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City of Portland Releases ECONorthwest Analysis of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site Cleanup

Posted on July 30, 2012 in Environmental Quality by Ann Hollingshead

New ECONorthwest report analyzes the economic impacts of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site cleanup.

The City of Portland recently released ECONorthwest's new report and graphical presentation, which assess how the cleanup of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site will contribute to the Portland metropolitan economy. ECONorthwest measured economic impacts on several metrics, including: changes in income, employment, and tax revenue that could result from spending on cleanup activities.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz noted "Cleaning up the Harbor will require a significant investment from the public sector and businesses. The study shows there will also be significant economic benefits in our community."

ECONorthwest conducted the analysis using an economic model known as IMPLAN, which is built on estimates of empirical and technological relationships that trace how spending circulates through an economy.

The IMPLAN model reports the following measures of economic impacts:

Output represents the value of goods and services produced and is the broadest measure of economic activity.
Personal income (or labor income) consists of employee compensation and proprietary income.
State and local taxes and fees include production business taxes; personal income taxes; social insurance (employer and employee contributions) taxes; and various other taxes, fines, licenses, and fees paid by businesses and households.
Jobs include both full- and part-time employment. Jobs are measured in terms of job- years, or one position (either full or part time) for one year.

In a recent Op-Ed in the Oregonian, Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper and Bob Sallinger, conservation director of the Audubon Society of Portland, cite the ECONorthwest study, noting that "each dollar put into the cleanup will generate more than a dollar in return locally -- meaning the cleanup will actually be good for the river and the economy."

Ed MacMullan, senior economist, and Sarah Reich, policy analyst, contributed to this report.