Social costs incurred by the Reserve Mining Corporation 's discharge of asbestos containing taconite tailings into Lake Superior at Silver Bay, Minnesota, are estimated to determine an equitable effluent charge. A 1974 court action attempted to force the company to alter its discharge procedures; this paper offers an alternative abatement strategy in which an effluent charge is imposed to cover annual social costs of the pollution. Revenues generated can be used to reduce pollution and treat cancer victims, as well as to constitute an incentive to Reserve to find discharge methods carrying lower social costs. Annual cost estimates include: (1) lake eutrophication ($3,837,000), (2) water filtration ($1,365,000), (3) health hazard ($532,000), (4) residual costs due to the permanence of the tailings in the lake ($584,000). A simple per-ton charge would be $.30 on the 20 ,888,000 tons of tailings discharged annually, or $6,318,000 per year. A more sophisticated levy would be $3.89/ton for coarse tailings (about 50% of total weight, but which account for only 6.4% of social costs and surface area) and $.55/ton for fine tailings (50% of the weight, 93.6% of social costs and surface area). Pollution of Lake Superior by the tailings appears to be causing rapid eutrophication, killing aquatic life, reducing asthetic beauty, and seriously damaging tourism. Contamination by asbestos-form fibers, a known carcinogen, may cause 274 deaths per year among North Shore residents. (Lynch-Wisconsin)
Water Resources Abstracts; Effluents; Reserve Mining Corporation; Lake Superior; Taconite; Pollution taxes(Charges); Water pollution effects; Regulation; Judicial decisions; Mine wastes; Asbestos; Minnesota; Silver Bay(MN); Great Lakes; Water pollution sources; Water pollution control; Human disease; Economics; Social costs; Pollutants; Eutrophication; Public health; SW 4050:Water law and institutions; SW 4030:Cost allocation, cost sharing, pricing; SW 3070:Water quality control