Primer for evaluating ecological risk at petroleum release sites

Increasingly, risk-based approaches are being used to guide decision making at sites such as service stations and petroleum product terminals, where p etroleum products have been inadvertently released to the soil. For example , the API Decision Support System software, DSS, evaluates site human healt h risk along sir different routes of exposure. The American Society for Tes ting and Materials' Risk-Based Corrective Action (RBCA) standard, ASTM 1739 , establishes a tiered framework for evaluating petroleum release sites on the basis of human health risk. Though much of the risk assessment focus ha s been on human health risk, regulatory agencies recognize that protection of human health may not fully protect the environment; and EPA has develope d guidance on identifying ecological resources to be protected through risk -based decision making. Not every service station or petroleum product terminal site warrants a det ailed ecological risk assessment. In some cases, a simple preliminary asses sment will provide sufficient information for decision making. Accordingly, the American Petroleum Institute (API) is developing a primer for site man agers, to assist them in conducting this preliminary assessment, and in dec iding whether more detailed ecological risk assessments are warranted. The primer assists the site manager in identifying relevant ecological receptor s and habitats, in identifying chemicals and exposure pathways of concern, in developing a conceptual model of the site to guide subsequent actions, a nd in identifying conditions that may warrant immediate response.