What Lies Beneath? Assessing and Compensating for Groundwater Contamination

Contamination of groundwater from industrial and disposal facilities and practices can pose a significant threat to ever important groundwater resources. That groundwater is typically owned, managed, and/or held in trust by governmental entities which have the ability to regulate ongoing activities and, importantly, remedy past ones. Many federal, state, and Tribal governments have undertaken assessment of groundwater contamination and identified approaches to compensate for the years of contamination. This presentation will discuss the key legal and economic approaches and challenges to assessing the extent of groundwater contamination, and determining appropriate types and amount of compensation. In any situation, there are a variety of economic and equivalency options for valuing both a contaminated or lost groundwater resource and the services which it provides. We will address several of those options and the manners in which compensation for those losses can be pursued, and provide case examples.