Life cycle cost analysis of contaminated site remediation using information technology tools

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Life cycle cost analysis of contaminated site remediation using information technology tools Lackesiha Gurdon1 · Larbi Esmahi1 · Nana Y. Amponsah2 · Junye Wang2  Received: 1 April 2020 / Accepted: 13 October 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020

Abstract Contaminated oil and gas well sites, disposal of chemical substances, and polluted landfills all result in environmentally hazardous conditions that plague our society today. Contaminated site remediation and reclamation are critical for sustainable resource development and management of cumulative environmental effects. However, it is challenging to improve remediation efficiency and reduce costs of remediation due to complex site environmental conditions. The objective of this paper is to develop an integrated approach of remediation assessment and total cost analysis on a single platform using SQL, Microsoft Azure, and PowerBI. The decision support tool aggregates data of contaminants, materials, and remediation alternatives at remediation sites and stores the information in a SQL database. The tool then compares alternative treatment options and their associated costs through cost breakdown of materials, labour, equipment, and energy. The results show that the tool is capable of life cycle cost analysis for the ex situ remediation technology, including biological, thermal, and chemical treatments. The built-in cost analysis fosters realtime availability of different treatment options which is geared towards providing an effective and efficient way to conduct a cost analysis for decision-makers with scalable, reliable, and robust analytical capabilities in a single system. Keywords  Decision support tool · Cost analysis · Remediation technologies · Contaminants · Software · Database

1 Introduction A significant amount of Alberta’s oil and gas well sites have been inactive for decades. This amount is more than 10,000 of the inactive wells sitting idle for decades, a third of the 2,55,000 oil and gas well sites in Alberta (Nikiforuk 2017; Rivard et al. 2014). Spills of oil and wastewater from active and abandoned wells are significantly impacting water * Junye Wang [email protected] 1

School of Computing and Information Systems, Athabasca University, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada

2

Faculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada



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resources in multiple jurisdictions, resulting in environmentally hazardous conditions (Olmstead et al. 2013; Osborna et al. 2011; Vengosh et al. 2014). These contaminated sites pose both environmental and financial risks. Remediation and reclamation of contaminated sites are critical for sustainable resource development and management of cumulative environmental effects in the oil and gas industry. Currently, available site remediation assessment tools, such as SiteWise (US Navy 2015), and sustainable site remediation tool (SRT™) (Newell et  al. 2009), primarily focus on environmental impact assessment (Huysego