WORKSHOPS
Workshop Fees
HALF DAY WORKSHOPS: $345
Workshop registration fees are in Australian dollars and inclusive of GST.
Workshop tickets are charged per person and are not included in registration fees and are an additional expense. The option to purchase tickets will be displayed after you have selected a registration type on the registration form. For further information on how to register, click here. Already registered? Please refer to the link in your registration confirmation email to gain access back into your registration to make amendments.
Sunday 15 September 2024
HALF DAY WORKSHOPS
Half-day workshops will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Sunday 15 September 2024, 9.00am - 12.30pm for morning workshops and 1.30pm - 5.00pm for afternoon workshops.
Morning
WORKSHOP 4: Data and PFAS Analytics – AI Approach and Case Studies
WORKSHOP 5: Faster, Better, Cheaper: Risk-Based Investigation and Remediation
WORKSHOP 6: ASBestos-IN-Soil (ASBINS) Masterclass
| WORKSHOP 4: Data and PFAS Analytics – AI Approach and Case Studies | |
| Sunday 15 September 2024 Location: City Room 4, Adelaide Convention Centre | |
| 9.00am - 12.30pm | Presenters: Dr. Tamzen W. Macbeth, Dr Claudia Pelizaro, Alvin Lal About this workshop: This half-day workshop will guide participants through the data science and analytics workflow, tailored for characterising complex environmental remediation projects. Starting with the foundations of establishing a robust data framework and constructing high-resolution conceptual site models (CSMs), participants will show the value of creating centralised, curated, and efficient data libraries and pipelines for more seamless data management. Through real-world case studies, including major defence facilities impacted by PFAS, we will show how to select and implement the most appropriate data analytics techniques. Participants will be shown how datasets can be evaluated into actionable insights using intuitive dashboards and interactive visualization tools. We will also explore the power of AI in enabling data-driven, traceable, and transparent decision-making. By the end of this learning lab, participants will have a comprehensive insight into key concepts, principles, tools, and techniques in applied data science, empowering cutting-edge practices to enhance site characterization and remediation efforts more confidently. Seek firsthand insights on how these applications change our approach to environmental studies with diverse and complex media, enabling better insights, interpretation, visualization, and communication of data-rich solutions to stakeholders. DOWNLOAD FULL WORKSHOP DETAILS AND PRESENTER BIOS HERE |
| WORKSHOP 5: Faster, Better, Cheaper: Risk-Based Investigation and Remediation | |
| Sunday 15 September 2024 Location: Lb1, Adelaide Convention Centre | |
| 8.00am - 12.30pm | Presenters: Ross McFarland, Roger Brewer, Marvin Heskett, Jing Song About this workshop: “Risk-Based Corrective Action” or “RBCA” guidance and corresponding, pre-approved screening levels developed in the 1990s allowed for rapid identification of potential environmental concerns at contaminated sites and initial design of remedial actions. Delays in project completion, cost overruns and the discovery of contamination at sites that had been previously declared “clean” have persisted, however. Valuable properties are sometimes abandoned due to the lack of a clear endpoint. “Laboratory error” is often used as the scapegoat. Closer inspection reveals the majority of the blame to be associated with in the collection and use of “discrete” or “grab” samples of soil, sediment and other environmental media to characterize sites, rather than methods more directly tied to the assessment of risk. This workshop will review the origin of early regulatory guidance for the use of “discrete” or “grab” samples to characterize environmental contamination and the inherent limitations of the resulting data. Circumstances behind the failure to heed early warnings by USEPA staff and other government and private experts will be explored. “Risk-based” sampling methods long used in the equally sampling intensive mining and agriculture industries will then be introduced as a solution to this dilemma. The Systematic Planning process presented directly ties methods used to collect, process and test samples with the assessment of risk and optimization of remedial actions. Upfront specification of “Investigation Questions” coupled with designation of risk- or remediation-based “Designation Units” and the collection of “Multi Increment” samples ensures that the resulting data will be both technically defensible and reliable for final decision making. The approaches described will likely seem common sensical to new professionals in the environmental industry. The change in mindset and questions regarding the reliability of “traditional” types of sample data can be challenging for seasoned practitioners, however, as it was for the presenters of this workshop. Concepts such as the designation of specific Decision Unit areas for collection of soil samples will seem familiar, however, as will questions regarding the representativeness of a random, grab sample of soil from a single point in terms of the immediately surrounding soil. The workshop will end with a discussion of “next steps” for implementation of Risk-Based Investigation methods in Australia and topics for future, more focused workshops on specific topics. The risk-based investigation methods introduced can require more planning and effort at the beginning of a project but will help ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget and with a high degree of confidence in the results DOWNLOAD FULL WORKSHOP DETAILS AND PRESENTER BIOS HERE |
| WORKSHOP 6: ASBestos-IN-Soil (ASBINS) Masterclass | |
| Sunday 15 September 2024 Location: City Room 4, Adelaide Convention Centre | |
| 1.30pm - 5.00pm Registration at 1:00pm for 1:30pm Start | Presenters: Ross McFarland, Girish Choppala, Chris Kennedy, Pierina Otness About this workshop: Asbestos is a contaminant that differs from most others. In particular, its toxicology is such that it primarily affects humans rather than being a risk to the environment. For humans, the main exposure pathway is through inhalation. Inhalation of asbestos fibres can produce a range of lung-associated diseases, including cancers, sometimes resulting from only low levels of exposure. ASBestos-IN-Soil (ASBINS) is also a unique kind of contamination. It usually occurs discretely in an impacted area and its degradation over time is slow with very low flux rates. ASBINS can migrate through physical disturbance and this is when its dangerous fibres can be released. While asbestos in air measurement has been undertaken by occupational hygienists for more than fifty years (since 1969) the measurement of ASBINS has only made significant international progress since 2008 (by Frank Swartjes and Peter Tromp)and in Australia since 2009 when the Western Australian Department of Health published its first edition of the “Guidelines for the Assessment, Remediation and Management of Asbestos-Contaminated Sites in Western Australia”, subsequently revised in 2021. This workshop will summarise the basis of the ASBINS assessment, discuss why the different approach was necessary and present scientifically-defensible methods for derivation of site-specific threshold ASBINS values. Recent developments in ASBINS assessment and management will also be presented by industry practitioners and a case study will be discussed. DOWNLOAD FULL WORKSHOP DETAILS AND PRESENTER BIOS HERE |