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A New Publication from Estimating Economic Benefits of Cleaning Up Contaminated Sediments in By John R. Stoll, -------------------------------------------------------------------- Estimating the benefits of cleaning up contaminated sediments in the The 87-page book describes a two-stage approach to estimating the value
the public places on large-scale cleanup projects and comparing that value to
the estimated costs of the projects.
The authors describe their approach via a case study of the proposed
cleanup of the The first phase is a "scoping study," which assesses what
can easily be learned about potential benefits and costs from previously
conducted studies. In some cases,
this phase may provide a sufficiently accurate estimate of costs and benefits. In other cases, a second stage, involving
a deeper investigation, may be necessary.
The scoping study can help determine which of several approaches to the
deeper investigation is most appropriate. The authors discuss five methods of analysis that may be used in the
second stage: benefits transfer,
market valuation studies, travel cost demand estimation, hedonic methods, and
contingent valuation (CV). The authors
find the CV method most appropriate for the A CV approach uses survey methods to estimate values of environmental
amenities to citizens. The report describes
a survey conducted by the lead author in which a sample of The benefits analysis used as an example was funded by the Great Lakes
Protection Fund, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National
Program Office, and Wisconsin Sea Grant. This new publication will be a valuable guide to policymakers, resource
managers, and economists faced with weighing the benefits and the estimated
costs of cleaning up contaminated sediments in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and
elsewhere. The price is $5.00, and
it may be ordered from Wisconsin Sea Grant, (608) 263-3259 or linda@seagrant.wisc.edu. |