Risk management of PCB contaminated sediment sites should comprehensively evaluate the broad range of risks posed by PCB contaminated sediments and associated remedial actions. These risks should include societal, cultural, and economic impacts as well as human health and ecological risks.

Risk management of PCB-contaminated-sediment sites should include early, active, and continuous involvement of all affected parties and communities as partners. Although the need for involvement of the affected communities has often been recognized, it has not been implemented on a consistent basis.

All decisions regarding the management of PCB-contaminated sediments should be made within a risk-based framework. The framework developed by the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management provides a good foundation that should be used to assess the broad range of risks associated with PCB-contaminated sediments and the various management options for a site.

Risk assessments and risk-management decisions should be conducted on a site-specific basis and should incorporate all available scientific information.

Identification and adequate control of sources of PCB releases to sediments should be an essential early step in site risk management.

There should be no presumption of a preferred or default risk-management option that is applicable to all PCB-contaminated-sediment sites. A combination of technical and non-technical options is likely to be necessary at any given site.

Current management options can reduce risks but cannot completely eliminate PCBs and PCB exposure from contaminated sediment sites. Because all options will leave some residual PCBs, the short- and long-term risks that they pose should be considered when evaluating management strategies.

Long-term monitoring and evaluation of PCB-contaminated sediment sites should be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the management approach and to ensure adequate, continuous protection of humans and the environment.

Further research is recommended in several areas of investigation. These research areas concern: