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remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) process. RAs <br /> are used to establish the neea for site remediation and, if <br /> needed, to set quantitative cleanup goals. Since fuel-contami- <br /> nated sites have many similarities to Superfund sites, RA is a <br /> tool that can be applied to fuel-contaminated sites. To date, RA <br /> has not been widely applied to these sites, pe-naps because they <br /> havefnot been addressed under Superfund, although there is a <br /> growing recognition of the applicability of RA tools i.see SWRCB <br /> 1987) . In the past, the need :or and objectives of cleanup of <br /> fuel-contaminated sites have often been established with little <br /> or no technical rationale. Application of RA can remove some of <br /> the ambiguity in the decision-making process and permit prudent, <br /> technically founded decisions that protect human health and the <br /> environment in a cost-effective manner. <br /> Application of the RA process to a fuel-contaminates. site czar_ u <br /> serve three purposes. First, it documents that risk to human <br /> . health and the environment have been evaluated and given con- <br /> sideration in determining the appropriate response. Second, it <br /> provides a rational approach to determining the appropriate level <br /> of effort for investigation and remediation of the site. And <br /> third, the application of the risk assessment technique to fuel- <br /> contaminated sites help ensure that scarce resources are applied <br /> to the sites of greatest need of remediation. Following a sub- <br /> surface fuel spill, the cost of the investigation phase alone may <br /> range from less than $2,500 for a few soil borings or a soil. <br /> vapor survey to more than $1,000, 000 for a major remedial <br /> investigation. Remediation costs may vary from $10,000 for <br /> simple free-product recovery into the millions of dollars for <br /> dissolved phase and sail clean up. The total potential costs for <br /> investigation and remediation of fuel spills nationwide .'.s <br /> staggering. Although precise estimates are difficult to obtain, <br /> utilizing the EPA (1986a) figure -of 189,000 as the number .of _ .. .. <br /> leaking underground storage tanks in the United States, and ta.e <br /> California Commission for Economic Development' s (1986) per-site <br /> figures for the ultimate cost of investigation and remediation at <br /> 4 <br />