Major
Environmental Science
Anticipated Graduation Year
2023
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
This research measures the economic value of removing legacy pollutants from Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). AOCs are heavily polluted coastal locations identified as priorities for cleanup under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between the United States and Canada. Legacy pollutants are a significant source of contamination in AOCs. These pollutants pose a human and environmental health risk that can limit the amount of land for redevelopment, recreation, and wildlife habitat. The GLWQA requires habitat restoration and sediment removal projects to improve the conditions of AOCs, which are completed through large expenditures from federal funding programs. Thus, valuation of water quality improvement provides useful information to policy makers about the benefits of investing in cleanup projects. This thesis uses a residential sorting model to examine the economic value of cleaning up legacy pollutants in the Milwaukee Estuary AOC.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Max Melstrom
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Residential mobility and the value of water quality restoration in the Milwaukee Area of Concern
This research measures the economic value of removing legacy pollutants from Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). AOCs are heavily polluted coastal locations identified as priorities for cleanup under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between the United States and Canada. Legacy pollutants are a significant source of contamination in AOCs. These pollutants pose a human and environmental health risk that can limit the amount of land for redevelopment, recreation, and wildlife habitat. The GLWQA requires habitat restoration and sediment removal projects to improve the conditions of AOCs, which are completed through large expenditures from federal funding programs. Thus, valuation of water quality improvement provides useful information to policy makers about the benefits of investing in cleanup projects. This thesis uses a residential sorting model to examine the economic value of cleaning up legacy pollutants in the Milwaukee Estuary AOC.