The Army asked the Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (CERL) to implement a prototype capability which will allow CERL to evaluate potential environmental risks associated with proposed actions. The emphasis of this work was in the Global Commons areas. This evaluation capability was used to support the generation of a document similar in format to an EIS. The purpose was to evaluate the environmental risks associated with different standard shipping routes for cargo in Western Europe to be shipped to an incineration site in the Pacific. This presentation illustrates some of the 70 concerns which went into the dozen analyses used to evaluate the different routes.
Four standard routes were feasible. For each of the alternatives, the characteristics of that route were determined by generating a report for each of the seventy data types and each of the twelve analyses. For example, for the first potential route , a histogram of the characteristics of that path was developed. This characterization was then reviewed by an expert and written statements about the significance of each of the 82 findings were made for the four routes, 328 evaluations in all.
By looking at the different GRASS map layer category reports one can compare the Potential Environmental Risk of an action for each route under consideration. For Example:
Other Data:
Thus, these specific areas were examined individually using all of the data sets and all of the same analyses. In addition, alternative routings through these areas were compared to get a sense of the tradeoffs associated with modifying the standard shipping routes. For example, by going north of the British Isles, the potential to human populations was significantly decreased.
