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Combining landslide and contaminant risk: a preliminary assessment

A study of the Göta Älv river Valley, Sweden

  • INTERCOMPARTMENT • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background, aim, and scope

The aim of this paper is to highlight a not yet recognized hazard for mass failure (landslides) of contaminated soils into rivers and to provide an understanding of important interactions of such events. A first effort to investigate the problem is made focusing on the south eastern part of the Göta Älv river valley, in Sweden, by combining geographical information on potentially contaminated sites with slope stability levels on maps. The objectives of this study were to: (1) Review current Swedish risk assessment methodologies for contaminated areas and landslides, and analyze their capability to quantify the risk of contaminated areas being subject to landslides. (2) Investigate the presence of contaminated areas at landslide risk along the Göta Älv river valley. (3) Provide an overview of the national methods for landslide risk analysis and for environmental risk classification, followed by a comparison between the methods and the results from the superposition of the two methods for the study site. (4) Make a first attempt to conceptualize the release and transport mechanisms.

Materials and methods

Environmental risk assessment data of the study site was combined with data on slope stability levels. Conceptual issues of the release and transport scenario were identified and a first conceptual model was created.

Results

Of 31 potentially contaminated sites, eight had moderate to high probability for landslide, and of these eight sites, five were classified as having a high or very high environmental risk. These findings had not been revealed when the data had only been considered separately. The ‘actual’ risk could hence be even higher than the highest environmental risk class actually suggests. By visualizing results from the landslide risk analysis with the results from the environmental risk classification of contaminated sites, a better understanding of the potential hazard involved is obtained.

Discussion

The release mechanisms as a result of a landslide into surface water were conceptualized using two time scales: the instantaneous and the long-term release. It is clear that the Swedish method for landslide risk assessment and for environmental risk assessment of contaminated soil considers hazard events that are characterized by different time scales. The method for landslide risk assessment addresses events that are rapid (occurring over minutes) with instantaneous impact and consequences. Measurements are made within a short time after the event (days to months). The environmental risk assessment is done with respect to events that are slowly evolving (over years or decades) and any possible consequence materializes after a long period of time.

Conclusions

The combined data provided a more solid basis for decisions; however, inherent difficulties when combining data based on different methods were revealed. Separate assessment methodologies executed by different authorities may lead to incorrect assessments and inappropriate protective measures.

Recommendations and perspectives

The effects and the consequences of landslides in areas with contaminated soil need to be further investigated. The climate change expected to occur over the next hundred years will increase the probability of slope failures, such as landslides, in many parts of the world where the precipitation is predicted to increase (e.g., in Scandinavia). This will accentuate the need for methods and models to assess the impact of such events. In order to achieve established environmental quality objectives there is an urgent need for models and assessment principles (criteria) for contaminated areas that are at risk of experiencing slope failure. Knowledge of the governing processes that control the release and transport of substances under a variety of conditions, taking into account characteristic spatial and temporal scales, is required.

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Notes

  1. A quick clay is a clay that behaves like a liquid when it becomes disturbed

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Hillevi Uppmanis at the Swedish Administration Board of Västra Götaland for supplying us with data from the GIS database, Åke Johansson at the Swedish Geotechnical Institute for valuable information on landslides along Göta Älv river valley, and the Swedish Geotechnical Institute for funding the project. The authors also would like to thank three unknown reviewers for valuable comments, especially for the future work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swedish Geotechnical Institute, 581 93, Linköping, Sweden

    Gunnel I. Göransson & David Bendz

  2. Department of Water Resources Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    P. Magnus Larson

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  1. Gunnel I. Göransson
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  2. David Bendz
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  3. P. Magnus Larson
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Correspondence to Gunnel I. Göransson.

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Göransson, G.I., Bendz, D. & Larson, P.M. Combining landslide and contaminant risk: a preliminary assessment. J Soils Sediments 9, 33–45 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-008-0035-z

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