Alan R. Collins

A Sampling Protocol for Composting, Recycling, and Re-use of Municipal Solid Waste

Abstract This article reports on development of a protocol for characterizing municipal solid waste (MSW). This protocol is similar to that recommended by the American Society for Testing and Materials but includes a distinction between pure and mixed loads of MSW. Thirteen component categories were used with a focus on material feed stock for composting, recycling, and reuse. The required number of samples was determined to achieve a 80%, 90%, and 95% statistical accuracy for characterizing MSW categories at 1% and 2% sampling error. This study found that a maximum of 25 randomly collected samples of 200 pounds will reflect each component category of mixed load MSW with at least a 95% confidence level and 2% error. This protocol was successfully tested in Monongalia County, West Virginia, to provide a “snapshot” MSW characterization during early summer.

Watershed associations in West Virginia: their impact on environmental protection.

Grassroots watershed associations have formed as an avenue to facilitate public involvement in protecting watersheds. Growth in the number of watershed associations has created a need to evaluate whether their existence enhances environmental protection by local communities. In this research, environmental protection was measured by the number of watershed protection activities conducted and amount of funding directed towards protecting surface waters by non-profit, volunteer organizations. Regression models were utilized to examine the influence of population demographic and watershed characteristics variables to explain the formation of watershed associations along with watershed protection activities and funding. Regression results showed that the presence of watershed associations had positive impacts on both the number of activities and financial resources acquired. The results confirm that watershed associations enhance the ability of communities to obtain funding and to implement watershed protection actions. Thus, watershed associations serve as an effective institution for promoting environmental protection.

Prospect Theory and Risk Preferences of Oregon Seed Producers

Prospect theory relates risk preference classifications to gains and losses from a reference income level. This study applies prospect theory to reinterpret historical studies of risk preferences of Oregon grass seed growers. A significant relationship between changes in classifications of preferences and changes in income was found. Results indicated that those who lost income were concentrated in the category of changing to risk preferrers. Income changes calculated from crop combinations were also found to be correlated in a theoretically correct pattern with positive measures of risk from crop enterprises. The research therefore is consistent with further applications of prospect theory to farm management.

Determining consumer perceptions of and willingness to pay for Appalachian grass -fed beef: An experimental economics approach

The focus of the current study was on the market potential for grass-fed beef in the Appalachian region, given that these products embody observed, experiential, nutritional, and process attributes that may appeal to a large consumer base. An in-store variant of the Becker-DeGroot-Marschack experimental auction mechanism was employed in the region to determine consumer preferences and willingness to pay. A majority of respondents preferred the grass-fed product over conventional grain-fed samples and were willing to pay a price premium to obtain it. Preferences for grass-fed were rooted largely in the associated superior nutritional content and core observed attributes.

Protest Adjustments in the Valuation of Watershed Restoration Using Payment Card Data

When using a willingness-to-pay (WTP) format in contingent valuation (CV) to value watershed restoration, respondents may protest by questioning why they should pay to clean up a pollution problem that someone else created. Using a sample selection interval data model based on Bhat (1994) and Brox, Kumar, and Stollery (2003), we found that the decision to protest and WTP values were correlated. Protest sample selection bias resulted in a 300 percent overestimate of mean WTP per respondent. Using different ad hoc treatments of protesters, protest bias resulted in moderate effects (−10 percent to +14 percent) after controlling for sample selection bias.

Societal Responses to Familiar Versus Unfamiliar Risk: Comparisons of Influenza and SARS in Korea

This study examines the connections between familiar (influenza) and unfamiliar (SARS) risks among the general public in a SARS affected society. Using a survey of 350 respondents in Chonju, we find that risk perceptions and a belief that influenza vaccination reduces the incidence of SARS explain behavioral intentions for influenza vaccination and purchase responses to a hypothetical SARS vaccine. Those respondents who believe that an influenza vaccination will very likely reduce SARS incidence have a high probability (79%) of intending to vaccinate, but a much lower WTP for a SARS vaccine than those without such a belief. This belief undoubtedly was influenced by a reframing of influenza vaccination as preventing SARS. Such reframing may lead to short-term improvements in vaccination rates to the detriment of long-term SARS vaccination development. When compared with a similar study in Taiwan, societal risk perceptions of SARS and WTP for a vaccine vary greatly according to the extent of a societys experience with SARS.

Private Provision of a Public Good: Willingness to Pay for Privately Stocked Trout

Governments may fail to adequately supply public goods, due, in part, to declining budgets and entrenched methods of provision. This undersupply provides opportunities for private organizations to supplement governmental efforts in the provision of goods with positive externalities. This study examines a case where a local, nongovernmental organization conducts a fish stocking program on a restored public waterway in West Virginia. Results show that anglers are generally supportive of the program. Estimated average willingness to pay for fish stocking is about

Divided Rights, Expanded Conflict: Split Estate Impacts on Surface Owner Perceptions of Shale Gas Drilling

29 per angler per year, based on results from a grouped data Tobit model. Annual stated willingness to pay is affected by distance to the site, knowledge of the program, demographics, and fishing preferences, each of which has implications for promoting and marketing the trout stocking program. Knowledge of the program helps mitigate the distance decay of spillover benefits.

The Economic Feasibility Of Poultry Litter Composting Facilities In Eastern West Virginia

A survey was conducted on West Virginia land owners with completed shale gas wells located on their property. The research objective was to determine how the separation of mineral from surface rights impacted reported problems and satisfaction with natural gas drilling. Empirical results of theoretical models showed that split estate owners had a statistically greater number of reported problems with drilling. Surface owner dissatisfaction with drilling outcomes was explained primarily by the number of reported problems and nonmonetary compensation. Our results provide motivation for policies to strengthen surface owner rights. (JEL K11, Q48)

Optimal Loading Rates and Economic Analyses for Anaerobic Digestion of Poultry Waste

Centralized, off-farm compost facilities were evaluated as a disposal option for poultry litter. Disposal fees to growers were required to develop an economically feasible facility for a private investor. The potential for a compost facility to compete with current litter alternatives depends upon development of compost markets comparable to urban areas along with a depressed market price for litter. Given disposal fees and uncertainty associated with market development, further expansion of land application and cattle feeding disposal alternatives is recommended.