Systems analysis of economic impacts of redeveloped Superfund sites

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been actively protecting human health and the environment for over twenty years by cleaning up contaminated sites through the Superfund program. Superfund site remediation by the EPA has resulted in billions of dollars in restored value. The accomplishments are significant given that the stigma associated with any contaminated site often results in a zero or negative land value in and around the site. The restored value has come in the form of news jobs, businesses, tax revenues, and other measurable and immeasurable impacts like recreational and ecological benefits. The considerations of the future benefits and restored value should be included in the decision making process. We have created a statistical model which predicts the future property values of Superfund sites after remediation. Our model is a first step to ensuring that the site remediation process yields the optimal benefits for each Superfund community.