Economically Efficient Strategies
for
Preserving Groundwater Quality
by
Michael Kavanaugh
Robert M. Wolcott
Prepared for the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C.
by
Public Interest Economics Center
1525 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-1291
May 1982
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Table of Contents
Page
Preface . v
I. INTRODUCTION ....... 1
A. Purpose and Conclusion 1
B. Approach . 6
C. Plan 7
II. THE STORY 8
A. The Setting . 8
B. When? 9
C. Who/How? 13
III. RESTORATION OPTIONS 18
A. Introduction 18
B. Agricultural Damages 19
1. Facts and Assumptions 20
2. The Calculation 22
C. Health Effects . . 24
D. Treatment 29
E. Alternative Sources . . . 33
1. New Well 34
2. Pipeline Conveyance 35
3. Tank Truck and Bottles Water 38
F. Conclusions and Comparisons ........ 38
IV. CONTAINMENT OPTIONS 42
A. Pumping/Recovery Wells 42
B. Slurry Walls 43
C. Comparison 46
ii
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Table of Contents (cont.)
Page
V. SELECTING AMONG RESPONSE OPTIONS .... 49
A. Introduction ....49
B. The Decision 51
C. Case I: Slow-Growing, Small Plume 52
D. Case II: Slow-Growing, Large Plume 55
E. Case III: Fast-Growing, Small Plume 56
F. Case IV: Fast-Growing, Large Plume 60
VI. CONCLUSIONS ; 63
Bibliography 67
List of Tables
Table 1: Major Economic Dimensions of Principal Crops
of WRC-1503 21
Table 2: Summary of Preliminary Costs for Controlling
TEC in Drinking Water 31
Table 3: Costs of Alternative Water Supplies: New Well 36
Table 4: Pipeline Conveyance 37
Table 5: Comparison of Annual Cost of Restoration Options .... 39
Table 6: Containment Costs for Counterpumping,
Fast-Growing Plume 44
Table 7: Containment Costs for Counterpumping,
Slow-Growing Plume . . 45
Table 8: Containment Costs for Slurry Walls 75 Feet Deep 47
Table 9: Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Slow-Growing, Small Plume 54
Table 10: Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Slow-Growing, Large Plume 57
ill
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Table of Contents (cont.)
Page
Table 11: Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Fast-Growing, Small Plume 59
/
Table 12: Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Fast-Growing, Large Plume .61
Table 13: Influences of the Costs of Responding to
Groundwater Contamination ... 64
iv
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Preface
Groundwater resources in the U.S. are Immense in quantity, exceeding
the total capacity of all the nation's lakes and streams and are crucial
to the performance of key economic sectors. Over one-half of the U.S.
population (110,000,000 persons) are dependent on groundwater for various
uses. Approximately 11 billion gallons per day or 38% of the freshwater
supply is from groundwater. In terms of total supply more than 95% of
freshwater in the U.S. is groundwater.
Groundwater has provided to date a unique, high quality resource.
Shielded from surface exposure and encased within stable rock formations,
groundwater provides high quality, continuously accessible water for
multiple uses. Communities and economies have formed as a result of
these waters and the safety and livelihood of millions rely upon the
maintenance of their quality.
Despite the importance, quality and quantity of groundwater resour-
ces, and the absence, in many cases, of any affordable substitute supply,
society has at times failed to foresee the threats which have emerged to
groundwater. Excessive pumping in selected areas and infiltration of
toxics from both point and non-point sources have generated increased
signs of contamination and overdraft. The runoff of pesticides and herb-
icides from farm and urban pest control operations has long been recognized
as a threat to aquifer quality. Industrial waste discharge has also been
suspected of contributing to degradation through its adverse effects on
the quality of groundwater recharge supplies. (Examples include the runoff
of DDT and BCBs from military arsenals and the release of dioxin and other
highly toxic compounds from operating chemical/industrial facilities.)
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past, but which exhibits the potential for extreme and essentially perma-
nent contamination is the large number of toxic and hazardous waste
disposal facilities throughout the country, hundreds of which have been
in place for decades.
Under the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is authorized to protect human health
and the environment from the dangers associated with the treatment,
storage and disposal of hazardous wastes.
In order to issue regulations under RCRA, it is required that EPA
portray the relationship between the benefits to be expected and the
costs to be incurred as a result of the regulation. The following report
presents the conceptual and empirical considerations which underlay an
analysis of the most economically efficient control response to a case
of toxic degradation of groundwater. In addition to these background
considerations, a series of hypothetical case studies are presented to
portray the most efficient responses to specified physical conditions
including land use, geology, use values, and size and rates of degradation.
This study is not intended as a prototype benefit analysis. It is,
instead, aimed at identifying issues which bear upon the development of
a specific methodology for a fully integrated regulatory impact assessment.
The case studies are intended to demonstrate the role and significance of
I
selected physical and economic dimensions and to show, within wide
bounds of uncertainty, what one must believe about the scale of benefits
to adopt alternative response options.
vi
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This report Is submitted by the Public Interest Economics Center
(PIE-C) in partial fulfillment of EPA Work Assignment No. 96.
In the performance of this study, the authors have enjoyed the
cooperation and advice of Robert Raucher of the Economic Analysis Divi-
sion in EPA. Also contributing to the study was Edward C. Burrows and
the firm of Geraghty and Miller, Inc..
PIE-C is a not-for-profit, public interest organization. Its purpose
is to involve economists systematically in various aspects of public
policy decisions to advance the public Interest. Its main activities
fall into four categories: providing a communications link between
professional economists and both policymakers and public interest
groups; performing, interpreting and disseminating economic research;
providing economic educational services; participation in judicial,
legislative and administrative processes on matters of economic policy or
the economic aspects of other policy.
Like other studies PIE-C has performed on environmental economics,
the issue of groundwater contamination is a matter of public interest
and is an appropriate undertaking as part of PIE-C's research program.
This manuscript has been edited and typed by Janet A. Carver, Berna-
dette T. Clark, Marilyn E. Matthews, Linda L. Minich and Vernon W. Palmer,
II.
vii
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I. INTRODUCTION
A. Purpose and Conclusion
The purpose of this report is to identify and explore issues which
relate to the level and types of costs which are incurred as a result of
toxic contamination of groundwater as well as of control responses to
this degradation. The nethodology for evaluating control options, which
is set forth below, is Intended to draw into focus the benefits which may
be realized by the pursuit of measures that prevent contamination. How-
ever, this report is not put forth as a formal benefit analysis.
The findings of our work in general are the following:
o The most efficient response to an incidence of groundwater
contamination is highly sensitive to the length of the time
horizon selected, i.e., the number of years during which the
effects are assumed to be experienced for purposes of the
analysis.
Abstracting from human health risks and holding other
factors constant, the shorter the time horizon, the more
likely It Is that the most efficient response will be to
take no action to arrest the spread of the toxic plume.1
o The future value of groundwater Is a key determinant of the most
efficient contamination response.
Three factors influence these estimates of future values.
In the first instance, the real future value of aquifers is
affected by the fact that they are not self-cleansing and not
all receive recharge (fresh supplies from precipitation runoff).
emerging theories of catastrophe, uncertainty and irreversib-"'.ity
indicate important modifications must be made to benefit analysis.
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Hence, groundwater ought be considered as a nonrenewable stock
resource.2
The second factor is the rate of discount chosen to reflect
society's rate of time preference for groundwater quality.
There are also nonmarket, option values, i.e., premiums paid
over and above market values for increasing the probability that
the resource will be available at a given price in some future
period.3 In addition, there are "quasi-option values," which
denote the premium paid to preserve a course of action if addi-
tional information regarding alternative uses of the resources
becomes available.^ Finally, there is a value of reducing
anxiety associated with easing the threat of catastrophe.
The particular option chosen from among a menu of feasible choices
depends upon local circumstances such as porosity, rates of plume
growth, the perimeter of a plume, the land use of the abutting property,
the distance to an alternative water supply and the volume of water
that must be treated to acceptable standards.
With outcomes dependent upon time horizons, assessments of
future values and conditons, and the possibility of a threat to
human life and health, groundwater contamination incidents and
classic article in the pricing of an exhaustible resource is
Hotelling (1931).
concept was introduced by Weisbrod (1964) and has been the subject
of a continuing controversy. See, for example, Bohm (1975) or Feenberg
and Mills (1980).
^Where option value is regarded as a risk premium and may be positive
or negative, quasi-option value is positive regardless of risk preferences
and depends upon the present value of future information. See Krutilla
and Fisher (1975) and Arrow and Fisher (1974).
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their precursors (sitings of hazardous waste dumps, for example)
become public problems. The Important role played by local con-
ditions make public participation necessary at the local level
in siting decisions and in deciding what to do about contamination
Incidents. The influence of time horizons and the fact that con-
tamination may affect nonmarket values may require changes in
liability laws, statutes of limitations, zoning and new or
expanded forums for public participation. The assessment of
future values requires an ethical posture toward future generations,
Determining the least-cost response to groundwater contamination is
a complex problem. There are multiple reasons for this complexity. First.,
local conditions almost always play a significant role in determining the
cost of response options. This requires that highly specific information
be collected and analyzed. Second, the costs of the response options are
uncertain, as are the effects of groundwater contamination. Accordingly,
it is inappropriate in such instances to rely on single-point benefit
estimates for planning decisions.5
Third, groundwater contamination appears to be irreversible except
over long periods of time. Irreversibility is a modification of the
classical microeconomic assumption concerning resource mobility.0 Reduced
^Mercer and Morgan (1976) propose the Weibull distribution to generate
probability distributions for the relevant input variables, although
they acknowledge there is no theoretical basis for describing the input
variables as Weibull distributions. The distribution is selected as a
matter of convenience.
°The first rigorous treatment of irreversibility was provided by Arrow
(1968), although Krutilla (1967) mentions the concept in the course of
explicating a model of production and natural environments. Fisher,
Krutilla and Cicchetti (1972) drew upon the analytical apparatus developed
by Arrow (1968) and developed a model for the allocation of natural
.environments between preservation and development.
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resource mobility brings to the fore the Importance of forecasting the
future value of groundwater. This is because a decision to pollute is a
decision that cannot be reversed. Suppose that with today's fair market
prices, the value of an aquifer as a waste receptacle is greater than
the value of an aquifer as an irrigation source. Also suppose that
relative prices change In five years so that the value of an aquifer as
an Irrigation source surpasses the value as a dump. Although a change
in end-use would be signaled, the characteristics of groundwater pollu-
tion prevent this switch from occurring.
Irreversibility also connotes that future generations will be affec-
ted by today's actions. This raises questions of intergenerational
equity^ that is, the "fairness" of discounting the values of existing
resources to future generations. Irreversibilities, then, dictate caution
and conservatism in natural resource decisions insofar as the well-being
of future generations is of importance.
