General Assessment Endpoints for Ecological Risk Assessment at Los Alamos National Laboratory

A critical component of any ecological risk assessment is the specification of the assessment endpoints. However, selecting assessment endpoints for risk assessment is often a formidable task, particularly for sites with extensive and diverse ecological resources, such as those found at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The General Assessment Endpoint (GAE) process provides a comprehensive, systematic and defensible basis for reaching consensus with regulators and other stakeholders on the assessment endpoints for ecological risk assessments. This paper provides an overview of the GAE process and reports on a pilot project to implement the process for the Pajarito Plateau ecosystem, the ecosystem potentially affected by the Laboratory's legacy hazardous waste.