WSP Environmental Services for Mining and Metals

L RISK ASSESSMENT

Having a clear understanding of potential risks to human health and the environment helps to identify the positive and negative impacts that mining activities can have on the surrounding communities and ecosystems, allowing for proactive measures to be taken to mitigate environmental damage, protect biodiversity, and ensure responsible mining practices. WSP’s team of globally experienced human health and ecological risk assessors can conduct the quantitative and qualitative tools that can add value at every stage of the mining process. During pre-development and baseline studies, risk assessment can be used to predict how future operations may affect nearby communities and natural resources, but can also be used to eliminate areas from concern allowing project managers to focus resources on the most critical issues. During operational phases, human health and ecological risk assessments can be used to develop site-specific compliance goals for treated or untreated mining effluent discharge, airborne emissions, and particulate emissions that are protective of nearby communities, drinking water supplies, farmland and wildlife. These same tools can also help limit liability and aid emergency response in the event of an unexpected spill or release. As mines enter the closure and management phases, including legacy mines, human health and ecological risk assessment can be used to understand the effectiveness of long-term management systems and infrastructure and guide site remediation and restoration using site specific risk-based approaches. Risk assessment can even be used for screening candidate future lands uses and site redevelopment to generate revenue or facilitate land transfer.

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