Accurate estimates of hazardous waste site remedial responses are important in order to: (1) budget the Superfund Response Fund, (2) estimate costs at specific sites, (3) cost-effectively select remedial actions, and (4) effectively negotiate with private response parties for private action or cost recovery. Unfortunately, standard engineering costing methodologies have been relatively inaccurate in estimating actual response costs. This is primarily due to the uniqueness of the site problems and the uncertainties in eventual effectiveness of the responses.The purpose of this document is to record and analyze the actual expenses incurred during remedial responses for seven major types of engineering technologies. The costs documented here are the 'bottomline" numbers showing the ultimate cost of the responses. The data supporting this compendium is derived from a series of 31 case studies of actual hazardous waste remedial responses. This report also investigates the divergence between actual remedial costs and estimates from existing engineering cost methodologies. In addition, the compendium lists the major factors that cause the costs' movements. Because of the scope of the report coverage and the small sample size the data provided here be viewed as "bench marks" for the estimation of future response costs. Users are urged to examine the specific site conditions underlying the reported costs by consulting the case studies from which these estimates are derived.

On cover: Environmental Law Institute. "September 1985." Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-198).