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The role of environmental geophysics in the investigation of an acid tar lagoon, Llwyneinion, North Wales, UK
- Source: First Break, Volume 20, Issue 10, Oct 2002,
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- 01 Oct 2002
Abstract
Consultant John M. Reynolds1 offers a case study of how environmental geophysics can provide the tools for effective survey and analysis of pollution hazards. During the last decade or so, environmental geophysics* has really come of age. Two aspects have changed in particular: first, environmental geophysics is being used to investigate sites that 10 years ago would have been impossible or considered as ‘research’ sites. The technology for both acquiring and handling data, as well as increasingly sophisticated and easy to use software have enabled much more data (and with much finer spatial sampling) to be acquired with better quality and to be analysed more robustly. The downside of this ease of use is that more unqualified and inexperienced people are entering the ‘industry’ (note I did not say ‘profession’!) and there are more examples of bad surveys occurring. The second key factor is the regulatory and legislative climate that prevails; the UK is fast catching up with the USA in its increasing recourse to the law courts. Clients are not just looking for geological, environmental or engineering targets any more. Rather, there is a very rapidly developing use of environmental geophysics as a risk management tool.