Natural Resource Damage Assessments

Affects of historic contamination at CERCLA/Superfund sites on biological populations and their value to society are addressed through natural resource damage (NRD) assessments. NRD assessments attempt to quantify the lost natural resource (for example, reduced numbers of catchable fish) over the period of impact and assign a value (for example, reduced dollars to the economy from fewer anglers). Once NRD assessments have quantified the losses, remediation strategies are developed to replace those losses in-kind when possible or feasible.

The NRD assessments are the responsibility of the trustees of the resources, usually comprised of relevant federal and state resource agencies, non-profit agencies, and the public, working in concert with the principle responsible party or parties.