In 1992, the United Kingdom set off the research
on exposure assessment methodology for contaminated sites adapted to the national
context, which was refined in 2009. In 1996, the European Union published the
guidelines for risk assessment for contaminated sites based on concerted action.
Soon afterwards, Canada, Australia and Finland established respective risk
assessment systems in national contexts based on the U.S. risk assessment standards. More and more international environmental organizations and national
environmental agencies have also drawn attention to environmental risk assessment
(Zhou et al. 2007). To date, many foreign countries have developed assessment
models specifically for groundwater contaminated sites, which simplifies the process of risk assessment, such as EUSES (EU), CalTOX (US), RBCA (US), CLEA
(UK), CETOX (Denmark), CSOIL (Netherlands) and UMS (Germany). In terms of
investigation and risk assessment of contaminated sites, both technical standards
and assessment systems have been standardized in developed countries.
1. United States
Groundwater resources are invaluable because they contribute to about half of
drinking water resources in the United States. In view of this particularity, the
United States early established a relatively complete legal system for groundwater protection, and set up a special agency for groundwater environmental
management which regularly investigates the groundwater environment on a
regular basis (Zheng and Qi 2012). In 1980, the U.S. Congress enacted the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Obligation Act
(CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, in response to the dump at the
Love Canal. Pursuant to this Act, the US EPA designed and implemented the
Superfund Program, in which fines and punitive damages paid by offenders, site
repair costs and fund interests shall be used for the management, restoration and
remediation of contaminated sites. In order to support with the CERCLA
enforcement, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), a
well-known standard-setting organization, has developed, from 1993 onwards, a
1.2 Research Progress at Home and Abroad
3
and Assessment in Developed Countries
In the 1970s, HWLFs in the United States seriously threatened public health and the
environment due to improper disposal. In view of this, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed risk assessment guidelines,
technical specifications and related laws, and began the risk assessment of typical
contaminated sites (U.S.EPA. 1992, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2012, 2015). Following this,
other countries turned attention to the investigation and assessment of contaminated
sites, and the philosophy of environmental protection shifted focus from
post-contamination treatment to pre-contamination prediction and management,
giving rise to environmental risk assessment. In 1980, the World Health
Organization (WHO) worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) and the US EPA to build a framework for assessing human
health risks and ecological risks. In 1992, the United Kingdom set off the research
on exposure assessment methodology for contaminated sites adapted to the national
context, which was refined in 2009. In 1996, the European Union published the
guidelines for risk assessment for contaminated sites based on concerted action.
Soon afterwards, Canada, Australia and Finland established respective risk
assessment systems in national contexts based on the U.S. risk assessment standards. More and more international environmental organizations and national
environmental agencies have also drawn attention to environmental risk assessment
(Zhou et al. 2007). To date, many foreign countries have developed assessment
models specifically for groundwater contaminated sites, which simplifies the process of risk assessment, such as EUSES (EU), CalTOX (US), RBCA (US), CLEA
(UK), CETOX (Denmark), CSOIL (Netherlands) and UMS (Germany). In terms of
investigation and risk assessment of contaminated sites, both technical standards
and assessment systems have been standardized in developed countries.
1. United States
Groundwater resources are invaluable because they contribute to about half of
drinking water resources in the United States. In view of this particularity, the
United States early established a relatively complete legal system for groundwater protection, and set up a special agency for groundwater environmental
management which regularly investigates the groundwater environment on a
regular basis (Zheng and Qi 2012). In 1980, the U.S. Congress enacted the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Obligation Act
(CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, in response to the dump at the
Love Canal. Pursuant to this Act, the US EPA designed and implemented the
Superfund Program, in which fines and punitive damages paid by offenders, site
repair costs and fund interests shall be used for the management, restoration and
remediation of contaminated sites. In order to support with the CERCLA
enforcement, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), a
well-known standard-setting organization, has developed, from 1993 onwards, a
1.2 Research Progress at Home and Abroad
3