Suppose that 100 people live around a hazardous waste dump. If the people continue to live there

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Suppose that 100 people live around a hazardous waste dump. If the people continue to live there for 20 years, one of them will likely contract a painful, nonfatal cancer that will lead to $1 million in health-care costs, forgone wages, and pain suffering. Assume this is all the damage this waste will ever do (the waste loses its toxicity after 20 years).
The EPA has three choices:
1. Do nothing.
2. Clean up at a cost of $4 million.

3. Relocate the families at a cost to taxpayers of $1 million; fence off the property for 20 years.

a. Rank the solutions in terms of efficiency. Explain your reasoning.

b. Rank the solutions in terms of safety. Explain your reasoning.

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Economics And The Environment

ISBN: 9781118539729

7th Edition

Authors: Eban S. Goodstein, Stephen Polasky

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