Fourth, there are thousands of hazardous waste dumps. Viewed in
isolation, one incident may seem of little consequence. Yet, a large num-
ber of small incidents may result in a serious national problem as a
large number of key aquifers could be sufficiently degraded to preclude
high value use of those acquifers. Hence, imposing costly cleanup require-
ments and/or reductions in water supply might result.
Fifth, there may be a long delay between the time the aquifer is
first polluted and the first manifestations of the consequences of pollu-
tion. Furthermore, there is likely to be a low probability that any one
aquifer is contaminated, but the consequences of contaminated aquifers are
high. This combination of low probability, long delay and high consequence
reduces the analytical value of the traditional economic tools.
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Traditional mlcroeconomic theory deals with small, gradual changes in
market values. Groundwater contamination has the'potential to cause
large, sudden changes in the value of a resource. This is the province
of catastrophe theory.7 The potential contribution of catastrophe
theory to benefits analysis and the caution it signals for determining
the least-cost responses to groundwater contamination are twofold:
(1) Expected losses (derived by multiplying the probability of an event
by the value of the event) are likely to be underestimates of the actual
damage (Zeckhauser, Shearer and Memishian, 1975). When dealing with
situations of catastrophe, Individuals are likely to be highly risk-adverse
and are unlikely to be able to fathom the damage. (2) The possibility
of a catastrophe may lead to anxiety; the avoidance of anxiety may be a
form of option value.
Sixtji^,some values that are reduced by groundwater contamination do
not pass through markets. Human health, for example, is not bought and
sold in traditional markets, though it may be impaired by groundwater
contamination. There need to be processes for developing value judgements
that can substitute for market values.
In sum, because of the uncertainty regarding cause and effect,
because of the potential for catastrophe, because of the long-term irrevers-
ibility of contamination, and because of the value judgements that must be
derived from nonmarket sources, the efficient response must blend engine-
ering with economics with political processes.
?The original text in the field is by Thorn (1975); more recent explications
include an introductory work by Woodcock and Davis (1978), an intermediate
level text by Poston and Stewart (1978) , and a collection of relatively
advanced essays edited by Zeeman (1977). Recent applications in economics
include: Balasko 1978a; Balasko 1978b; Harris 1979; Varian 1979: Vandijk
and Nijkamp 1980; Adelman and Hihn 1981; Brown 1981; and McCain 1981.
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B. Approach
Our approach to determining the least-cost response to ground-
water contamination is as follows: First, the general context in which
groundwater contamination is viewed is described. Second, a general
"menu" of responses is developed. The menu may be broken down into two
parts: (1) those responses that do nothing to arrest the spread of a plume
and (2) those that are capable of arresting the spread. Of those that do
not affect the spread, some responses are capable of restoring water
quality while others are simply the consequences of inaction. Third, the
menu is applied to a hypothetical contamination Incident. Fourth, the
costs of the various response options are compared.
A hypothetical, rather than a "real" incident was chosen because it
Is too early in our understanding of the problem to concentrate on a
single set of circumstances. Observing what has been done provides an
excellent basis for understanding why one particular response was chosen.
On the other hand, it may provide no basis for understanding as to why other
candidate options were not chosen. It is our intent to provide an under-
standing of the choices faced by parties affected by groundwater contami-
nation and the decision process they must go through. Isolating a par-
ticular historical incident may result in the study of a response option
that was not the least-cost option, but merely one that was convenient
t
from a political or engineering standpoint.
Since the data are only approximate, one should not expect to be able
to Implement a response option at costs which are quoted in the text. The
Imprecision of the data, however, In no way alters the conclusions that
are drawn. This is because the conclusions are not based on absolute
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prices but on relative prices. Furthermore, the conclusions are based
on engineering and economic facts. Namely, high one-time costs must be
paid to respond with option A, but option A has low annual maintenance
costs. Option B, on the other hand, has low one-time costs but relatively
high annual costs. It is this interplay between capital and operating
costs, together with an order of magnitude accuracy in the prices of the
response options, that gives rise to the conclusions: that the length of
the time horizon is the key in determining the least cost-response, that
local conditions strongly influence the feasibility of certain options,
and that the possible effect of contamination on nonmarket values and
the "time bomb" nature of groundwater contamination may require
modifications in regulation and law.
C. Plan
«
In the next section the assumptions and circumstances concerning
the hypothetical contamination incident are set out. Section III begins
the development of the menu of response options. Section IV continues this
development. Section V applies the menu to the incident. Section VI
presents our conclusions.
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II. THE STORY
The purpose of this section is to set out the assumptions and circum-
stances concerning a hypothetical contamination incident (the story). The
story is told to illustrate and rank the response options. The story is
made as general as possible so that the lessons learned in Illustrating
and ranking the response options might have a greater degree of generality.
The section has three parts. Part A describes the setting—a predominantly
agricultural region in the arid southwest. Fart B places the story's
time line in contemporary times. Part C provides details on the plume
of contamination (its size and its movements) and the response options.
A. The Settng
The story takes place in a predominately agricultural region in
the arid southwest. Fresh water is in short supply from groundwater and
surface sources, now and in the future. Such an area might be Water
Resource Council Region #1503 which encompasses most of southeast Arizona.8
At the outset water may not be redistributed among competing uses or
areas. This may be attributed to legal, institutional and/or technolo-
gical constraints such as the season of the year and/or the additional
lack of water rights, and would be referred to as the short-run response.
A long-run response might be characterized as one that takes place over
a period during which water may be transferred among areas and/or one
crop may be substituted for another.
Whether or not it is economically preferable to switch crops or
transfer water depends, of course, on the net proceeds from each action.
SA sort, by Geraghty & Miller, Inc., of Water Resource Regions, according to
current and future estimates of water availability, revealed this fact.
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Assume arguendo that as a result of waste contamination water is unuseable
for irrigation of sugar beets. In the long run, water nay be transferred
from other areas or from other uses, if the net proceeds from transferring
or switching are greater than the net proceeds available from the continu-
ation of present usage. The costs of growing another crop or accessing
another supply of water are important elements in determining the net
proceeds of an action. Clearly, the type of substitute crop that may be
grown or the distance to another source of water is, in part, determined
by location. Consequently, the feasibility of switching and transferring
is, in part, determined by where the story is set. The setting of this
story is such that transferring is difficult and only a few high-yielding,
high-valued crops are grown. These characteristics tend to produce damage
estimates that are high relative to other agricultural regions where
transfers are relatively easy and/or low-yielding, low-value crops
are common.
Finally, since the story is set away from populated areas, hazards
to human health are at a minimum. Nevertheless, potential, long-term
threats to human health may warrant responses which are not based solely
on assessments of readily monetized costs. A cost or risk-reduction
analysis based on observed risk data, by substance, may be of some value
to policymakers.
B. When?
The relationship of the timing of the degradation to key economic
activities has a bearing on the relative cost of the response options.
This is because the relat're cost of the response options depends upon
the relative prices of the resources used to arrest the spread of plumes
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10
of contamination and/or replace the poisoned water and/or value the
goods sacrificed by not arresting the plume.
In theory, relative price changes are primarily attributable to changes
in preferences and/or technology. As is customary in economic analysis,
preferences and technologies are allowed to vary only in selective prede-
termined ways. Few, if any models of economic behavior, have preferences
and technological change determined endogenously. Hence, absent a
forecast of how taste and technology change, the relative prices that
are quoted in the Initial year are the relative prices that are quoted
for all subsequent years. v
Consideration of irreversibility and exhaustibillty point up the
importance of this assumption of constant relative prices. Irreversibil-
ity requires that an assessment of the future value of water be made
•>
explicit. This is because a decision to pollute groundwater is a decision
that cannot be reversed. To the exent that the future relative price of
water increases, the response option that involves suffering the conse-
quences (using and losing) becomes progressively more costly.
Exhaustibillty indicates that the relative price of water may increase
over time. Hotelling (1931) has shown that for an exhaustible resource
which cannot be replenished, the long-run rate of price appreciation will
approach the social rate of discount. In some parts of the country
groundwater is an exhaustible resource. After it is used, it "runs off"
to another part of the country and is "lost." In such circumstances the
relative price of water may be expected to increase over time. In other
parts of the country, water is available from a number of sources and
aquifers are recharged. In these circumstances groundwater does not have
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11
the characteristics of an exhaustible resource. No statement can be made
about Its future relative price.
In practice, relative prices may change because of Inflation and
the monetary and fiscal policies employed to counter Inflation. Over
long periods of time, however, inflation affects only absolute prices, not
relative prices. Accordingly, an investigation of relative costs over a
long period of time should come to the same conclusions whether 5%, 10%
or OZ Inflation is assumed. We assume herein that there is no inflation.
The length of time over which the story unfolds may affect the
relative cost of the response options. This happens if one option has a
high one-time cost and another option has a low one-time cost but annual
costs that must be paid into perpetuity. Discount rates allow for inter-
temporal comparisons. Long time horizons coupled with irreversibilities
and exhaustibility necessarily involve intergenerational transfers.
These transfers require that an ethical posture towards future generations
be taken. Is it fair, for example, to discount the values of unborn
generations using a discount rate that is reflective only of the current
generation? Is it fair to deny the use of a resource to a future generation
without paying compensation?
Schulze, Brookshire and Sandier (1981) directly come to grips with
such questions. They examine the long-term storage of nuclear waste (a
potential contaminant of groundwater) from a utilitarian and libertarian
point of view. The results of the modeling exercise are as follows:
When Initial incomes and utility functions are identical, the utilitarian
ethic (maximize the utility of all) requires discounting if compensation
can be paid. If incomes and utility functions are not identical then a
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12
zero discount rate is appropriate. The libertarian ethic (harm no one)
rejects contamination (requires maximlm control of degradation) if compen-
sation cannot be paid, but accepts discounting if compensation between
generations is possible.
Schulze and Kneese (1981) examine the philosophical underpinnings
of benefit-cost analysis within the context of irreverslbility and
compensation. They too find that outcomes differ as ethical systems
differ. This is particularly the case for uncompensated risk. Even if
benefits outweigh costs, libertarians reject, under all circumstances, out-
comes Involving uncompensated risk. Elitists reject outcomes Involving
uncompensated risk, unless the risk Is borne by a non-elite. Egalitarians
and risk-adverse utilitarians reject uncompensated risks, unless the
risk falls on an elite. Risk neutral utilitarians accept uncompensated
risks as long as benefits outweigh costs.
