Cleaning up brownfield sites not only benefits the environment – it also increases nearby property values

There are hundreds of thousands of contaminated commercial and industrial sites in the US, with estimated cleanup costs running to the billions. But do the benefits of cleaning up these brownfield sites outweigh the costs? In new research, Laura Taylor examines the effects of cleaning up these sites on nearby property values. In a study of brownfield sites in Minnesota, she finds that once hazardous wastes are removed, nearby house prices return to a level no different to those near to “clean” properties.