Michael Bergman Lacey May 28, 2008 15:20 pm

As with many public environmental agencies, we have for years been spending lots of money on the clean-up and management of toxics. However, we all know -- at least intellectually -- that prevention/reduction strategies pay for themselves by 1) obviating the need for as many clean-ups down the road, and 2) reducing toxic exposures in the first place. To make our case more compelling, we would greatly benefit by a simple algorithm: For every dollar/pound/euro that we spend on prevention, we can save XX dollars/pounds/euros on clean ups. Has anyone seen this calculation done in the CSM or, more broadly, the environmental literature?

Many thanks, in advance.
Michael Bergman

Reducing Toxics and Southwest Region
Environmental Educator
Washington Department of Ecology
PO Box 47600 Olympia, WA 98504-7600
360.407.6243
[email protected]