These studies point up two important considerations. The first is
the question of whether the risks are public or private [i.e., are indivi-
duals accepting the risk on their own behalf (private), or is the choice
being made by some third party (public)?]. The second Is the fact that
the level of compensation must be assessed. Individuals may value risk
differently under conditions of compensated and uncompensated risks.
i_
A few observations regarding payments between generations might be
helpful. First, the accumulation of a fund to pay compensation would
require higher fees for waste storage. These fees would be reflected in
the market price for the goods whose production generates hazardous
waste. This increase in price -nay tend to reduce the demand for hazardous
waste disposal capacity. Second, there would have to be some mechanism
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13
for determining which members of future generations receive the compensation.
How many generations should be provided for? How should damage payments
be calculated? These questions redound to the question of setting the
appropriate fee for dumping waste In the current time period. The fees
in turn send signals to today's consumers about their level of demand
for products whose production generates hazardous waste. Failure to
provide for compensation to future generations could result in an over-
production of current goods that constitute or generate excessive levels of
hazardous waste.
In summary, our story is told in a world of unchanging relative
prices, with no inflation, with inter-temporal comparislons being affected
by the use of discount rates. Changes in relative prices may be accomodated
to the extent that the change is specified. It is unnecessary to be
concerned about the effects of inflation, since it can be argued'on logical
grounds that inflation should have no effect. Inter-temporal comparisons
are an integral part of the story and require an ethical posture toward
future generations as well as institutions to administer transfers.
C. Who/How?
The central character in our story is a plume of toxic
contamination. Its size and rate of growth as well as its composition
are important for ranking the response options. Plumes are the result
of a failure of landfill liner or surface impoundment resulting in the
seepage of waste into the water table. It is generally acknowledged
that then is no such thing as a fall-safe liner; consequently all dumps
leak, sooner or later. It is also acknowledged that decontamination is
not possible short of excavation of the site. The length of time between
liner failure and pollution of the water table depends in part upon how
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far the water table lies beneath the faulty liner. These facts are not
developed here; Instead the story begins as the hazardous waste begins to
pollute the aquifer. Many interesting questions are excluded with the
adoption of this assumption. The benefits of monitoring groundwater are
influenced by the speed at which the waste may leak into the water
table. Hence, the vulnerability of an aquifer to contamination may be a
key locational parameter in siting a surface impoundment or landfill.
The chemistry of the plume is a "soup" of organics and inorganics.
The plume contains deadly concentrations of contaminants. Deadly concen-
trations of some pollutants range from .1 to 1 milligram per liter.
Given physical conversions from liters to acre/feet and assuming a porosity
of 20% to 30%, between .27 Ibs and 2.7 Ibs of contaminant must enter the
aquifer each year to poison (render economically useless) one acre/foot
of water. This is a very small amount of contaminants, representing less
than a barrel of waste per year. Since the amount is small, It does not
require an unbridled imagination to envision a plume growing for 50 years
or more without substantial containment.
A plume's growth is influenced by many factors. Some guidance Is
provided by hydrological engineers who state that limited evidence reveals
a plume may move as little as 5 ft. per year or as much as 4,500 ft. per
year, depending on the composition of the plume and the physical character-
istics of the aquifer. The plumes in this story are assumed to grow 360
ft. per year in one instance, and 3,600 ft. per year in another.
Physics, hydrology and geology give the plume its shape. It is
convenient to think of the plume as flowing in one direction through an
underground box canyon. In such a world the plume would appear to be an
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15
expanding rectangle. In fact a plume resembles a cone, f rust rum or lune
more than a rectangle. 9 The shape of a plume may be Important for com-
paring those response options whose cost depends upon the dimensions of Its
perimeter with those options whose cost depends upon the size of the tip
of the leading edge . The story Is sympathetic and Illustrates the response **\
options for two different sized plumes. The first Is 65' x 100' x 500'; (
the second Is 65' x 2000' x 1000'. \
J
Flume growth along with porosity determines the amount of water
rendered useless. For a response option which excludes any corrective
action (suffering the effect of contaminated water), the degradation of
water begins as the plume moves beyond the perimeter of the hazardous
waste site. (Hazardous waste sites typically have a buffer between the
dump and the end of the property belonging to the owner of the dump.)
The value of the water that is destroyed under the property of the dump
•I ^
operator was captured by the previous owner when the property changed v;
or was considered when the change in uses was made, provided that
the rights to water are bought and sold with the land. If this is not
the case — and in some states groundwater is "common property" — then the
market price for land is not reflective of the present use values of the
water. States that treat groundwater as common property may require
•lf
modifications to traditional approaches to estimate the benefits of
siting decisions. One option, not developed herein, is the purchase of
water rights under adjacent lands. This action is not uncommon in the
circles and figures that resemble circles enclose more space for
a given perimeter than figures that resemble rectangles, a bias is created
against the perimeter and leading edge options.
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16
west. Energy companies, for exampler are known to have purchased large
acreages simply for the water beneath it.10
Using the contaminated water and suffering the consequences (referred
to as using and losing) is not the only possible response. The contaminated
water may be treated to acceptable standards (assumed to be drinking
water standards) and then used. Another alternative is to develop another
source of water. Using and losing, treatment, and alternative sources
share a common characteristic—namely, the spread of the plume is permittee
to continue. Each year more water is poisoned and each year the amount
»
of water that must be replaced, treated or used in its degraded status
increases. Given the characteristics of irreverslbility, uncertainty
and the possibility of catastrophe, options that result in more and more
water being contaminated cannot be considered the least-cost option
unless their resource cost is so low that it more than offsets any premiums
society would be willing to pay to keep its options open regarding future
uses of groundwater.
An entirely different response is to arrest the spread of the plume.
Two responses that may arrest the spread of the plume are slurry walls and
counterpumping. Slurry walls, which involve building an underground dam
around the plume, are currently in use for construction projects. The
applicability of slurry walls to groundwater contamination is limited by the
depth of the water table. Current technology prohibits the use of slurry
walls beyond a depth of 100 feet. The toxic plume of this story, however
occurs in a water table that has a confining layer at a depth of 75 feet.
firms in the Great Plains area have paid in excess of $400 per acre-
foot of water in recent sales.
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17
Another response that may limit the spread of the plume is counter-
pumping (pumping/recovery wells). The principle of this option is to exert
a force that counters the natural flow of the aquifer and thereby holds
the plume in place. This is accomplished by pumping contaminated water
to the surface at rates that counter the natural flow of the aquifer.
One result is that a new disposal problem is created. Something must be
done with water that is pumped to the surface. Accordingly, counter-
pumping involves some surface treatment of water to some applicable stan-
dard. It may then be reinjected or discharged to a stream.
The plot of the story involves selecting the most efficient option
among a given set of responses to prevent a plume or contamination from
damaging more water, and/or to correct the damaged water to an acceptable
standard, and/or to use water from another source, and/or to use the dam-
aged water and lose utility. Since the consequences of contaminated
water may extend for many years, "efficient" means more than just the
initial outlay of resources. "Economically efficient" must include some
notion of the premiums that must be paid to induce individuals to make
irreversible decisions about resources whose future value is uncertain.
It also must include some notion of the premiums that must be set aside
to compensate future generations for the reduction in water quality.
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18
II. RESTORATION OPTIQ
A. Introduction
One set of responses to a plume of contamination is to do nothing
to arrest its spread. In this event someone or some entity (perhaps the
public) ultimately may suffer the consequences of polluted water (reduced
output, health risks, damage payments or the costs of actions to restore
the water to its former state). Restoration actions may involve the
provision of another source of water or treatment of the polluted water
to acceptable standards. In terms of economic theory, as long as com-
pensation is paid it does not matter who pays for the restoration or who
suffers the loss if no action is taken. The result is the same, resources
are consumed because the liner on a hazardous waste dump failed and an
aquifer was partially contaminated. (There is a question as to the amount
of compensation.) In practice who pays may well determine the type of
response option selected and, in the long run, determine the value of
the resources that are consumed in responding to the plume. The following
sections discuss the restoration options.
The first option involves doing nothing and compensating agricultural
users (current and future). (We discuss the potential health effect of
drinking the contaminated water but we do not carry this option forward
because of the problems of Incommensurability between health and life on the
one hand and restoration on the other.) This is followed by a discussion
of treatment costs. The next discussion is about replacing the contaminated
water with an alternative source of water. Discussion is limited to
groundwater sources since developing new surface water sources generally is
of too large a scale for a realistic response to groundwater contamination.
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19
The feasibility of providing alternative sources of water is related to
the physical characteristics of the region where the contamination incident
occurs and the amount of water which has been degraded. In arid regions
it may not be possible to replace the poisoned water with another source.
•
On the other hand in humid regions it may be the case that provision of
an alternative source is the least-cost option even after adjusting for
the premiums associated with irreversibillty, uncertainty and catastrophe.
The overall conclusion is that the costs of paying damages, pro-
viding an alternative source or treating water to acceptable standards
are all directly related to the volume of water contaminated. Also, the
costs of these options relative to one another is unlikely to change
through time (given stasis in preference and technology) for any given
volume of contaminated water.
B. Agricultural Damages
In this section a method of estimating worst-case damages associ-
ated with the use of contaminated water for Irrigation in agriculture is
developed. Water Resource Council Region 1503 in Southern Arizona is
used for illustrative purposes. The cost of using contaminated water
varies with the type of crop produced, irrigation practices, the rate of
plume growth and porosity.
The logic underlying a calculation of the loss in value associated
with using contaminated water is as follows: (1) Contamination degrades
water quality, (2) Reduced water quality reduces agricultural output
and threatens the value of the output that does survive, and (3) The
reduction in agricultural output may be monetized by using market prices.
Consequently, the damage caused by groundwater contamination may be
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20
approximated by the product of the market price of the destroyed output
and the amount of output destroyed, presently and prospectively.
1. Facts and Assumptions
For a worst-case calculation, it is assumed that water
quality degrades enough to effectively reduce to zero the agricultural
output that could have been produced with uncontaminated water. This
may happen in two ways: (1) the contamination effectively "kills" the
plant and reduces yields by 100%; (2) the contaminant become embodied in
the plant making it unfit for consumption. The results of biological
inquiries into the relationship between toxic concentrations and yield
reductions indicates yield reductions of 702, 80% and 90% and report
that the contaminants are found in the plants that survive. (Bingham,
Page and Bradford, 1964; Lieberg, Vanslow and Chapman, 1942; Ligon and
Pierre, 1932; Prince, et al., 1949; Crafts and Rosenfels 1939; Page Bingham
and Nelson, 1972.)
Table 1 presents data on value per acre for Water Resource Council
area 1503 (Southern Arizona). (Value is the product of yield and price.)
