SCP-8928 — SCP-8928 | Cost Breakdown

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SCP-8928 Unknown ~ medium confidence

SCP-8928

Expected annual

$419K

One-time setup

$234K

Annual recurring

$406K

Personnel

1.5

One-time startup costs (~$234k) cover cameras, drones, portable gear, vehicles and initial directed research; recurring annual costs (~$406k/year) are driven by staff salaries, SAR contingency, contingency reserve, data/archive, and ongoing coordination and maintenance.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $234K

Field Vehicles $80K

[#11] Purchase of two 4×4 vehicles ($80,000).

Initial Research And Lab Setup $75K

[#14] Short-term directed research initial study budget ($75,000).

Equipment $43K

[#1, #2, #12, #13] Purchase of trail cameras ($15,000), solar/battery/mount kits ($6,000), portable investigation equipment ($10,000), and drones ($12,000).

Local Coordination Mou $10K

[#9] Initial legal/administrative MOU drafting and fees ($10,000).

Staff Training $8K

[#20] Initial wilderness/EMT/psych training for field staff (4 staff × $2,000 = $8,000).

Legal Pr Reserve $5K

[#16] One-time legal/PR startup/disinformation reserve ($5,000).

Secure It Initial $5K

[#23] Initial secure IT / encrypted server setup ($5,000).

Installation And Access Fees $5K

[#3] Field technician installation labor and landowner/access fees ($4,600).

Permits One Time $4K

[#18] One-time permits/environmental compliance (midpoint estimate $3,500).

Facilities $0

[]

Avoided Costs $0

[#26] N/A — noted avoided costs from not doing full physical containment; no direct expense recorded.

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $406K/yr

Staff Wages $156K/yr

[#7, #8] Data review/analysis personnel (1 FTE = $98,000 incl. overhead) and field investigator(s) (0.5 FTE = $58,500 incl. overhead) totaling $156,500/year.

Contingency Reserve $60K/yr

[#25] Reserve for unexpected escalation / emergency large-scale response (~$60,000/year assumed midpoint of 10–20% estimate).

Search And Rescue Fund $50K/yr

[#10] SAR contingency fund reserved for reimbursing/supporting local SAR/helicopter callouts (~$50,000/year).

Research And Monitoring $30K/yr

[#14] Ongoing follow-up research and directed studies (~$30,000/year).

Facilities Maintenance $18K/yr

[#15] Small field office lease/rent and related facility costs (~$18,000/year).

Logistics And Transport $15K/yr

[#11] Vehicle operating costs (insurance, fuel, maintenance) estimated at ~$15,000/year.

Insurance And Liability $15K/yr

[#19] Insurance for staff, vehicles, equipment and third-party liability (midpoint ~$15,000/year).

Cover Story And Legal $10K/yr

[#16] Annual legal/PR contingency and minimal disinformation budget (~$10,000/year).

Community Payments $10K/yr

[#17] Payments/compensation to private campground owners/landowners (~$1,000/site × 10 = $10,000/year).

Camera Maintenance $6K/yr

[#5] Camera maintenance, seasonal repositioning, theft/vandalism replacements (~$6,000/year).

Cloud Storage And Archive $5K/yr

[#6] Encrypted cloud storage and archival retention bandwidth/fees (~$5,000/year).

Local Coordination Mou $5K/yr

[#9] Ongoing coordination, administrative renewals and goodwill payments (~$5,000/year).

Psychological Support $4K/yr

[#21] Counseling and debriefing budget for staff/civilians (~$4,000/year midpoint).

Archival And Foia $4K/yr

[#24] Archival recordkeeping and FOIA/public disclosure handling (~$4,000/year).

Cellular Data Plans $4K/yr

[#4] Cellular data plans for 30 camera SIMs ($10/month × 30 = $3,600/year).

Supplies And Consumables $3K/yr

[#22] Consumables and small equipment refresh (batteries, cards, first-aid, PPE) ~$3,000/year.

Drone Operation And Training $3K/yr

[#13] Drone operator training, registration and maintenance (~$3,000/year).

Secure It Maintenance $3K/yr

[#23] Ongoing secure IT maintenance, VPN/servers (~$3,000/year).

Portable Equipment Replacement $2K/yr

[#12] Modest replacement budget for portable investigation gear (~$2,000/year).

Staff Training Recurring $2K/yr

[#20] Ongoing refresher training (~$2,000/year).

Permits Renewal $1K/yr

[#18] Annual administrative renewals for permits/environmental compliance (~$1,000/year).

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $406K/yr

89.0% probability / year

Normal year with monitoring program operating and no major incidents.

routine_monitoring scheduled_maintenance

🚨 Minor Incident $461K/yr

10.0% probability / year +$55K vs baseline

Localized incidents (vandalism, theft, one or two moderate SAR callouts, increased replacements/PR/legal work).

equipment_theft_or_vandalism moderate_SAR_callout increased_public_attention

🚨 Major Breach $1.2M/yr

1.0% probability / year +$750K vs baseline

Significant escalation (physical harm, widespread incidents) requiring major emergency response, expanded research, and temporary containment measures.

physical_harm_reported widespread_manifestations requirement_for_expanded_containment

👥 Personnel 1.5 total

Role	Count	Notes
Research Analyst / Research Scientist	1	[#7] One full-time analyst responsible for footage review, cataloguing and database maintenance (costs included in staff_wages).
Field Investigator	0.5	[#8] Part-time/contract investigator(s) for interviews and incident follow-up (0.5 FTE reflected in staff_wages).

📋 Confidence Notes

Estimates come from granular line-item analyst notes (staffing, equipment, recurring services) but include multiple mid-point choices for ranges and programmatic uncertainties (theft, SAR frequency, escalation potential), so medium confidence.

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