On 30th September 2020, CL:AIRE (the industry body for the land contamination & remediation sector) published new professional guidance for “Comparing Soil Contamination Data with a Critical Concentration“. The 46-page document advises how to use statistics when assessing land contamination and deciding whether it is safe for development. I was the lead author of the guidance and I spent 4 years working with CL:AIRE’s steering committee on what the guidance should cover. The 4 years were bookended by statement & editorial published by the ASA (American Statistical Association) on the use & misuse of P-Values in 2016 & 2019 respectively and in writing this guidance I felt was I an ambassador for turning those into something that could used by non-statisticians to make real life decisions that have an impact on us all.
Stats in the News #3 – Did I change Bath’s Clean Air Zone plans?
The city of Bath is among a number of cities in the UK tasked with reducing Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions. NOx pollution is thought to contribute to poor health and the government has required clean air plans from the relevant local authorities to be in place before 2021. I had no idea that this would result in my statistical expertise being needed to answer a political row over the BathBreathes2021 plans to charge cars driving into Bath and you can read my report to see what my answer was!
[Read more…] about Stats in the News #3 – Did I change Bath’s Clean Air Zone plans?
