IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jpamgt/v18y1999i1p2-27.html

How costly is “clean”? An analysis of the benefits and costs of Superfund site remediations

Author

Listed:
  • James T. Hamilton

    (Duke University)

  • W. Kip Viscusi

    (Harvard Law School)

Abstract

The cleanup of hazardous waste sites under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program is governed by a number of legislative and regulatory constraints. Congress passed legislation in 1986 directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pursue permanent remedies that embodied stringent cleanup standards. The agency has chosen to use conservative assumptions in risk assessments at hazardous waste sites, including a presumption that on-site risks for hypothetical future residents should be calculated in the site remediation process. This article offers the first comprehensive assessment of the cost-effectiveness of these Superfund cleanups. Our results reveal that many EPA Superfund remediations fail a partial benefit-cost test. For a sample of the 150 Superfund sites, we find that at the majority of sites the expected number of cancers averted by remediation is less than 0.1 cases per site and that the cost per cancer case averted is over $100 million. The analysis demonstrates the importance of explicitly calculating the trade-offs embodied in environmental cleanup decisions. © 1998 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management

Suggested Citation

  • James T. Hamilton & W. Kip Viscusi, 1999. "How costly is “clean”? An analysis of the benefits and costs of Superfund site remediations," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 2-27.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:18:y:1999:i:1:p:2-27
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6688(199924)18:1<2::AID-PAM2>3.0.CO;2-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shreekant Gupta & George Van Houtven & Maureen Cropper, 1996. "Paying for Permanence: An Economic Analysis of EPA's Cleanup Decisions at Superfund Sites," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 27(3), pages 563-582, Autumn.
    2. John A. Hird, 1993. "Environmental policy and equity: The case of superfund," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(2), pages 323-343.
    3. Peter A. Diamond & Jerry A. Hausman, 1994. "Contingent Valuation: Is Some Number Better than No Number?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 45-64, Fall.
    4. Lott, John R, Jr, 1997. "Does Political Reform Increase Wealth?: Or, Why the Difference between the Chicago and Virginia Schools Is Really an Elasticity Question," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 91(3-4), pages 219-227, June.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1983. "A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 371-400.
    6. Noll, Roger G & Krier, James E, 1990. "Some Implications of Cognitive Psychology for Risk Regulation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 747-779, June.
    7. Wittman, Donald, 1989. "Why Democracies Produce Efficient Results," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1395-1424, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. It's 'Time to Panic' Over Climate Change, Asserts New York Times Op-Ed
      by Ronald Bailey in Hit & Run blog on 2019-02-21 18:25:00
    2. Relax: Gutting the EPA Won't Make Your Air Dirtier and Water More Polluted
      by Ronald Bailey in Hit & Run blog on 2017-03-21 23:35:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jenkins, Robin & Kopits, Elizabeth & Simpson, David, 2006. "Measuring the Social Benefits of EPA Land Cleanup and Reuse Programs," National Center for Environmental Economics-NCEE Working Papers 280849, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    2. Jarmo Jääskeläinen & Pauli Lappi, 2025. "Restoring the commons: optimizing the restoration of natural assets," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 80(4), pages 989-1039, December.
    3. Hangyu Li & Ze Zhou & Tao Long & Yao Wei & Jianchun Xu & Shuyang Liu & Xiaopu Wang, 2022. "Big-Data Analysis and Machine Learning Based on Oil Pollution Remediation Cases from CERCLA Database," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-10, August.
    4. Jacob LaRiviere & Matthew McMahon & Justin Roush, 2019. "Second-Best Prioritization of Environmental Cleanups," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(4), pages 1225-1249, April.
    5. Thomas C. Beierle, 2002. "The Quality of Stakeholder‐Based Decisions," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 739-749, August.
    6. Sigman, Hilary, 2001. "The Pace of Progress at Superfund Sites: Policy Goals and Interest Group Influence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 315-344, April.
    7. Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Ellen, Ingrid Gould & Voicu, Ioan & Schill, Michael H., 2006. "The external effects of place-based subsidized housing," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 679-707, November.
    8. Roel Plant & Spike Boydell & Jason Prior & Joanne Chong & Aleta Lederwasch, 2017. "From liability to opportunity: An institutional approach towards value-based land remediation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(2), pages 197-220, March.
