Environmental Analysis Tools - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 296

The second technical cleanup issue prompting the need for NEBA was the
relationship between cleanup cost and improvement in environmental con-
ditions. In many, if not most, cleanup programs with a goal of reducing envi-
ronmental risk, the majority (typically 70%-90%) of the contaminated waste
site ecological value could be restored by an expenditure of only 10%-20% of
the total cost of cleanup up to pristine conditions (Figure 7.10 is a hypotheti-
cal representation of the phenomena). NEBA was a tool to assist in getting a
better ecological value for each dollar spent.

7.3.1 The NEBA Process

The NEBA process was not a regulatory initiative or even the result of a spe-
cific government agency program addressing the ecological concerns associ-
ated with the hazardous waste clean up discussed in proceeding sections.
The process developed organically as the need was identified starting with
a 1990 report addressing the Exxon Valdez spill by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) entitled, Excavation and Rock
Washing Treatment Technology: Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (described
in Efroymson et al. 2004). As NEBA matured, there have been methods
developed to apply the analysis to specific situations and a number of states,
including Texas, Florida, and Washington, have included it in their hazard-
ous waste remediation guidance (Efroymson et al. 2004).

Risk reduction

Dollars spent

100

Reasonable
target?

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

ABC DEFGH I J KLMN

Alternatives

FIGURE 7.10
Hypothetical cost versus ecological value resulting from waste cleanup.