Title: Using expectations of gain to bound the benefits from contaminated land remediation

Authors: John Powell

Addresses: Countryside and Community Research Unit, Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, UK

Abstract: Current risk-based decision-making techniques for prioritising contaminated land for clean-up have been criticized within Hungary for their failure to consider remediation benefits. A cost-benefit or risk-benefit approach is required to ensure that scarce resources for remediation are used efficiently. Problems arise because the credibility of non-market valuation information in Hungary is low, yet estimates of the value of non-market goods are required if cost-benefit approaches to decision-making are to be used effectively. This paper suggests using multiple techniques to bound ||true|| values of non-market goods in order to enhance the potential use of environmental valuation information. A dichotomous-choice contingent valuation survey and a property-owner valuation survey were carried out in the vicinity of a hazardous waste site on the edge of Debrecen, Hungary. The aim of the study was to explore the potential for using these techniques to measure the benefits from contaminated site remediation in Hungary. The two surveys provide lower and upper bounds on expected benefits from clean-up aggregated results indicate that remediation benefits range from US$2.59 million to US$12.4 million.

Keywords: clean-up benefits; contaminated land; contingent valuation; Hungary.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2002.000677

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2002 Vol.17 No.4, pp.337-355

Published online: 14 Jul 2003 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article