SCP-4488 Safe ~ medium confidence
SCP-4488
Expected annual
$7.3M
One-time setup
$32.6M
Annual recurring
$7.1M
Personnel
40
Initial one-time setup is approximately $32.65M driven primarily by land acquisition, ROV/submersible procurement, site buildout and contingency reserves; recurring annual costs are approx. $7.09M driven by staff wages, transport/aerial support, research operations, and contingency/readiness funds.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $32.6M
Land Acquisition $10.0M
[#3] Purchase or long-term easement of buffer area (~6,990 acres) to secure containment buffer — midpoint estimate.
Equipment $8.4M
[#2, #6, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #17, #19, #20, #21] Perimeter intrusion/camera towers (#2), power generation hardware (#6), patrol fleet (#8), drones/control (#9), sonar package (#10), ROV/AUV systems/winches (#11), optional manned submersible (#12), environmental sensor network (#17), heavy equipment purchase (#19), hazardous storage setup (#20), and communications backbone (#21).
Facilities $5.6M
[#1, #5, #14] Perimeter fence and clearing (#1) plus provisional site infrastructure (modular buildings, utilities) (#5) and on-site hyperbaric/medical facility purchase (#14).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $3.3M
[#13, #16, #18] Initial lab equipment and wet-lab buildout (#16), purchase of saturation/diving system if required (#13), and drilling/coring rig + barge for sediment sampling (#18).
Insurance Reserve Initial $3.0M
[#27] Initial insurance-like reserve / replacement fund for expensive assets that may be lost to the anomalous region.
Contingency Reserve $1.2M
[#26] One-time contingency reserve for major events as recommended for rapid-response fund (initial reserve).
Community Compensation One Time $550K
[#25] Initial payouts, landowner compensation or relocation assistance to secure cooperation and silence local stakeholders.
Cover Story And Legal $400K
[#4] One-time setup costs for legal/cover-story establishment, municipal coordination, and initial PR/permits.
Publication Suppression One Time $125K
[#30] One-time costs associated with initial records suppression / archival and denial & deception setup.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $7.1M/yr
Staff Wages $3.0M/yr
[#7, #15] Security payroll for 24–40 guards and supervisors (#7) and research staff payroll for oceanographers/geologists/technicians (#15); aggregated wage estimate.
Logistics And Transport $600K/yr
[#8, #9, #29] Fuel/maintenance and ops for patrol vehicles/boats (#8), leased aerial support/drone ops and occasional manned lift (#9), and general energy/fuel for vehicles/generators as operational fuel (#29).
Facilities Maintenance $500K/yr
[#2, #5, #14] Ongoing utilities/HVAC/septic/packaged sewage for provisional buildings (#5), maintenance and minor repairs of perimeter/camera installations (#2), and hyperbaric/medical facility upkeep (#14).
Research And Monitoring $500K/yr
[#10, #11, #17, #18] Annual costs for sonar/hydrographic charters and operations (#10), ROV/AUV maintenance and operations (#11), sensor telemetry/network maintenance (#17), and periodic drilling/coring operation days (#18).
Contingency Readiness And Rrt $400K/yr
[#26] Annual costs to retain and maintain a rapid-response tactical/containment team, including readiness equipment and small contingency reserves.
Administrative Overhead $350K/yr
[#28] Administrative staffing, HR, procurement, finance and security-clearance processing overhead.
Heavy Equipment Operations $350K/yr
[#19] Operator costs, fuel and maintenance for bulldozers, excavators and graders used for clearing, access roads and helipad maintenance.
Supplies And Consumables $300K/yr
[#16, #22] Laboratory consumables and biological sample supplies (#16) plus ROV/underwater consumables, tether spools and spare parts (#22).
Cover Story And Legal $300K/yr
[#4, #30, #25] Ongoing legal counsel, municipal coordination, permit renewals, PR and publication suppression operations (#4, #30), and annual community goodwill payments (#25).
Amnestics And Medical Supplies $200K/yr
[#24] Routine procurement, storage and distribution of Class-A amnestics, plus consumable medical/psych supplies (excluding staff wages).
Power Generation Maintenance $175K/yr
[#6] Fuel and maintenance for on-site generators, transfer tanks and any microgrid/solar upkeep.
Insurance Replenishment $150K/yr
[#27] Annual replenishment of insurance/replacement reserves as assets are written off or lost to the anomaly.
Commercial Dive Contracts $75K/yr
[#13] Day-rate contracts or episodic commercial dive/saturation support when required (aggregated annual estimate).
Communications And Data $75K/yr
[#21] Bandwidth, satellite uplink fees, encrypted comms maintenance and data telemetry charges.
Training And Ppe $60K/yr
[#23] Recurring personnel training, certifications, PPE replacement and drills (dive-cert, ROV ops, HAZMAT).
Hazardous Disposal Annual $50K/yr
[#20] Annual costs for hazardous/anomalous waste disposal, transport and incineration or secure storage.
Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $7.1M/yr
90.0% probability / year
Normal operational year with routine research and containment activities and no major incidents.
routine operations no major equipment loss no legal or PR incidents
🚨 Minor Incident $8.3M/yr
7.0% probability / year +$1.2M vs baseline
Localized incident: single expensive equipment loss (e.g., deep-rated ROV), small legal/medical response and limited PR/amnestics usage.
ROV or tether lost localized contamination or exposure targeted amnestic administration
🚨 Major Breach $13.1M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$6.0M vs baseline
Major containment breach or public exposure event requiring large contingency drawdown, mass amnestic usage, legal settlements and large equipment replacement.
containment breach mass exposure or media/political attention multiple asset losses
👥 Personnel 40 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 30 [#7] 24–40 guards/supervisors to provide 24/7 perimeter coverage; staffing estimate aligned to security payroll portion.
Research Scientist 8 [#15] Oceanographers, geologists, chemists and analysts (approx. 8 senior specialists for research operations).
ROV / AUV Operator / Technician 2 [#11, #22] Operators and technicians for remotely operated systems and underwater equipment maintenance; salaries included in staff_wages.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates are grounded in pragmatic line-item projections from the analyst notes, but land acquisition range, anomalous-driven asset loss rates, and policy decisions (e.g., manned entry, helicopter leases) create material uncertainty; thus medium confidence.
← SCP-4487 ↑ All SCPs SCP-4489 →