The economics of mercury pollution abatement in the New York - New Jersey Harbor watershed

Mercury and methylmercury in the environment represent risks to human health and ecological systems. The main route of human exposure is through ingestion of contaminated fish. A mercury abatement plan for the NY/NJ Harbor uses the Industrial Ecology (IE) methodology to identify sources and pathways of mercury in the regional economy and estuary. Implementation of this plan requires that benefits outweigh abatement costs. A Cost Benefit Analysis framework is applied to evaluate the merits of the plan.; The costs of mercury abatement are compared across sources from distinct sectors and media of release. Significant cost differences are found and an abatement cost curve is developed based on a simple cost minimization criteria. The findings from the IE analysis are then used to develop different weights, according to the amount of mercury reaching the receptors and the amount likely to become more toxic (methylmercury). Differentials in hazard suggest a system for weighting the pollution prevention value of specific sources. Thus, a new adjusted abatement curve integrates risk reduction criteria to cost minimization.; Benefits ensuing from the abatement plan are difficult to isolate when dealing with a small region, other toxicants' interactions, or when human exposure is mediated by ingestion of fish, whose movements in and out of the system's boundary can't be modeled. Although some benefit categories are not quantifiable, benefits are seen to outweigh costs.; The evaluation of the abatement plan is complicated by the dynamic nature of mercury pollution in the environment. An alternative valuation process makes use of "adaptive" institutions to consider the complex behavior and likely biological, chemical and physical responses ensuing from social and ecological systems' interactions.; It is hypothesized that the different pollution prevention cost structures and differentially weighted value of discharges between various sources provides the economic basis for a market in mercury emissions permits. Such markets are considered as an economically efficient policy tool to achieve cost effective pollution reductions. However, mercury is found to have both global and regional/local forms of impact. A bi-furcated market structure is suggested to reflect this aspect of mercury pollution to prevent local "hot spots" of contamination.