PILLARS OF PRIORITIZATION
Why is remediation important?
The community is our top priority. Since Bonelli Park is a recreational space, it is crucial that we prioritize their health and safety. The community visits Bonelli Park expecting it to be safe, clean, and appealing. In order to uphold the population’s wellbeing, we must prioritize three foundational pillars: community, economy, and environment. Without these three pillars, we would not be able to fulfill our duty of protecting the community’s well-being according to code 2b from the ASCE Code of Ethics. Code 2b from the ASCE Code of Ethics states: "consider and balance societal, environmental, and economic impacts, along with opportunities for improvement, in their work"
COMMUNITY PRIORITIZATION
Since the community’s mental health is linked to their physical health, we must prioritize it. In the past year, the number of mental health-related cases has spiked. Such as stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, anger, and denial. Being surrounded by nature will help as a coping mechanism. Studies have shown that distressed people experience better moods after spending time outdoors. Having access to green space can increase life expectancy by approximately13 years. This will be most beneficial to the Black and Latino communities because these two communities have suffered from environmental racism. For example, South LA has a life expectancy of 77 years and Beverly hills expectancy is 90-103 years while only being less than 15 miles away. Remediation would ultimately improve the life of the community.
CONTAMINANTÂ PRIORITIZATION
Our next step was to create a comprehensive risk assessment that could quantify the overall risk associated with each contaminant; this risk assessment factored in an engineering approach along with the three pillars of community well-being. In the upper right side of this slide, the gauge graphic defines how we rated each contaminant based on the three pillars, with green signifying low risk; orange signifying medium risk; and red signifying high risk. The community pillar pertains to how the contaminant affects the community and the use of the reservoir. As you can see, high organic matter and low dissolved oxygen are considered the highest priority as they directly affect human health and the aesthetic value of the reservoir. Next, the economic pillar pertains to the economic feasibility and cost-effectiveness of treating each contaminant. In this category, mercury and PCBs have attributed the highest risk as their remediation would be costly but may not be cost-effective as their threat to visitors is relatively minimal. Finally, the environmental pillar pertains to the environmental impact each contaminant has and the severity of its effects on the wildlife and ecology of Puddingstone Reservoir. Environmentally, the high organic matter and the low dissolved oxygen pose the greatest risk to the ecology and wildlife of Puddingstone Reservoir.
