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Impact of Upstream Plant Level Pollution on Downstream Water Quality: Evidence from the Clean Water Act

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  • Chakraborti, Lopamudra

Abstract

This is the first study to find empirical evidence that pollutant inputs from major point sources worsens downstream water quality, net of upstream pollution levels, and controlling for location-specific factors. We utilize a panel data on monthly biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentration for a sample of 87 municipal and industrial plants located in the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, for the period 1990-2003. We define water quality as monthly dissolved oxygen (DO) from 67 locations within 25 miles downstream. We find that upon an increase in aggregate BOD (by one or more plant) downstream DO net of ambient levels before their effluent outfalls declines by 0.001 mg/L. Despite the small magnitude (due to natural attenuation), the results are robust to distance traveled by pollutant and seasonal considerations of high temperature or low stream flow. From our results, we infer that self-reported pollution does not exhibit underreporting biases.

Suggested Citation

  • Chakraborti, Lopamudra, 2019. "Impact of Upstream Plant Level Pollution on Downstream Water Quality: Evidence from the Clean Water Act," MPRA Paper 99090, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:99090
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David A Keiser & Joseph S Shapiro, 2019. "Consequences of the Clean Water Act and the Demand for Water Quality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 349-396.
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    4. David A. Keiser & Catherine L. Kling & Joseph S. Shapiro, 2019. "The low but uncertain measured benefits of US water quality policy," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(12), pages 5262-5269, March.
    5. V. Kerry Smith & Carlos Valcarcel Wolloh, 2012. "Has Surface Water Quality Improved Since the Clean Water Act?," NBER Working Papers 18192, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Laura Grant & Christian Langpap, 2019. "Private provision of public goods by environmental groups," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(12), pages 5334-5340, March.
    7. Bandyopadhyay Sushenjit & Horowitz John, 2006. "Do Plants Overcomply with Water Pollution Regulations? The Role of Discharge Variability," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-32, January.
    8. Sigman, Hilary, 2005. "Transboundary spillovers and decentralization of environmental policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 82-101, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yuzhi Yang & Erik Ansink & Jens Gudmundsson, 2023. "How to Pollute a River If You Must," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 23-036/VIII, Tinbergen Institute, revised 01 Jun 2024.
    2. Yuzhi Yang & Erik Ansink, 2022. "The river pollution claims problem," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-058/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    U.S. Clean Water Act; Ambient Water Quality Model; Self-Reported Pollution; Total Maximum Daily Loads; Over-compliance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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