PFAS Risk Screening Project, Phase 4 - WP1 GIS Model Refinement and Application

This Contract is for the project titled GIS Model Refinement & Application. This project is one of six work packages under the overarching PFAS Risk Screening Project which is now entering Phase 4.

The wider PFAS Risk Screening Project, aims to assess and tackle the risks arising from a group of "forever chemicals" which are contaminating soil, groundwater and surface waters and also pose a risk to human health. These chemicals are causing a global pollution problem. And the nature and scale of the problem in the UK is only now being fully realised.

In order to ensure effective allocation of resources and appropriate targeting of mitigation actions, we need to better understand the sources of PFAS, the pathways by which these chemicals can impact key receptors and the relative significance of these substances in environmental media.

Previous phases of the project have led to the development of a high-level risk screening model. This multi-layered GIS model helps to identify potential problem zones across England using a multi-criteria analytical approach to evaluate risk. The model allocates scores based on respective weightings applied to key criteria - all designed around the source-pathway-receptor type strategy.

Based on the outputs of the model, and our growing understanding of the nature and extent of the PFAS problem, under Phase 4 we intend to focus on specific facilities and zones of concern to both validate the model and target resource.

The focus of this work package is GIS Model Refinement & Application. The overarching objective is to continue to build on the outputs of the preceding phases, to act on recommendations and to refine, enhance and update the GIS model. This will be achieved using internal and external datasets and information gained from wider research and related projects. This work package includes the continued hosting of the model on a Jacobs' platform for the duration of this project, until a time when it can be transferred onto EA systems.