Contaminant Cleanup in the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern: Homeowner Attitudes and Economic Benefits

Abstract

This study assesses community attitudes toward the Waukegan Harbor AOC and applies two different methods of estimating the value to the local community of cleaning-up the area. Both techniques draw inference from residential property choices about the benefits accruing to homeowners. The modal responses to questions about the harbor's significance were neutral—no opinion. The non-neutral responses were roughly evenly split on whether the harbor enhances the quality of life, positive on balance about the harbor's economic importance and likelihood of redevelopment in the near-term, and negative on balance toward the harbor's environmental safety and attractiveness. As an influence on respondent's housing choices, the quality of the harbor environment was more important to residents of the City of Waukegan than to those living elsewhere in Lake County. The two valuation methods converge remarkably in their results, indicating homeowners’ willingness to pay, for full harbor cleanup, approximately $400 million in Waukegan and $7 billion to $12 billion elsewhere in Lake County. The estimates are equivalent to between 16 and 19 percent of the total value of Waukegan's owner-occupied housing stock and between 15 and 26 percent of home values elsewhere in the County.