Development of a Case-Based Database System of Countermeasures for Soil and Groundwater Pollution

Abstract

Soil and groundwater pollution problem caused by waste materials is currently one of the most serious problems in Japan. When polluters cannot pay the costs for investigation and remediation, the local governments are obliged to restore such polluted sites. However, since most local governments have little experience in solving the problem, they usually have many difficulties in planning countermeasures for polluted sites.
The objective of this study is to develop a database system (DBS), which will support local governments in planning appropriate and smooth countermeasures. The DBS consists of three main databases (DB), which are interconnected to each other. These are restoration technology DB, polluted site DB, and event DB. In this paper, we especially describe the event DB based on past experiences of local governments. This DB could help local governments to select the most appropriate restoration method, to build consensus between local government and residents smoothly, to conduct an efficient investigation, among others.
Specifically, we conducted an investigation of local governments’ needs for such database system. Then, we developed a data structure inside the DBS, based on these needs. This data structure is able to manage the data from all cases in an integrated fashion, and also to realize the new type case-based database system. We showed that this data structure and database system could be applied effectively to actual planning of countermeasures for polluted sites.