Evaluation of Alternative Remediation Strategies for the Cleanup of Enewetak Atoll of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. J. Mauro and H. Behling, Sanford Cohen & Associates
In support of claims litigation for the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll, one of the Northern Atolls of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) that was contaminated during weapons testing in the pacific, SC&A evaluated the costs and benefits of several remediation alternatives ranging from institutional controls to scraping and disposal of the contaminated soil. Each of these remediation alternatives is designed to meet a 15 mrem per year EDE dose limit adopted by the governing authority of the RMI. As part of the evaluation of the preferred alternative, we also performed a cost/benefit analysis which consisted of monetizing the health detriment averted by the remedy and assessing whether such an investment is cost-effective. We found that the preferred remedy would virtually eliminate all potential adverse health effects associated with the residual radioactivity at a present worth cost of $100 million, and, depending on the time integration period, remediation has the potential to avert about 10 to 15 serious illnesses. Hence, the question becomes, in the U.S., would it be considered cost-effective to invest $100 million to avert up to 15 serious illnesses; i.e., about $7 million per serious illness averted? A review of the literature on this topic has revealed that such an investment would be considered cost-effective using widely accepted cost/benefit criteria.
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