Groundwater - Groundwater Cleanup

Cleaning up the nation's groundwater is expensive. The costs associated with alternative water supplies, water treatment, and contaminant source removal or remediation are in the millions per site. The Water Protection Council in 1996 estimated $14 billion annually is needed to remediate groundwater and soil at Superfund sites, hazardous waste sites with corrective actions, leaking UST sites, Departments of Defense and Energy waste sites, and other contaminated sites. The GAO in 1999 reported that Super-fund cleanups had already cost $14 billion, and projected another $9.9 billion was needed to complete cleanup at remaining sites. In 2004 the GAO reported that "the net Superfund program appropriations … decreased from $1,757 million to $1,242 million, in constant 2003 dollars, from fiscal year 1993 to fiscal year 2004."

In allocating limited resources, cleanup decisions are based on a cost-benefit analysis that considers such factors as the extent of the problem, the potential health effects, and the alternatives, if any. If the pollution is localized, it may be more practical to simply shut down the contaminated wells and find water elsewhere. Cleanup options range from "capping" a section of an aquifer with a layer of clay to prevent more pollution, to more complex (and expensive) methods such as pumping out and treating the water and then returning it to the aquifer.