
296 Environmental Impact Analysis
The second technical cleanup issue prompting the need for NEBA was the
relationship between cleanup cost and improvement in environmental con-
ditions. In many, if not most, cleanup programs with a goal of reducing envi-
ronmental risk, the majority (typically 70%–90%) of the contaminated waste
site ecological value could be restored by an expenditure of only 10%–20% of
the total cost of cleanup up to pristine conditions (Figure 7.10 is a hypotheti-
cal representation of the phenomena). NEBA was a tool to assist in getting a
better ecological value for each dollar spent.
7.3.1 The NEBA Process
The NEBA process was ...