Pollution risk management for resource protection

This paper deals with the management of the often brief pollution incident which gives rise to a sudden emergency. There are two key aspects to pollution risk management: the identification and minimisation of potential and actual risks (pro-active management), and planning how to deal with such incidents as do occur (reactive management). Pro-active management involves the identification of potential pollutants within a catchment and assessing what can be done to minimise the risks at source. Reactive management deals with the actions necessary which will depend on the severity of the incident, and covers both administrative procedures and practical issues. These concepts of pollution risk preparedness are described, and illustrated with a number of case studies.