Yields per acre for a particular crop vary by time and region. Weather,
disease and management practices are important influences on yields.
Market prices vary from year to year reflecting changes in supply and
demand conditions and, in some instances, changes in agricultural policies.
To the extent that market prices are the result of government policy,
the market price would overstate the value per acre. In some instances
the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports the prices received by
fanners net of government payments. This is the case, for example,
with the sug,- beet price reported in Table 1. The Table shows that the
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21
Table 1
Major Economic Dimensions of Principal Crops of WRC-1503
Corn and
Sorghum Sorghum Sugar
Barley Silage Cotton Hay Grain Beets Wheat
Irrigated Acres
(000) 76 91 103 205 112 10 125
Quantity Produced« 6,860 2,179 241 1,582 11,637 254 7,657
Yield3 90 24 2.30 7.70 104 25.40 61
Unit Price ($)b 1.02 10.46 92.00 27.00 1.21 20.29 1.33
Value/Acre ($)b 92.00 250.00 212.00 208.00 126.00 515.00 81.00
aUnits are
Barley, sorghum grain, wheat in bushels per year;
corn and Sorghum Silage, hay and sugar beets in tons per year;
cotton in bales
^1975 prices/values per year.
Source: Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University
also available from Agricultural Statistics, USDA, 1977.
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22
crop producing the highest value per acre is sugar beets; the lowest crops
are wheat and barley. Hence, destroying an acre of sugar beets, inflicts
about $515 per acre per year in damage.10
An estimate of the number of crop acres that could have been produced
annually with the water that was destroyed Is needed. This depends first
on the amount of water applied to an acre per year. In Arizona 4 to 5
acre/feet per acre per year are used for irrigation.H The second
determinant is the total amount of water destroyed by contamination in a
year. This is determined by porosity. In addition, the rate and direction
of plume growth are important.12
2. The Calculation
The product of the amount of destroyed output and its
market price is an approximation of the damage caused by contamination.
The amount of destroyed output depends on crop yields, the amount of
water destroyed and irrigation practices. The amount of water destroyed
depends upon the rate of growth of the plume and soil characteristics.
For purposes of illustration the initial size of the plume is 500' x
1000' x 50' or 25 million cubic feet of material. An expansion of the
this worst-case calculation, we assume the opportunity cost of all
other inputs is zero. Relaxing this assumption will decrease damage
estimates.
11An acre/foot of water would cover an acre of land to a depth of one
foot and is approximately 325 thousand gallons.
12porosity is a measure of the space available for water in the material.
Since the plume size is dimensioned in cubic feet, the porosity figure
produces a measure of cubic feet of waste contained in the plume. Use of
physical equivalents allows for easy conversion to acre/feet of water.
There are about 7.5 gallons of water in a cubic foot and 325,000 gallons
in an acre/foot. In practice, determining the size of plumes and their
rate and direction of growth is done by monitoring. Monitoring is a cost
common to all options and is not an influence on the ranking of options.
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23
plume to 500* x 1100* x 50* will encompass 27.5 million cubic feet of
material or 2.5 million cubic feet of additional material per year.
With a porosity of 30Z, an additional 750 thousand cubic feet (17.3
acre/feet) of water are destroyed each year the growth of the plume is
not arrested. Given that current irrigation practice Is to apply 4 to
5 acre/feet per acre per year, about A acres of additional output are
destroyed each year the plume is not arrested.13 These losses will
accumulate through time.
The value of this loss depends upon the crop sacrificed. The lowest
valued crop was wheat at $82 an acre, while the highest was sugar beets at
$515 an acre. A loss of 4 acres ranges from $328 to $2,000 the first year;
$628 to $4,000 the second year; $984 to'$6,000 the third year and so on.
It may be seen that the critical variables in determining agricultural
loss are: the per acre value of the crop, the amount of water that is
poisoned, the amount of water that is applied to each acre and the amount
of water that is poisoned depends upon plume growth and porosity. It
must be emphasized that agricultural losses accumulate through time. This
will be seen to be a distinguishing feature of this response. As noted,
this calculation results in an estimate of the worst-case of agricultural
loss, give existing practice. This Is because the highest valued crop
was assumed to be damaged, the other inputs into farming were assumed to
have zero opportunity cost, and the farmer was assumed to take no other
action such as crop switching to reduce the amount of agricultural loss.
Changing any of these assumptions will tend to reduce the amount of agri-
cultural damage. It must be pointed out, however, that irrigation
131974 Census of Agriculture, Arizona, Table 3.
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24
practices were assumed to be constant. If changes in Irrigation tech-
nologies occur that permit less than 4 acre/feet of water to grow an
average yield of sugar beets, then the value of water may increase and
agricultural damages would tend to rise.
C. Health Effects
The same series of analytic steps which yields estimates of
i^
agricultural losses can be used to infer health related damages resulting
from degraded municipal water supplies, at least in theory. In practice,
however, the problems of applying the methodology are formidable. The
logic and problems may be stated as follows. Contamination degrades
water quality and reduced water quality impairs health and threatens
life. Health effects are not readily expressed in dollar values, thus,
requiring the inference of such values from the literature on nonmarket
effects.l^ it is worthy of note that many are uncomfortable with this
idea of valuing risk to human life or health and reject any monetized
results generated by any analytical procedure.
There are several reasons for being wary of the results of procedures
to value life in monetary terms. First, life is a fundamental value of
society that is apart from the commercial values of society.
14 Safety, or avoidance of the risk of death, is valued (sometimes) in
labor markets. Informed individuals demand a priori compensation for
risks undertaken. This should not be confused with valuation of the
certain death of particular individuals. The latter, of course, is not
valued in labor markets. Studies have shown that different groups of
individuals require between $340 (Thaler and Rose, 1976) and $1000 (Smith,
1974) more in annual income to accept job-related risks of d?ath of about
one in 1,000. This may be interpreted as the collective valuation by a
group of 1,000 people of the death of one of their number over a year's
time at $340,000 to $1,000,000. For a full discussion of the principle
of valuing lives, see Ferguson and LeVeen (1981). Zeckhauser (1974) and
Graham and Vaupel (1981) suggest that in those studies where a value to
life has been . ssigned, seldom does the assigned value lead to a change
in the policy implications of the study.
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25
One way in which analysts have directed scientific inquiry to respect
the fundamental value of life has been to distinguish between life and a
small increase in the risk of death. The inquiry proceeds by attempting
to determine how much a_ priori compensation must be paid for accepting
a small risk. Even the valuation of small risks to life is not without
controversy, and there Is acknowledged confusion In the professional
literature as to the correct method to apply (Graham and Vaupel, 1981).
Early attempts to value life on the basis of lost productivity have been
shown to be Incorrect and irrelevant (Schulze and Kneese, 1981).
Second, if one accepts the premise that small risks to life are
commercial values, monetization is difficult, if not impossible. This is
because human life, considered as a commercial good or service, possesses a
large number of special characteristics that frustrate valuation in other
than natural units. Human life when lost is irreversible. As noted,
this characteristic forces the analyst to place a premium on forecasting
the future value of avoiding small risks. Life is not standardized. A
standardized risk to a non-standardized object results in a unique outcome.
Accordingly, there has to be an analytic process that accounts for these
unique aspects.
The loss of life is a loss of high consequence. As noted above,
special methods may be needed to assess the consequences of catastrophe
because the size of the loss may be especially difficult to estimate and
because there may be great anxiety over even a small probability of
catastrophe. Finally, no markets exist in which life may be traded and
the "markets" in which small risk may .be traded may be highly imperfect.
Analysts have attempted to use wage differentials to measure trade-offs
-------
between risk to life and monetary compensation (Rosen, 1976). The quality
of estimates of this type depends upon workers voluntarily accepting this
bargain, their understanding the risk, and having ready alternative sources
of employment. Choices that are uninformed, by virtue of a lack of alter-
natives, are not fair market values.
Third, even if one accepts the notion that small risks to human health
can be represented by a commercial value and that the special problems that
surround the valuation problems may be surmounted, important distinctions
between compensated and uncompensated risks must be made. Schulze and
Kneese (1981) have .argued that assessing uncompensated risks requires
that an ethical posture be assumed. As argued, the libertarian ethic
rejects policies that result in uncompensated risks.
A fourth consideration involves the distinction between private and
public risks. Private risks are those where threats to life are accepted
voluntarily by those who would be affected by an adverse outcome. It is
up to the individual to weigh future values, to value unique, high-valued
objects (one's own life) and to voluntarily accept compensation [or forego
f
compensation, if one is an elite in an egalitarian society run by utili-
tarians for accepting a small increase in the risks to one's life (Schulze
and Kneese, 1981)] .
Public risks are those where threats to life are accepted by those
who may not be the ones affected by an adverse outcome. Someone else
does the choosing, so to speak. It is public risk that is the most vexing
question to face. This is because public decisionmakers must first
communicate to the public that small risks to life have commercial values.
Public decisionmakers must also communicate to the public that they are
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27
capable of inferring the values associated with accepting small increases
in the risks to life. This may be done by establishing new processes
for determining the values of a community or expanding upon already
established political processes. Third, the public decisionmaker must
stand ready to accept the Judgments of a community that they, the community,
will not accept uncompensated risks.
The significance of these reasons for being uncomfortable with
"standard" or "average" or "intellectually respectable" measures of the
value for life or the value of accepting small risks to life is that the
analysis of health risks must end, in most cases, with the expression of
risk in natural units.
Truncating the analysis and expressing the results in natural units
has the effect of expressing the results in units which are incommensurable
with other monetized effects. In consequence, the damages caused by
groundwater contamination to human health and life either cannot be
expressed in commensurable units or are rejected out of hand. Further,
the minor premise—a reduction in water quality impairs health and
threatens life—is difficult to document with high degrees of certainty
from scientific evidence. Experimentation on humans is unacceptable.
The life scientist must extrapolate experimental data from lower life
forms to humans; the epidemiologist must wait for accidents to happen
and statistically analyze the consequence. Many biological differences
exist between other species and humans. Accidents are uncontrolled events.
As a consequence, the human dose-response relation is never completely
verified by biological inquiry. The epidemiologist requires large
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28
numbers to make predictions and large scale contamination incidents either
have not happened (fortunately) or remain undetected (unfortunately).
It may be argued that groundwater contamination that threatens
health and life requires that whatever is "capable of being done" must be
performed.15 this is not an economic argument. An economic argument
would require that the costs of a response option be approximately equal
at the margin, to the benefits of exercising the option. This principle
of weighing costs against benefits is made problematic by the above noted
problem of commensurability, i.e., the risks to human health and life
are not market goods. What is "capable of being done" in a non-economic
context may mean that if there are places where hazardous materials may be
stored that will not endanger human health and life, then those may be the
places to put the materials.
