Statistical and cost-benefit enhancements to the DQO process for characterization decisions

The costs of characterization can comprise a sizeable fraction of a remediation program budget. The DQO Process has been instituted at DOE to ensure that the investment in characterization adds net value to each remediation project. Thoughtful characterization can be very important to minimizing the total cost of a remediation. Strategic information gained by characterization can reduce the remediation costs by reducing the unproductive investment in unnecessary remediation of portions of a site that really don't need to be remediated, and strategic information can reduce remediation costs by reducing the frequency of expensive rework or emergency action that result when remediation has not been pursued to the extent that really is needed