Environmental Leadership Program

Risk assessment provides a proactive and logical ground for many decision-making processes. Although the approach of risk assessment nowadays is well established, it remains a relatively new research area, with increasing interest in understanding the principles that underpin the practice. In the review of computer models and literature on environmental risk assessments in general and the risk analysis of waste disposal sites in particular, the authors have determined that a comprehensive risk assessment methodology covering all modules and sub-modules for landfill leachate does not exist. The same fact holds for landfill gas and degraded landfill waste (although these are both beyond the scope of this paper). A range of knowledge deficiencies is identified in the literature. One such deficiency is the development of a strategic procedure for carrying out Hazard Identification and Categorization for risk assessment of landfill leachate, assisted with a corresponding computer model. This study, with reference to the relevant literature, discusses the extent to which the Hazard Identification and Categorization procedure is absent in landfill risk analysis approaches. The elements, which should be added to such a procedure in order to more effectively underpin landfill risk assessments, are also indicated.