ABSTRACT
Plant location is a significant factor in the development of an industrial project. The hazards of site selection are greatest when a remote location has been selected because of an assumed special advantage-usually an available raw material or low-cost fuel supply. The site-selection process must fit into the schedule of all other project activities and should be a source of information to other scheduled work including environmental reports, economic evaluations, permit applications and the basic design of the plant. The key to successful site selection is planning and team effort. Mathematical methods can be used to evaluate subjective factors in the site selection process. Field investigations of both the areas and sites being considered are a necessary part of any plant-siting study. Any environmental restraints which will effectively prevent the construction and operation of the plant at a site should be identified by the fatal-flaw analysis. Evaluation of foreign sites generally follows the same course as for domestic sites.
