Decision support tool for sustainable management of contaminated sediments in coastal areas

The sediments in ports, coastal areas, estuaries etc. are often highly contaminated due to human activities. Land reclamation for new residential areas and development, maintenance and dredging in ports and fairways imply management of these contaminated sediments. The volume to be dredged in the coming years in e.g. the coastal areas in Sweden and Norway is estimated to several million m3 incl. contaminated sediments. The paper has focus on the evaluation of established sustainability indicators using Multi-Criteria Decision tools. Furthermore the quantitative analysis of different scenario using environmental system analysis is described. One key scenario is beneficial use of contaminated sediment e.g. in new harbour areas by applying the emerging technology stabilisation/solidification. All in all the described tool can provide stakeholders with a sound base for using Best Available technology (BAT) for management of contaminated sediments. This method can also prove to be sustainable for handling of contaminated areas on land.Godkänd; 2009; 20091217 (svek