A third way to proceed is to perform a cost of risk-reduction
analysis. If the risks of exposure to contaminated water can be deter-
mined and if the costs of avoiding or reducing the risk can be estimated,
then it is possible to estimate the cost of reducing risk to human health.
Studies of this type have reported that the costs of saving a life have
ranged from zero dollars to $169 million (Graham and Vaupel, 1981). Of
course, it is beyond economics to argue whether the costs are worth the
benefit. Given different preferences toward risk, differences in
preferences toward accepting compensated versus uncompensated risk, it
is not even possible to say that a society with limited resources should
^Supreme Court of the United States, American Textile Manufacturers Insti-
tute, Inc., et al., v. Donovan, Secretary of Labor, et al., June 17, 1981.
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seek to save as many lives as possible with a limited budget (Schulze
and Kneese, 1981). ,
Performing a cost of risk-reduction analysis for contaminated
groundwater is problematic. The presence of organlcs and inorganics in
drinking water may present many and varied risks to human health. Perhaps
the most studied risk is the risk from cancer. A recent review of health
*
risks from carcinogens found that mortality risks from organics in drink-
ing water range from a high of 48 In 10,000 to a low of 3 in 10 million
(Crump and Guess, 1980). Treating the water to remove the harmful
substances may reduce the risks to human health. The costs of so doing
are the subject of the next section which focuses on the problem of
industrial waste.
D. Treatment
One approach to restoring water quality is to physically or chem-
ically treat the water. The optimal level of treatment depends on the
t
intended use of the water in the future. Water used for Industrial
cooling may require little or no treatment. Drinking water would require
extensive treatment.
Water may be treated at the surface or a well may be "rehabilitated"
by pumping out the contaminant or by neutralizing it within the aquifer.
Well rehabilitation techniques under experimentation are expensive and
of doubtful effectiveness at this time. Rehabilitation is made difficult
because contaminants can adhere to rock and soil within an aquifer.
Because of these questions regarding the technical and economic feasibil-
ity of well rehabilitation, well rehabilitation costs are not included.
Surface treatment of groundwater may take place at a centralized
plant from which water is distributed to users or it may take place at
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30
the point of use. Although "faucet treatment" is currently in use, these
devices require frequent replacement of treatment agents and other main-
tenance. In addition, they are of doubtful effectiveness and reliability.
Several treatment techniques for pesticide removal and for turbidity
control may be effective to varying extents at removing some toxic
chemicals, but they are not considered sufficiently effective, or reliable
for removal of the full range of compounds which are common constituents
of hazardous waste. Our attention is limited to treatment techniques
for removal of inorganic compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
High concentrations of organlcs have been reported in groundwater
and can be transported great distances because they have little affinity
for soils (Love and Eilers, 1981, p. 2). An EPA survey found that VOCs
were detected in approximately 45% of public water systems using ground-
water serving over 10,000 people and in approximately 12% serving less
than 10,000 (Federal Register, 1982).
Costs for two aeration processes—packed tower and diffused air—
and GAC are reported in Table 2; such costs in the table are for 99%
removal (500 mg/1 to 5 mg/1). Although the costs in Table 2 are for
removal of trichloroethylene (TCE), costs for removing TCE from drinking
water generally represent average costs or removal of VOCs from a water
supply for a given removal efficiency (Malcolm Pirnie, 1981). Assuming
linear dose-response relationships, 99% removal of harmful substances
has the effect of reducing a risk of 48 to 10,000 to 48 in 1,000,000.
It may be observed that as system size increases by a factor of 10,
costs increase by a factor of 4 indicating some economies of scale.
Nevertheless, treatment costs for a medium-sized system can easily amount
to over $100,000 annually.
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31
Table 2
Summary of Preliminary Costs
For Controlling TCE* in Drinking Water
(1981 Dollars)
(000)
500-5 ug/1 Removal
Aeration-Packed Tower
1. Capital Cost
2. Annual Cost
3. Operating Cost
Total Annual Cost (2+3)
Aeration-Diffused Air
1. Capital Cost
2. Annual Capital Cost
3. Operating Csot
Total Annual Cost (2+3)
Absorption-GAC
1. Capital Cost
2. Annual Capital Cost
3. Operating Cost
Total Annual Cost (2+3)
System Size
(millions of gallons per year)
2.3-11.5
28-42
3-5
6-8
9-13
67
8
15
23
82
10
15
25
23-115
115-153
14-18
20-26
34-44
277
33
69
102
344
41
66
107
230-l,15i
416-649
50-78
89-118
139-196
1,362
163
400
563
741
89
243
332
Notes: Opportunity cost of capital is 122.
Cost data presented for planning purposes only.
Actual cost data may vary depending on local conditions.
*Tricholorethylene
Source: Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. (1981).
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32
Aeration and Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) are not strict alter-
natives, but may be used in combination to increase effectiveness (Love
and Eilers, 1981, p. 75). The cost of treating contaminated groundwater
may, therefore, In some instances, approximate the sum of the GAC cost
and the cost of one of the aeration techniques reported in Table 2.
Additional treatment costs resulting from an increase in contaminant
concentration depends on whether a facility already exists. Estimation
of the "incremental" cost of treating an increase in contamination
requires knowledge of several "operational parameters" which affect
treatment cost, such as pH, coagulant, coagulant dose, and valence of
the contaminant. A change in any one of these operational variables to
achieve optimum removal of the contaminant may result in an Increase in
operating cost of no more than a cent or two per 1,000 gallons of water
treated (U.S. EPA, 1978, p. 34).
One fact of economic life is that large systems cost more than
small systems. The construction of a large treatment facility requires
capital outlays of $500,000 to about $1.5 million. Medium sized systems
require outlays of $100,000 to $400,000. Given that a decision limited to
the treatment of the contaminated water is a decision to permit the growth
of the plume, more and more water each year is poisoned. In arid areas
where there is no surplus water, poisoned water must be treated and used.
A small system may soon become inadequate.
Sizing a treatment plant in arid areas depends upon the rate of plume
growth and porosity. The sample plume reported in the section on agricul-
tural damage would require a medium sized treatment plant after about 3
years. A larger plume would require a larger sized system. It may be
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33
concluded that medium to large sized treatment facilities are the proper
'size to use when making comparisons among response options.
Finally, the costs that have been reported are for treatment systems
capable of cleaning water to drinking water standards. This level of
quality may not be needed In all instances. Using water for agriculture,
for example, may not require that .the water be potable. Accordingly,
the cost estimates for treatment may be high for comparisons Involving
agricultural damage. The level of treatment, however, is not the only
variable that influences cost. As has been noted the volume of water
that must be treated exerts a significant influence on cost levels.
E. Alternate Sources
This section provides a cost estimate for replacing a contam-
inated well with water derived from another source. The sources con-
sidered are: a new well with pipeline conveyance, tank truck delivery,
and bottled water. Esoteric options, which include various means of
increasing the availability of water in a region, such as desalinization
and weather modification, as well as options that supply water in quanti-
ties that are out of proportion to the amount of water lost are not
considered.
There are several preliminary considerations. In the first instance
the feasibility of tapping into an alternative source depends upon water
availability. The setting of the story is in Southern Arizona. This
area of the United States is arid. The Water Resource Council reports
that there is a shortage of groundwater and surface water sources and that
this deficit is likely to continue.
In terms of comparing response options, an .alternative source may not
be feasible throughout all regions, especially this region. A further
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complication involves water law. In some states, water is a common
property resource, while in others water is private property. This
means that a potential user of an alternative source may in some states
have to bargain with a public agency for its use, while in other states
the transaction may occur between (among) private parties. Some states,
however, do not permit water to be sold (Arizona has this type of law).
Owners of land have the rights to water under their land and may pump as
much as they can afford. They may not, however, sell groundwater to
anyone else. Laws of this type reduce the feasibility of tapping an
alternative groundwater source. In this circumstance—where sale of
water is proscribed—tapping an alternative source would require that
the land above the water table be purchased. This would increase the
private cost of using an alternative source.
A final consideration concerns the distance between the new source
and the point to which the water must be delivered. Tapping into an
aquifer at a point some distance from the plume requires that the new
water be conveyed at some cost to the point at which it is needed.
Tapping the contaminated aquifer too close to the plume may cause the
plume to change the direction and rate of its growth. The result might
be that pollution would be drawn to the new source.
1. New Well
The costs of obtaining water from an alternative well, to
replace that from a contaminated one, depend on four major factors: (1) the
costs of drilling and casing, (2) the operating and maintenance costs (not
treated here), (3) the difference in the cost of transporting water from
the new as opposed to the original well, and (4) the cost of obtaining
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35
legal access to Che substitute water. The costs of drilling and casing
for a new well are reported in Table 3. For each of the six well diameter
categories, mean costs per foot are reported. The means are calculated
over a nationwide (non-scientific) sample of geologic conditions. There
is considerable variance around the mean. For example, the mean cost,
over 19 firms responding, of drilling a 10" well is $12.55 per foot.
The lowest drilling cost reported was $2.60 per foot and the highest
cost was $29.00 per foot. The cost of casing a 10" well ranges from a
low cost per foot of $6.00, through a mean of $9.65, to a high cost of
$15.00.
Data on pumping cost and other operating and maintenance cost
are not available. However, since pumping cost is generally correlated
only with "lift," or the distance water must be pumped from the water
table to the surface, it is not likely to greatly affect the cost of
using alternative new wells.
2. Pipeline Conveyance
Depending on hydrological conditions (which determine both
the physical availability of water and the safe distance, in the same
aquifer, from a contaminated well) a replacement well may require trans-
porting clean water a substantial distance. Further, replacing a private
well with municipal water may require extending the public conveyance
system. If the affected aquifer affects a municipal supply, piping from
outside sources may prove to be impractical.
Table 3 contains a breakdown of the costs associated with pipeline
conveyance of water. A water user might have a pipeline constructed
from a public or private well. In the case in which the source is public,
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36
Table 3
Costs of Alternative Water Supplies; New Well
(1981 dollars)
Investment Cost Per Foot1
Investment Cost for Pumping Volume^
75' Well Annuallzed Cost2 (OOP) gal/day
Diameter
2 "-4"
6"
8"
10"
12"
Drilling
$ 5.53
8.24
11.6
12.55
24.36
Casing
$ 3.18
5.55
8.07
9.65
14.43
Total
$ 8.71
13.79
19.71
22.20
38.79
$ 653
1,034
1,478
1,665
2,909
>
$ 78
124
177
200
349
.345
5-144
108-245
216-576
504-936
Source/Explanation
^Drilling and casing cost per foot are from the Water Well Journal, January 1981, pp. 79-97. Costs for
each diameter well are sample means; over 49 firms reported drilling costs and 279 firms reported casing
costs. Although the survey included firms which use either cable tool or rotary drilling rigs exclusively,
the costs reported here are for firms which use both cable tool and rotary rigs. The Water Well Journal
survey was not scientifically designed. Questionnaires were sent to members of the National Water Well
Association and subscribers to the Water Well Journal.
