Great Lakes Article:

Waukegan can gain from harbor cleanup: study
Chicago Sun-Times
08/05/03

Property values throughout Lake County could increase by as much as $333 million if sediment pollution in Waukegan Harbor is eliminated, according to a study conducted by the University of Illinois and the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The preliminary study also suggests that redevelopment of the harbor area, improved shipping and attraction of new residents and businesses could further add to the benefits of harbor cleanup.

Pollution that was dumped or leaked during the 1950s and 1960s earned Waukegan Harbor designation as one of 43 "Great Lakes Areas of Concern" by the International Joint Commission, the U.S.-Canadian government organization concerned with water quality.

A major cleanup effort of Waukegan Harbor undertaken in the early 1990s removed more than 90 percent of the poundage of PCBs, but more contamination has since leaked into the harbor from surrounding industrial sites, according to Nicole Mays, policy analyst with the Washington-based Northeast-Midwest Institute.

For the past two years, the Institute, in collaboration with economists from the U. of I. and San Francisco State University, have been studying the economic benefits from further cleanup of the harbor.

"Because Waukegan is the county seat and the site of a recreational marina that serves a wide area, economists are studying the benefits to all of Lake County, not just the city of Waukegan," Mays said.

She said early indications suggest affected communities have much to gain economically from Waukegan Harbor cleanup. Eliminating the pollution would make the area a more desirable place to live and increase property values.

The research is based on data collected from housing sales in Lake County in the years 1999 through 2001, as well as a survey of 954 recent home buyers in Lake County. Results of the study indicate that full cleanup of the harbor would increase Lake County home prices by more than $18 million per year, including approximately $230,000 in annual increases for Waukegan homeowners.