Assessing the impact of the remedial actions taken at a contaminated Italian site: an ex-post valuation analysis

Abstract

The remediation and reuse of industrial brownfields sites offers important opportunities for the improvement of urban quality of life. The aim of this paper is to estimate the primary costs and benefits of different cleanup projects implemented in Venice Porto Marghera, Italy. The industrial area of Porto Marghera is one of the most notorious contaminated sites of national interest in Italy; at this site, vacant and polluted areas coexist, posing several problems for the local government and community. However, this site also represents one of the primary strategic areas for the future development and the economic renaissance of the entire Veneto Region. In fact, the area is located in the heart of the northeast, close to the main transport networks, and it is provided with a full range of urban services and infrastructure. The area for the national priority list site of Porto Marghera extends over 3,500 ha, and in the last 10 years, different cleanup interventions have been implemented to rehabilitate the area under various regulatory systems. However, only a small number of these interventions can be considered to be completed or have been certified by law. This paper performs a retrospective cost–benefit analysis of these case studies to provide information for potential regulatory modifications, insights and knowledge for methodological improvements in prospective economic assessments and information for local and central governments to use in implementing the remaining remediation activities.