    9. Gayer, Ted & Kip Viscusi, W., 2002. "Housing price responses to newspaper publicity of hazardous waste sites," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 33-51, February.
    10. Adam Eckerd & Andrew Keeler, 2012. "Going green together? Brownfield remediation and environmental justice," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 45(4), pages 293-314, December.
    11. Stavins, Robert & Hahn, Robert & Cavanagh, Sheila, 2001. "National Environmental Policy During the Clinton Years," RFF Working Paper Series dp-01-38, Resources for the Future.
    12. Lappi, Pauli, 2018. "Optimal clean-up of polluted sites," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 53-68.
    13. Sandra Alker & Adrian McDonald, 2003. "Incorporating sustainable development into redevelopment," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(3), pages 171-182.
    14. Wen, Zongguo & Chen, Jining, 2008. "A cost-benefit analysis for the economic growth in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 356-366, April.
    15. Robert B. Avery & Raphael W. Bostic & Glenn B. Canner, 2003. "Assessing the CRA's Necessity and Efficiency," Working Paper 8606, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    16. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Jurgita Antucheviciene, 2006. "Development of an indicator model and ranking of sustainable revitalization alternatives of derelict property: a Lithuanian case study," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(5), pages 287-299.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. MacKenzie, D.W., 2008. "The use of knowledge about society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(3-4), pages 678-688, September.
    2. Holcombe, Randall G., 1998. "Tax Policy From a Public Choice Perspective," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 51(2), pages 359-371, June.
    3. Revesz, Richard & Stavins, Robert, 2004. "Environmental Law and Policy," Working Paper Series rwp04-023, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Lott, John R, Jr, 2000. "A Simple Explanation for Why Campaign Expenditures Are Increasing: The Government Is Getting Bigger," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 359-393, October.
    5. Bryan Caplan, 2003. "The Logic of Collective Belief," Rationality and Society, , vol. 15(2), pages 218-242, May.
    6. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 2002. "Political economics and public finance," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 24, pages 1549-1659, Elsevier.
    7. Susanne Lohmann & Deborah M. Weiss, 2002. "Hidden Taxes and Representative Government: The Political Economy of the Ramsey Rule," Public Finance Review, , vol. 30(6), pages 579-611, November.
    8. Bryan Caplan & Edward Stringham, 2005. "Mises, bastiat, public opinion, and public choice," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 79-105.
    9. J. Barkley Rosser, 2007. "The Rise and Decline of Mancur Olson's View of The Rise and Decline of Nations," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(1), pages 4-17, July.
    10. Mancur Olson, 1996. "Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: Big Bills Left on the Sidewalk: Why Some Nations Are Rich, and Others Poor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 3-24, Spring.
    11. repec:lic:licosd:25109 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. repec:lic:licosd:27911 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Marcin Kalinowski, 2005. "Ekonomiczne przesłanki lobbingu w świetle teorii public choice," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 7-8, pages 29-44.
    14. Falkowski, Jan & Olper, Alessandro, "undated". "Political Competition and Support for Agriculture," 2010 IAMO Forum, June 16-18, 2010, Halle (Saale), Germany 90799, Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    15. Jessi Troyan & Joshua Hall, 2019. "The Political Economy of Abandoned Mine Land Fund Disbursements," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-17, January.
    16. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "The Politics of Market Socialism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 165-176, Spring.
    17. Randall Holcombe, 2005. "Government growth in the twenty-first century," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 95-114, July.
    18. Joshua C. Hall, 2020. "Academia in Anarchy: 50 years on," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 405-416, June.
    19. Sutirtha Bagchi & Libor Du ek, 2023. "Tax Withholding and the Size of Government," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 59, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    20. Richard E. Wagner, 2012. "Deficits, Debt, and Democracy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14477, June.
    21. Arvate, Paulo Roberto, 2013. "Electoral Competition and Local Government Responsiveness in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 67-83.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:18:y:1999:i:1:p:2-27. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/34787/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.