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SCP-3517 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-3517
Expected annual
$756K
One-time setup
$1.3M
Annual recurring
$692K
Personnel
7
Estimated one-time setup and investigation costs are approximately $1.25M, driven by extended field campaigns, lab readiness, equipment, and contingency reserves. Annual recurring costs are about $692k/year, dominated by staff wages (archival + security), helicopter support, patrols, vehicle operations, and legal/liaison.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.3M
Contingency Reserve $275K
[#21] Insurance, liability reserves and general contingency for accidents or unexpected scale-up.
Historical Investigation $247K
[#19] Cold-case reviews and administration for ~38 historical disappearances (records, family liaison).
Extended Field Campaign $212K
[#8] Multi-week deployment costs: rotations, per-diems, fuel, shelter, satellite comms, helicopter resupply.
Legal And Liaison Initial $112K
[#20] Initial legal fees, cover-story development, permits, land-use agreements, and covert stakeholder payments.
Lab Biohazard Readiness $85K
[#14] Baseline BSL-2 preparation (PPE, decon, autoclave); BSL-3 would be a much larger separate cost (scenario).
Specialized Field Equipment $82K
[#16] PPE, repellents, trapping gear, drone fleets, thermal imaging and spare sensors.
Decommissioning $80K
[#24] Costs to remove sensors, remediate leased land, dispose hazardous materials and archive datasets upon shutdown.
Specialist Consultants $35K
[#12] Short-term consultant fees (cryptobiologist, ethologist, geologist, folklorist).
Initial Field Recon $32K
[#7] 3–5 day reconnaissance: 4-person team, transport/helicopter insertion, lodging, permits.
Remote Monitoring Deploy $30K
[#9] Deploy rugged trail cameras, seismic/acoustic sensors, solar power and uplinks for remote nodes.
Perimeter Infrastructure $18K
[#10] Signage, barriers, gates, and basic access-control infrastructure/landowner coordination.
Equipment $16K
[#2, #3] Enterprise-grade drives, encrypted air-gapped forensic workstation, write-blockers and software/hardware encryption devices.
Forensic Analysis $14K
[#13] DNA, textile, radiography and lab processing fees for recovered fragments and camera.
Facilities $10K
[#1, #6] Secure locker, tamper-evident case and small viewing-room modifications/AV and one-way glass.
Data Analysis Initial $5K
[#23] Initial transcription/translation/redaction and frame-by-frame analysis of 23: 41footage.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $0
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🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $692K/yr
Staff Wages $275K/yr
[#5, #11] Archival/evidence custodian salary + contracted/rotational armed security coverage (2 guards rotating 24/7 equivalent).
Helicopter Support $120K/yr
[#18] Modest program ~40 flight hours/yr for insertion/extraction and aerial survey.
Perimeter Patrols $70K/yr
[#10] Scheduled patrols, periodic flyovers and enforcement for restricted access to area.
Cover Story And Legal $60K/yr
[#20] Ongoing legal liaison, PR/cover-story maintenance and local-government coordination.
Medical And Medevac $60K/yr
[#15] Medevac insurance/standby and periodic medic coverage for field operations.
Vehicle Ops $60K/yr
[#17] Long-term rental/operation costs for ATVs/4x4s, maintenance and fuel.
Research And Monitoring $17K/yr
[#2, #4, #9] Periodic integrity checks/bit‑rot migration (~#4), periodic integrity checks from archival (#2), and ongoing remote sensor maintenance/data retrieval (#9).
Training And Drills $16K/yr
[#22] Annual field safety, anomalous containment drills, and evidence handling training for team.
Energy And Communications $10K/yr
[#25] Power (locker minimal) plus solar/battery replacements and satellite data plans for remote nodes.
Data Analysis Ongoing $3K/yr
[#23] Ongoing transcript/analysis/redaction if new viewings or derived-file processing requested.
Facilities Maintenance $0/yr
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Supplies And Consumables $0/yr
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Logistics And Transport $0/yr
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⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $692K/yr
86.0% probability / year
Normal year with routine monitoring, archival maintenance and no major field operations or scale-ups.
no field deployment routine integrity checks standard admin/security operations
🚨 Minor Investigation $842K/yr
10.0% probability / year +$150K vs baseline
Short field deployment and limited investigation triggered by new evidence or anomalous observation.
new footage anomaly reports of recent civilian encounter small-scale field trip
🚨 Major Campaign $1.7M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$1.0M vs baseline
Sustained multi-week field campaign with expanded sensor deployment, specialist teams, legal action and historical-case work.
extended anomalous activity multiple civilian reports/disappearances decision to establish long-term exclusion/surveillance
🚨 Bsl3 Upgrade $2.6M/yr
1.0% probability / year +$1.9M vs baseline
Discovery that recovered biological samples require full BSL-3 facilities and handling, triggering major lab build-out and controlled operations.
pathogenic/anomalous biological threat confirmed requirement for BSL-3 diagnostics/containment
👥 Personnel 7 total
Role Count Notes
Research / Archival Custodian 1 [#5] Digital archivist / evidence custodian (0.25–1.0 FTE) — counted here as 1 FTE equivalent represented in staff wages.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 6 [#11] Contracted/rotational armed security to provide 24/7 coverage (2 guards on post with shift rotations; represented in staff wages estimate).
📋 Confidence Notes
Notes provide detailed line items and ranges for most categories, but many line items have wide ranges (field ops, BSL upgrades, contingency) and uncertain operational tempo for continued field work; therefore confidence is medium.
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