Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1056751 | Journal of Environmental Management | 2012 | 7 Pages |
Two hundred years of coal mining in Ohio have degraded land and water resources, imposing social costs on its citizens. An interdisciplinary approach employing hydrology, geographic information systems, and a recreation visitation function model, is used to estimate the damages from upstream coal mining to lakes in Ohio. The estimated recreational damages to five of the coal-mining-impacted lakes, using dissolved sulfate as coal-mining-impact indicator, amount to $21 Million per year. Post-reclamation recreational benefits from reducing sulfate concentrations by 6.5% and 15% in the five impacted lakes were estimated to range from $1.89 to $4.92 Million per year, with a net present value ranging from $14.56 Million to $37.79 Million. A benefit costs analysis (BCA) of recreational benefits and coal mine reclamation costs provides some evidence for potential Pareto improvement by investing limited resources in reclamation projects.
► We estimated coal-mining damages using hydrology, GIS, and environmental economics. ► Visitation function and benefit transfer were used to quantify coal-mining damages. ► Societal benefits from restoring upstream coal mines were quantified. ► Benefit cost analysis was used to identify potential Pareto improvement projects.