Determining Market Perceptions on Contamination of Residential Property Buyers using Contingent Valuation Surveys

Abstract: This study reports the results of contingent valuation (CV) studies conducted in eight states in the United States. Over 1,100 telephone interviews examined valuation effects on residential properties impacted by Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST). Negative discounts for marginal bidders with affected ground water were quite consistent, varying from
-25% to -33%. ANOVA established that bidding patterns from six of the seven states were statistically similar while male bidders, those over 40 years of age and those with no high school degree were more likely to bid; those with higher incomes and those bidding on certain, rather than suspected contamination, were less likely to bid. Contingent valuation results benchmark reasonably close to but higher than revealed preference outcomes for residential LUST sites in Ohio.