
Calculating Risks?
The Spatial and Political Dimensions of Hazardous Waste Policy
MIT Press
Published on 18. August 1999
Book
Hardback
342 pages
978-0-262-08278-5 (ISBN)
Description
Hazardous wastes often head the public's list of environmental concerns.
Exaggerated estimates of cancer epidemics arising from waste sites generate a sense
of alarm, but little is known about the real extent of the health threats. In this
book James T. Hamilton and W. Kip Viscusi present the first comprehensive analysis
of the magnitude of hazardous waste risks and of the efficacy of the Environmental
Protection Agency's Superfund program.
By matching agency decision
data to detailed census information using geographic information systems (GIS)
technology, the authors show that most hazardous waste sites do not pose sufficient
risk to merit the most stringent cleanup options. Those sites that do pose
considerable risk to exposed populations often receive inadequate attention, because
government decisions to target cleanups are based more on political factors than on
actual risks. The authors propose policy reforms that could significantly reduce
cleanup costs without sacrificing the protection of human health. Beyond its
analysis of a particular risk policy, the book serves as a general model for
comprehensive risk analysis.
Exaggerated estimates of cancer epidemics arising from waste sites generate a sense
of alarm, but little is known about the real extent of the health threats. In this
book James T. Hamilton and W. Kip Viscusi present the first comprehensive analysis
of the magnitude of hazardous waste risks and of the efficacy of the Environmental
Protection Agency's Superfund program.
By matching agency decision
data to detailed census information using geographic information systems (GIS)
technology, the authors show that most hazardous waste sites do not pose sufficient
risk to merit the most stringent cleanup options. Those sites that do pose
considerable risk to exposed populations often receive inadequate attention, because
government decisions to target cleanups are based more on political factors than on
actual risks. The authors propose policy reforms that could significantly reduce
cleanup costs without sacrificing the protection of human health. Beyond its
analysis of a particular risk policy, the book serves as a general model for
comprehensive risk analysis.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass.
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Target group
Adult education
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
10
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-262-08278-5 (9780262082785)
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James T. Hamilton | W. Kip Viscusi
Calculating Risks?
The Spatial and Political Dimensions of Hazardous Waste Policy
Book
08/1999
MIT Press
€24.76
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Persons
W. Kip Viscusi is the University Distinguished Professor of Law, Economics, and Management at Vanderbilt University.