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SRP Publications Annual Reports 1999

I. Introduction (cont.)

99 SRP Annual Rept. logo

Mapping Electronic Environmental Data Enables Visual Analysis For Improved Remedial Decisions

Site Remediation Program staff has begun to analyze environmental sampling data from contaminated sites submitted electronically to the Department through new computer mapping efforts. Visually examining environmental data is a new trend that augments traditional paper report reviews.

For more than two years, Department regulations have mandated submission of electronic data for any phase of an investigation or cleanup. Private parties, local governments or the Department, when it uses public funds, each must submit all sampling and monitoring data collected in an electronic format. The data must include geographic coordinates as well as contaminant identification and concentrations.

Since February 1997, several thousand electronic data submissions have been received by NJDEP and more than 1,300 of these files have been loaded in to a data repository. Preliminary examination of the data submissions using Geographic Information System technology has begun, and while a number of case specific discrepancies with the data have been identified, a large number of data sets have spatial accuracy acceptable to NJDEP.

The implementation of the digital data requirements specified by the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation has been successful due to a high rate of compliance by the regulated community at large and, in particular, the many environmental consulting firms responsible for implementation of the technical details that support electronic data submission. About 85 percent of the data submissions are passing an electronic data system checker the Department operates. The Site Remediation Program is engaged in training its staff in the use of the data management repository, and select core users have received initial exposure to the system.

NJDEP's experience with electronic data has generated a lot of interest from other states as well as USEPA. The Department has begun to plan for standardization of electronic data collection between state and federal agencies so that sharing of that data would be possible. In the future, the planning process could be expanded to include local municipal and regional environmental and planning agencies. An important issue that needs discussion and resolution between the agencies will be the structure and format for the electronic data. Standardizing digital data collection for an entire region and the country so that data is directly accessible between agencies with different jurisdictions will increase by orders of magnitude the base data that these agencies rely on for decision making. The concept that contami-nated site data can be available in a visualization system such as a Geographic Information System to the business and environmental community has broad implications with respect to urban land recycling, land use decisions and for establishing preservation and protection priorities.

Once data is organized into an electronic format and stored in a relational database it can be rapidly accessed and subject to a number of interesting manipulations. Some of the projects that NJDEP believes will directly benefit from the collection and use of digital data are listed below:

  • Assessment of the effectiveness of institutional and engineering controls—notably Classification Exception Areas and deed notice restrictions;

  • Analysis of site data during management of remedial investigations, cleanups and monitoring activities by exporting the data to a Geographic Information System to generate graphic visualizations to identify trends or discrepancies in the results. Through use of this information, a number of varied applications for the data will continue to develop;

  • Direct measurements of environmental quality and its improvement or degradation that are being explored through Quantitative Environmental Indicators;

  • Enabling public access to data on contaminated sites to assist in evaluating environmental conditions in particular areas of interest;

  • Identification of areas in the state appropriate for well installation; and,

  • Identification of point sources of ground water pollution sites for source water protection and watershed management areas.

NJDEP also is interested in using the digital data being collected to assess the natural background concentrations of some of the common contaminants detected at industrial and contaminated sites. This approach is being extended to examine the kinds of contaminants found in areas where historic landfilling has occurred. The state geological survey is in the process of mapping historic fill areas throughout the state. The data that is collected electronically will be examined in order to determine the type and concentration range of contaminants that are typical of historic fill.

If a site is located in an area where there are elevated levels of natural contamination or historic contaminated fill, remediation of that contamination may not be required beyond institutional and engineering controls. This kind of assessment addresses many liability issues associated with a site and the potential use of less costly controls to eliminate exposure to contamination.

In an effort to insure full compliance with the submission of digital data, NJDEP will no longer issue No Further Action letters for parties that have failed to submit data in the electronic formats specified under N.J.A.C. 7:26E and its associated guidance in the near future. Acceptable data relates to the spatial accuracy of samples as specified in the referenced guidance not on analytical accuracy of the samples.

Further information and guidance regarding these issues can be obtained at the Site Remediation web page at https://www.nj.gov/dep/srp/hazsite/.

 

GIS mapping screen

Electronic Data Mapping
The Site Remediation Program has been collecting environmental sampling data electronically since 1997. Recently, through an innovative pilot project, data from various sites has been mapped using associated geographic information system data to provide a visual representation of the information. In coming years as the project progresses, this information will be used to help guide remedial activities and prepare maps for public use. The map shown includes several features: ground water sampling data on a specific contaminant from a former industrial site that has been closed and is undergoing ground water cleanup; orthophotography; Classification Exception Areas (CEAs) outlining the extent of ground water contamination from two additional sites; and, a ground water impact area (GWIA) where an unknown source of ground water contamination was found affecting private wells that have since been hooked up to treatment systems to provide safe water.

Benefits to Quality Assurance/Control Practices in a Digital Data Environment

A central objective of electronic data collection by the Site Remediation Program is to ensure the process incorporates quality assurance in the daily environmental data management habits of the agency. The collection of digital data enables the application of supporting third party electronic systems for the assessment and verification of electronic data. New software products are available and are being developed that will allow electronic data submissions to undergo verification and limited data validation.

A key planning concept for electronic data submissions is the development of a system that builds quality assurance measures into the data management process. Paper-based data management mechanisms can address a portion of all data submitted to an agency; new personal computer/local access network based information management technologies have the potential to make it practical to screen all data submissions. This process includes a fundamental shift in agency practices away from the way data has been reviewed in the past, where data quality determinations are assessed at the end of the data collection and analytical process.

The strategy is to develop quality assurance routines in advance of electronic data submission system deployment in order to eliminate the occurrence of data errors at the end of the remedial review process. Also, functioning systems must be flexible enough to permit the identification and correction of unforeseen discrepancies with data using existing electronic screening tools. The application of these concepts as part of the Site Remediation Program's efforts will permit the inclusion of corrective design elements with the final employment of a system and also will promote a strategy flexible enough for continual improvement of electronic data submissions. This permits quality assurance staff to identify errors in the data at key points in the review, rather than waiting until the receipt of the final data submission.

 

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