^Opportunity cost of Capital = 12%.
3Pumping volumes were provided by Geraghty and Miller, groundwater hydrologists. 2" and 4" wells are assumed
to be for residential use. Average residential use is taken from Economic Systems Corporation, Urban Water
Resources Research, 1968.
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37
Table 4
Pipeline Conveyance8
Capacity
(thousands of gallons per day)
20
200
1,000
2.000 )
Investment Cost
Line Cost ($/oile) $29,384 $49,727
Pump Station Cost ($/mile) 316 6,555
Total Investment ($/mile) 29,700 56,282
Total Annual Investment^
($/mile) 3,564 6,754
Operating Cost
$ per mile 3,200 4,000
Total Annual Cost
$ per mile 6,764 10,754
$103,410
17,065
120,475
14,457
10,000
24,457
$158,222
14,647
172,869
20,744
8,000
28,744
Source: Koenig, Louis, Disposal of Saline Water Conversion Brines—An Orientation
Study, Office of Saline Waters, U.S. Dept. of the Inteiror, Washington,D.C., 1957.
aAll costs except pump energy are inflated in 1981 dollars on the basis of the
Engineering News-Record construction cost index.
^Investment cost is annualized by using a 127. opportunity cost of capital.
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38
It is uncertain the price charged to the user will reflect the marginal
cost to the municipal authority of providing the water. It probably
will not, however, because customers (or classes of customers) are typi-
cally charged a uniform rate, regardless of marginal costs of service.
Since the Interest is on the incremental resource costs to society of
avoiding groundwater contamination, the pipeline conveyance costs are
based on actual construction cost, rather than on an assessment of charges
by municipal water supplies for extension of service. ''
3. Tank Truck Delivery and Bottled Water
Estimates of the cost of water delivery by tank truck and
the cost of bottled water are as follows. The charge for water delivered
by truck is 12 cents per gallon plus 83 cents per mile for transport of
5,500 gallons (or 15 cents per 1,000 gallons). The incremental transporta-
tion cost may be lower if there is an established delivery system in the
affected area. The cost of bottled water is 95 cents per gallon plus
whatever costs the consumer may incur in transporting the water. Since
the cost of bottled water is eight times the cost of tank truck delivery,
no further discussion of this alternative is warranted here.
E. Conclusions and Comparisons
The costs of responding to a groundwater contamination incident
by suffering the consequences or restoring water quality depend primarily
on the amount of water damaged. In order to compare the different methods
it is necessary to make assumptions about well depths (75 feet), pipeline
conveyance distances (10 miles) and trip lengths for tank truck delivery
(10 miles). Table 5 compares the cost of the various response options.
First, it must be remembered that the consequences of using and
losing and tank truck delivery grow through time. For using and losing,
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39
Table 5
Comparison of Annual Cost of Restoration Options
(1981 Dollars)
(Assume 325,000 gallons damaged)
Option $/yr.
1. Use and Lose—Agriculture8 125
2. New Wellb plus 10 miles of pipeline0 67,665
3. Tank Truck Delivery4 39,000
4. Treatment6 34,000-107,000
5. Use and Lose—potable water No cost estimation
aDamage payment based on 4 acre/feet of water applied to each acre of sugar
beets. Since one acre/foot (325,000) gallons was poisoned .this is equivalent
to destroying 1/4 of an acre of sugar beets worth $500 an acre.
New Well is 75 ft. deep, with 12" diameter. It requires an investment of
$2,909 or an annual cost of $350. A 75 ft. well with a 6" diameter would cost
$125 per year, but would be too small after 5 years.
cTable 4: The small pipeline would be adequate for 60 years.
d .12 x 325,000 -l- .15(10X325) - 39,488.
eTable 3: The medium sized treatment plant would be adequate; the range derives
from the effluent treatment methods, if the cost of these options increases
through time.
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40
the first year's expense is shown as $125, the second year's expense
would be $250 and the third year's expense would be $375. The costs of
tank truck delivery also grow through time. Since these costs are over
a hundred times greater than using and losing, consideration of tank
truck delivery as an efficient response option is curtailed. Even with
annual increases in the cost of using and losing, it will take a very
long time (250 to 500 years) for the annual using and losing costs to
equal the cost of treatment or a new well with 10 miles of pipeline.
This comparison points up two important observations: (1) the length of
the time horizon is Important in determining the cost response, and
(2) since the cost of an alternative source is dominated by pipeline
costs, the distance over which water must be piped is central to deter-
mining the least-cost option. If local conditions are such that only
one mile of pipeline is required, the alternative source becomes the
least-cost option in 50 to 60 years instead of about 500 years.
It should be pointed out that as the value of the crop damages
decreases, the annual use and lose costs decrease. The comparison is
based on a loss of sugar beets which are relatively high-valued crops.
On the other hand, the costs of using and losing depend upon the
amount of water poisoned each year. The loss of one acre/foot that
IB
underlies this comparison is small. Larger amounts of water poisoned
would increase the use and lose loss proportionately. Since pipelining
and treatment exhibit economies of scale, a doubling of water loss would
not double the cost of alternative sources or treatment. Accordingly, as
rates of plume growth increase, one would expect that the provision of
alternative sources or treatment would become the efficient option over a
shortened time horizon.
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Second, local conditions,, such as terrain, distance to a safe water
source and type of crop grown, appear to be the most significant variables
affecting the ranking of the options in the agricultural case. The
economic time horizon also is important. If the planning horizon is less
than 250 years, using and losing would appear as the least-cost option.
Accordingly, policies (such as financial responsibility laws or the
posting of bonds) that lengthen the time horizon would lead to different
ranking of response options than policies that shortened the economic
planning horizon.
Finally, the options discussed in this section do not prevent the
plume from spreading; they only offset its effects. In the next section
we consider response options that arrest the spread of the plume.
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42
IV. CONTAINMENT OPTIONS
A. Pumping/Recovery Wells
Pumping/recovery well systems, sometimes referred to as counter-
pumping, may be used to arrest the spread of a plume of contamination.
This is accomplished by drilling wells into the plume so that when the
wells are pumped, the force of the pumping counters the natural movement
of the plume. There are two configurations of recovery wells. The
first is to drill the wells along the leading edge of the plume. This
geometry is effective if the plume is expanding in one direction. The
second consists of drilling wells at the boundry of the plume and along
major axis in the plume's interior. This configuration is effective if
the plume is expanding in more than one direction. In theory, and in
practice, a balance is struck between the forces of the aquifer and the
forces exerted by the pumping wells.
One consequence of the counterpumping option is that contaminated
water is pumped to the surface and a new disposal problem is created.
Consequently, the costs of treating the water to an acceptable standard
(a level that would permit either the use of the pumped water or its
disposal into surface water) is included in the costs of this system.
The major variables affecting the cost of counterpumping are groundwater
flow properties, plume size and plume depth.
Six hundred and eight (608) cost estimates for a counterpumping
system were prepared by Geraghty and Miller (1982). There were 19 dif-
ferent categories of groundwater characteristics and pumping configu-
rations. Within each of these categories, eight different plume sizes
and four types of treatment were considered. For our purposes we isolated
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on 16 estimates. A small plume (100 x 200 x 65) and a large plume
(2000 xlOOO x 65), a fast growing plume and a slow growing plume, two
types of treatment of the counter-pumped water, and two well configuatlons.
The costs associated with these categories are presented In Tables 6 and 7.
It may be seen that given a plume size, a treatment option and a
strategy, slow growing plumes cost less to control than fast growing
plumes. This is because more water must be pumped to control a fast
growing plume necessitating more wells and a larger volume of water to
be treated.
It may also be seen that given a specific plume size, treatment
option and rate of growth, a strategy 2 configuration (i.e., interior
pumping) costs more than strategy 1 (leading edge pumping.) This is
because more wells are required to implement a strategy 2 configuration.
Finally, filtration costs more than carbon treatment for a given sized
plume, rate of growth and strategy.
B. Slurry Walls
Slurry walls are a means of arresting the spread of a plume.
Constructing a slurry wall involves boring around the perimeter of a
plume and injecting impermeable substances into the bore holes.
The wall extends down to the confining stratum and an underground
tub is created. (For this example, the confining stratum is assumed to
be 75 feet below the surface.) In order to keep this tub from over-
flowing, there must be some type of surface treatment. In areas where
rainfall is infrequent, grading, contouring and vegetation of the surface
above the underground tub may suffice. In other areas where rainfall is
plentiful a surface seal must be installed. These alternatives are
referred to as countouring and sealing.
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44
Table 6
Containment Costs for Counterpumping
($000's)
Fast-Growing Plume
(3,600 ft/yr.)
Size
Treatment
Cost Element
Strategy #1
(leading edge)
Strategy #2
(interior axis
pumping)
Small
(depth x width x length)
65' x 100' x 500'
Carbon Filtration
K O&M A K O&M A
132 41a 57 228 69b 96
Large
(depth x width x length)
65' x 2,000' x 10,000'
Carbon Filtration
K O&M A K O&M A
807 127C 224 1,227 127d 274
356 98e 141 626 109f 184 2,044 1,4238 1,668 4,004 503h 983
Source; Geraghty and Miller, Inc. (1982).
aTable F-9, Column 2, Row 2
bTable F-9, Column 2, Row 4
cTable F-9, Column 8, Row 2
dTable F-9, Column 8, Row 4
eTable F-19, Column 2, Row 2
fTable F-19, Column 2, Row 4
gTable F-19, Column 8, Row 2
hTable F-19, Column 8, Row 4
A - Total annual costs
Notes: Capital costs annualized at an opportunity cost of capital of 12 percent,
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Table 7
Containment Costs for Counterpumping
($000's)
Slow-Growing Plume
Size
Treatment
Cost Element
Strategy //I
Strategy #2
Small
(depth x width x length)
65' x 100' x 500'
Carbon Filtration
K O&M A K O&M A
106 20s 33 170 55b 75
Large
(depth x width x length)
65' x 2,000' x 10,000'
Carbon Filtration
K O&M A
519 60C 122
K O&M A
619 77d 151
158 48e 67 248 74f 104 1,146 1726 310 1,666 149h 349
Source: Geraghty and Miller, Inc. (1982).
aiable F-6, Column 2, Row 2
bTable F-6, Column 2, Row 4
cTable F-6, Column 8, Row 2
dlable F-6, Column 8, Row 4
eTable F-18, Column 2, Row 2
fTable F-18, Column 2, Row 4
gTable F-18, Column 8, Row 2
hTable F-18 Column 8, Row 4
A - Total annual cost
Notes: Capital cost annualized by an opportunity cost of capital of 12 percent.
