Estimating the Liability of Redeveloped Contaminated Lands

The redevelopment of brownfields has been promoted heavily in recent years to return contaminated lands to productive use. However, concerns about liability can complicate and hinder remediation efforts. The proponent of redevelopment faces possible legal action if the site poses health risks to users of the site and adjacent sites. Liability is often treated as a single factor but it is in fact composed of various elements that are interwoven with the future site use and chosen remedial action. This paper presents a structured method for estimating liability and its relationship to site use and remedial action. It critically examines the factors that contribute to liability and how the results can be integrated into the selection of the most appropriate site use and remedial action. The method offers a tiered approach for evaluating liability, starting with a simpler, uniform contamination scenario and progressing to a more complex, nonuniform situation. The resulting analysis is formatted in a matrix adaptable to multi-objective decision decision-making. A hypothetical example illustrates how liability can be examined using this method.