THE ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS IN THE EVALUATION OF CONTAMINATED SITES

Ecological assessments are required components of most hazardous waste site investigations. Such assessments, in conjunction with contaminat ion and human health risk assessments, help to evaluate the environmen tal hazards posed by contaminated sites and to determine remediation r equirements. Ongoing Dames & Moore projects in New Jersey, Oregon, and Illinois serve as the basis for the discussion of selected technical approaches to ecological assessment and integration of assessments int o the overall site investigations. Ecological assessment components to be discussed include practical field observations indicative of ecolo gical impacts, useful indicator species, and semiquantitative methodol ogies to translate ecological observations into remediation requiremen ts.