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46
The cost of a slurry wall depends upon the size of the plume, In
particular its perimeter. Wall costs are insensitive to other aquifer
characteristics such as hydraulic gradient, porosity and transmlssivlty.*6
Accordingly only two categories of costs are reported: those for large
and for small plumes both with contouring and seals. These costs estimates
are reported in Table 8.
Data on wall longevity or design life of a wall are not available.
Clearly, if all liners on surface impoundments leak sooner or later, then
all slurry walls must also leak eventually. If they did not, hazardous
waste liners could be made of the same material as slurry walls. The
Implication is that slurry walls do not arrest the spread of the plume
forever. Given rough equivalence between the costs of counterpumping and
slurry walls, the more effective option would appear to be counterpumping.
C. Comparison
Several observations may be made at this point. For a large
plume, the capital expenditures associated with slurry walls are 3 to 40
times greater than the capital costs of counterpumping, while the oper-
ating costs of counterpumping are 2 to 14 times greater than the operating
costs of slurry walls. In these circumstances, the least-cost option
may depend upon the opportunity costs of capital.
Consider, as an example, a slurry wall confining a large plume with
a seal over the surface and counterpumping a large, fast-growing plume,
with a strategy //2 well configuration and carbon treatment. The costs
for a slurry wall (in $1000) are $21,565 for capital, $10 for operating
and maintenance. The costs for counterpumping are $2,044 for capital
a more complete discussion of slurry walls, see Geraghty and Miller
(1982), pp. 84-104.
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47
Table 8
Containment Costs for Slurry Walls 75 Feet Deep
($000's)
Small
depth x width x length)
Large
(depth x width x length)
Plume Size
Surface
Treatment
65'
Seal
x 100' x 500'
Contour
65' x
Seal
2,000' x 10,000'
Contour
Cost Element K O&M A K O&M A
Strategy //I 528 10a 73 502 10b 70
K O&M A K O&M A
21,565 10C 2,598 11,395 31d 1,398
Source: Geraghty and Miller (1982), Appendix A.
aTable H-6, Column 2, Row 3
bTable H-5, Column 2, Row 3
cTable H-6, Column 8, Row 3
dTable H-5 Column 8, Row 3
A - Total annual cost.
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48
and $1,423 for maintenance. At a 42 cost of capital, the annual cost of
a wall is $872, and for counterpumping it is $1,505. At a 15% cost of
capital, the annual cost of a wall Is $3,234 and for counterpumping,
$1,730. Plainly, at the low opportunity cost of capital, the slurry wall
is the least-cost option; at high opportunity costs of capital, counter-
pumping is the least-cost option.
The least-cost option, when a choice is made between walls and counter-
pumping, may depend upon the ability to use a strategy #1 (leading edge
pumping) well configuration versus a strategy #2 (interior pumping) well
configuration. Consider, as an illustration, a slurry wall confining a
large plume with a seal over the surface and counterpumping a large,
fast growing plume with first a strategy #1 configuration and then with
a strategy it2 configuration. Assume opportunity cost of capital to be
4%. The annual cost of a slurry wall is $872: the cost of counterpumping
with a strategy #2 is $1,505: but the cost of counterpumping with a
strategy #1 is $143. It may be seen that local conditions are important
determinants in ranking these options. Is the plume growth unidirectional
so that it can be controlled with a strategy #1 configuration instead of
strategy #2; is rainfall sufficient to warrant a seal instead of contouring
and vegetation? Finally there is an economic dimension, is the cost of
capital high or low?
As stated at the outset these options prevent the plume from damaging
additional water. In effect, these options keep the plume from spreading
to another landowners' property. How these containment options compare
with the restoration options is the subject of the next section.
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49
V. SELECTING AMONG RESPONSE OPTIONS
A. Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to draw together the preceding
chapters and to use the illustrative estimates developed there to show
the relative cost of options under alternative scenarios. Our approach
is to present four illustrative calculations of hypothetical pollution
incidents. For each calculation the key facts the decisionmaker would
have to ascertain in order to determine the preferred response are
identified and specific assumptions about the values are made to permit
making the illustrative computations.
The previous sections contained discussions of five (5) response
options to a plume of groundwater contamination. The options are:
o counterpumping
o slurry walls
o suffer agricultural and health losses
o alternative groundwater sources
o treatment of contaminated water (to acceptable
standards.
Bottled water and tank truck delivery, are not discussed at length. As
noted earlier, both are considered to be more costly than the response
options that are discussed.
As noted above, estimating the cost of human health effects is partic-
ularly troublesome. This is because the literature on health effects
expressed in natural units produces wide ranges (from 10~^ to 10"^)
for the risks imposed by exposure to contaminants at a given concentration,
Second, it is extremely, difficult to infer a dollar value of human
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50
life. It is possible, however, to estimate the cost of reducing the risks
to human health based on observed risk data. Such an analysis should not
be construed as a conclusion regarding the net social benefit of reducing
uncompensated risk.
Below, four hypothetical incidents are developed in terms of agri-
cultural damage. To place the incidents in a context wherein the threat
is not to plants but to human life, one may simply disregard the response
option of use and lose and implement the low-cost option of the remaining
four responses. The cost of the least-cost option, after using and
losing has been eliminated, is the price of reducing the risk to human
health (whatever that may be) caused by exposure to contaminated ground-
water.
The incidents have common elements and distinguishing features.
The distinguishing features are:
o slow growing small plume,
o fast growing small plume,
o slow growing large plume,
o fast growing large plume.
The common elements are:
o the location is Southern Arizona,
o the growth of the plume is unidirectional,
o the contaminants are a "soup" of organics
and inorganics.
Locating the incident in Southern Arizona influences the costs of
the responses. Arizona is arid, receiving less than half of the national
average of 30 inches of precipitation per year. (The average precipitation
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51
in Arizona is 14 inches.) One consequence of the low levels of precipi-
tation is that for the case of slurry walls, contouring and vegetation
may be considered an effective surface treatment to prevent the "tub"
from overflowing. A second consequence involves the crops that nay be
profitably grown. Earlier the principal crops for the area were listed,
along with their own irrigation requirements. Locating the incident in
another area will change the crops affected, the market value of the
crops affected and the extent of reliance on irrigation as a water source.
The less reliant an area is upon irrigation, the less the value of ground-
water, other things constant.
The consequences of assuming that the growth of the plume is unidi-
rectional are two. First, it faciltates projections of plume growth and
the amount of water that is contaminated each year. Second, the assumption
enables the strategy //I or leading edge configuration to be used.
Treatment costs and health effects are affected by the assumption
that the contaminants mix and form a highly toxic soup. For the case
of treatment, high cost methods are used.
B. The Decision
The liner on a landfill or surface impoundment has failed and
hazardous waste is seeping into the water table. The failure has gone
undetected for a sufficiently long period of time that a plume of highly
toxic soup has formed and is spreading. Even if the liner failure has
been discovered and corrected, it is assumed that there are sufficient
concentrations of toxics in the aquifer so that natural dispersion will
not reduce the toxicity for scores of years. Assuming that all land
abutting the operator's property has been assigned, further growth of
the plume will poison another proprietor's water.
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52
Instead of arresting the spread of the plume, an alternative source
of water could be tapped and used to replace the contaminated water.
This requires that there be "surplus" water available. A third possi-
bility is to do nothing and compensate the owners of the abutting property;
a fourth possibility is to treat the water to acceptable standards.
These possibilities are compared below.
C. Case I: Slow-Growing, Small Plume
This plume is expanding at a rate of 360 feet per year. It is
65 feet thick, 100 feet wide and presently measures 500 feet from end
to end. The porosity of the soil is 20%. This Implies that a plume
that is expanding at a rate of 360 feet year per year will contaminate
about 3.5 million gallons per year.
A recovery well system or a slurry wall may be viewed as a response
option which is protecting 3.5 million gallons per year. The estimated
annual cost of a recovery well system that could arrest this plume is
found to cost $75,000 (Table 7, column 2, row 1). Strategy //I is employed
because the plume is growing in one direction; high treatment costs are
required because there is a multiplicity of the contaminants. The cost
of a slurry wall that could contain this plume is $70,000 (Table 7,
column 2). Contouring is an effective surface treatment because the
location of the incident is in an arid region.
Three and one half million gallons (the amount of water which is
expected to be contaminated) is equivalent to about 11 acre/feet of
water, or enough to Irrigate about 3 acres in Southern Arizona. If the
crop is sugar beets the value of the output lost is $1,500 per year. The
cost of supplying water from another groundwater source located 10 miles
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53
away is about $68,000. The cost of these and other alternatives are
reported in Table 9.
The results of this comparison Indicate that arresting the spread of
the plume by constructing a slurry wall or counterpumping are about 50
times greater than the damages to the sugar beet fanner. If the cost of
all available response options Increased at the same rate through time,
it would never be efficient to arrest the spread of the plume or to
employ other than the use and lose option. All response option costs
do not Increase at the same rate, however. The annual cost of counter-
pumping remain constant over time. Costs incurred by the abutting sugar
beet farmer would increase at a rate of $1,500 per year each year as more
crops are lost. In other words, annual damage payments would grow and
would eventually equal the cost of counterpumping. In the example, this
point occurs in about 48 years.
In what future period total agricultural damages would equal the total
costs of counterpumping would depend upon the discount rate. If the rate
of discount were zero, it would take 96__years of plume growth to inflict
enough agricultural damage to make counterpumping (or a slurry wall) the
least-cost option. The higher the discount rate, the longer the time
horizon. -
Tapping an alternative source of water by drilling another well 10
miles away and transporting the water to the site is estimated to cost
about $68,000 per year. In 90 years the costs associated with doing
nothing would approximately equal the cost of providing an alternative
source, if discount rates were zero. Assuming a medium-sized treatment
facility, treatment costs range from about half the cost of the slurry
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54
Table 9
Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Slow-Growing, Small Plume
Response Option Annual Cost
($000)
o Recovery Well/Treatment* . 75
o Slurry Wallb 70
o Use/Lose Agriculture0 1.5 (first year)d
o Alternative Source6 67.8
o Treatmentf 34-107
Opportunity cost of capital is 12%, Table 13.
bTable 8.
cSugar beets provide revenues of $500/A.
^Annual cost grow overtime for this option.
eTable 3, Table 4, 10 miles of pipeline.
fTable 2.
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55
wall or counterpumping options to more than one and one half the cost
of these options.
It may be concluded that, given the above cost estimates, location,
and plume characteristics, the least-cost option is to arrest the spread
of the plume provided the planning horizon is 90 or more years and the
discount rate is zero. This is a problem. Ninety years is a long time
and $70,000 (the approximate cost to arrest the plume) annually is a
sizeable sum of money. The actual discount rate is above zero. Whether a
sufficient legal and regulatory infrastructure is in place and whether
It is strong enough to enforce a long time horizon remains an open
question.
In these calculations, we abstract from transaction costs. These
may be considerable if there is litigation. One way to reduce transac-
tion costs is to require large buffer zones around the landfill or
surface impoundment. This would have the effect of postponing the
growth of the plume into the abutting property. When the plume does
threaten the abutting property it may be larger and pose more of a
threat. The increased threat may bring forth a stronger sense of the
value of arresting the plume's growth or replacing the poisoned water.
D. Case II; Slow-Growing, Large Plume
This plume is 65 feet thick, 2,000 feet wide and extends for
10,000 feet. It is highly toxic necessitating high cost treatment.
It is in an arid region. The porosity is 202. Each year its growth
is not arrested, the plume grows 360 feet. This plume is poisoning
70 millions gallons or 216 acre/feet of water each year. This water
could be used 'to irrigate 47 acres of sugar beets each year. A crop
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56
of sugar beets of this size is worth about $24,000. Table 10 reports
the cost of the options that could be used to respond to this incident.
The cost comparisons for this case indicate that, relative to agri-
cultural damage, tapping an alternative source Is about three times as
expensive. Agricultural damage will continue to Increase, and eventually
exceed, the cost of an alternative source. If the assumed discount rate
is zero, the total cost from paying damages will equal the total costs
of an alternative source in about six years. An alternative groundwater
source may not be available in Arizona. If this is the case, recovery
wells or treatment emerge as the least-cost options in about 12 years if
discount rates are zero.
It may be seen that relative to the slow-growing, small (narrow)
plume in Case I, the plume in this incident—because it is wider—threatens
to do more damage to agricultural enterprises. This Increased threat
may be seen in the shortened time horizon (12 years compared to 90 years
with a zero discount rate) over which the cost of doing something is
less costly than doing nothing.
It may be concluded that slow-growing plumes may require strong
legal and regulatory systems, if substantial agricultural costs are to
be avoided.
. E. Case III: Fast-Growing, Small Plume
This plume is expanding at the rate of 3,600 feet per year.
It is 65 feet thick, 100 feet wide and 500 feet long. With 20%
porosity about 35.1 million gallons of water (108 acre feet) are
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57
Table 10
Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Slow-Growing, Large Plume
Response Option
Recovery Wall8
Slurry Wallb
Agricultural Damage0
Alternative Source6
Treatment*
Annual Cost
($000)
151
1,400
23.5 (first year)<*
68
140-560
aTable 7, Row 1, Column 4.
bTable 9, Column 4.
C47 crop acre at $500.
^Annual cost grow over time for this response.
eTables 3 and 4.
fTable 2, Column 4.
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58
contaminated each year. Table 11 presents the cost of responding
to this plume.
In order to illustrate a point, a modification in the basic story
is made—namely, that between 1 mile and 10 miles of pipeline are neces-
sary to move clean water from an alternative source. Previously, it
had been assumed that 10 miles were necessary. This change assumed
distance generates pipeline costs which range from $6,800 (a sum less than
the first year of agricultural damage) to $68,000 (over five times the
first year's agricultural damage).
A second modification is made. It is assumed that alternative
sources are unavailable. This change makes agricultural damage the
least-cost alternative with slurry walls next in rank, but about five
times more expensive.
For the case where alternative sources are available from a nearby
source, the cost comparisons are straightforward. From the outset the
least-cost option is the provision of an alternative source of water.
As the distance between the alternative source and the site to which the
clean water is to be delivered increases, the cost comparisons become
more complex.
A decision to incur the full amount of agricultural damage emerges
as the least-cost response option if time horizons are short. If time
horizons are long (greater than 15 years), a distant alternative source
or slurry walls becomes the least-cost option.
Assuming that an alternative source Is not available, and this
is not unlikely in arid regions of the southwest where the incident is
assumed to occur, the strength of the legal and regulatory institutions
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59
Table 11
Estimates of the Cost of Response Options for a
Fast-Growing, Small Plume
Response Option
Recovery Wall*
Slurry Wallb
Agricultural Damage0
Alternative Source6
Treatment^
Initial /»Cost
($000)
96
70
12 (first year)d
6.8-68
140-563
aTable 6, Row 1, Column 2.
bTable 8, Column 2.
C24 crop acre at $500.
^Cost grow over time for this option.
eTables 3 and 4.
fTable 2, Column 4.
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60
comes to the fore. Once again, the economic horizon over which the cost
effectiveness of prevention must be compared is 15 years and the annual
cost of prevention is sizeable ($70,000) when compared to the initial
cost of agricultural damage ($12,000). In other words, failure to account
for the irreversible damage that may be caused in the future by continued
spread of the plume may easily lead to the choice of an inefficient
option.
F. Case IV: Fast-Growing, Large Plume
This plume is 65 feet thick, 2,000 feet wide, 10,000 feet long
and is growing at the rate of 3,600 feet a year. Given 20% porosity,
702 million gallons (2,160 acre/feet) of water are contaminated annually.
Table 12 reports the cost of responding to this plume.
Construction of.a recovery well system emerges as the efficient
*
option. This is because the volume of water potentially contaminated was
very large, generating $250,000 in damages in the first year with each
ensuing year recording an additional $250,000. The large size of the
plume makes construction of a slurry wall prohibitive. Similiarly, the
large size of the plume casts doubt on the effectiveness of replacement
options. The region chosen for the study is arid and the availability
of an alternative source capable of supplying first 700 million gallons
per year, then 1,400 million gallons per year with an annual growth of
700 million gallons is remote.
The least-cost prevention option is a recovery system that holds
the plume in place. The difference in treatment costs between those
for a recovery system and those for treatment and subsequent use of the
water arise from two sources. First, the volume of water that must be
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Table 12
Cost Estimates for Responding to
a Fast-Growing, Large Plume
Response Option
Recovery Wall*
Slurry Wallb
Agricultural Damage0
Alternative Source6
Treatment^
Annual Cost
($000)
274
1,398
270 (first year)d
N/A
140-563
aTable 6, Row 1, Column 4
bTable 8
C540 crop acre at $500/A
^Cost grow over time for this option
€Tables 3 and 4
fTable 2
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treated under the recovery well system is less than under the treatment
and subsequent use option. This is particularly the case after the
first year. Second, the water must be cleaned more thoroughly under the
subsequent use response option than under the recovery well option.
In this incident, the time horizon over which prevention of the plume
is contained is relatively short since the costs of agricultural damages
and recovery wells are on a par in the first year. Given the initial
comments about all liners failing sooner or later, hazardous waste operators
would—if they are informed and liable for damages—avoid siting hazardous
waste facilities near aquifers where plumes could grow large and fast.
Put differently, an operator who located a dump over an aquifer where
plumes would grow large and fast would, eventually, face the prospect of
paying over $250,000 annually to control the plume's spread or cause
millions of dollars of agricultural damages. Further, the financial
resources of an operator might not be sufficient to cover losses of this
magnitude and the problem could become "public."
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VI. Conclusions
This look at a hypothetical contamination incident leads to two
sets of conclusions.
The first set concerns the factors that affect the costs of respond-
ing to a groundwater contamination Incident. (See Table 13.) The first
are general economic conditions. The opportunity costs of capital and
relative prices (such as agricultural products and construction materials)
are the key factors. The opportunity costs of capital are important
because of the high one-time costs that must be paid to implement some
response options. Low opportunity costs of capital imply low annual
costs for slurry walls and counterpumping. The price of agricultural
products relative to construction materials is important because agri-
cultural products are sacrificed by not arresting the plume, or construc-
tion costs are paid to arrest the plume. Second and third, local hydro-
logical and local economic conditions appear to dominate the feasibility
of implementing any particular response as well as determining the relative
costs of the feasible options. Porosity is important for calculations
involving the amount of water poisoned, and plume growth enters the
calculations for counterpumping, agricultural losses and the amount of
water that must be treated or provided from alternative sources. The
use of the abutting land and the availability of alternative sources
(the relative scarcity of water) influence the costs of the responses.
Clearly, if the abutting land use is for a municipal water system or a
residential area, the possibility of adverse health effects arises.
Finally, the quantity and quality of the contaminant is important.
For obvious reasons, small quantities of a given soup of contaminants are
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Table 13
Influences on the Costs of Responding to Groundwater Contamination
General Economic
o Costs of capital
o Relative prices (e.g., agricultural
products to construction materials)
Local Hydrological
o Porosity
o Plume growth
Local Economic
o Abutting land use
o Availability of alternative sources
o Irrigation practice
o Value of water
Contamination
o What chemical
o In what quantities
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likely to cause less damage than large quantities. Similarly, a given
quantity of highly toxic contaminants is likely to cause more damage than
the same amount of a less toxic soup of contaminants.
The second set of conclusions concerns the institutional environ-
ment.- Plumes grow slowly; the damage accumulates over time. It may take
a long time for options with high capital costs to become the least-cost
option. Further, the amount of damage caused by not arresting the plume
is, in part, determined by the value of water. The future value of water
is unknown but is determined by changes in supply and demand. Thus, an
unknown amount of damage will be caused at some time in the future
(perhaps to generations as yet unborn). This raises a number of questions
involving intergenerational equity and the role of discounting future
values in making public decisions. It challenges the legal and regulatory
frameworks which institutions use to administer justice over long periods
of time and among generations. The choices that may come before these
bodies may well involve decisions regarding events which have low proba-
bilities of occurring, but if they occur, will entail high consequences.
For example, should a regulatory body require a hazardous waste operator
to post a performance bond or acquire operating authority that cannot be
returned for 50 years? Failure to require such a bond would leave the
operator free to walk away form any contamination Incident by declaring
corporate bankruptcy. The ownership and laws regulating^ the use of
groundwater vary from state to state. These legal differences influence
the availability of alternative sources of water, as well as whether an
operator of a dump may be considered liable for damages.
The combination of local influences over the costs of response and
the need for long-term values to dominate the decisionmaking practice
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The combination of .local influences over the costs of response and
the need for long term values to dominate the decision-making practice
requires a mixture of local and non-local participation in deciding
questions of groundwater contamination. Whether existing laws and
policies are adequate to cope with these problems is an open question.
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