Environmental Remediation Contracting: Summary of a Symposium (1994)

Carolyn K. Offutt

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1. Introduction

   • Purpose: To discuss the role of community involvement in the Superfund, particularly with the advent of the Superfund Accelerated Cleanup Model (SACM).

   • Danger of SACM leaving the affected citizenry out of the decision-making process—acceleration of process might mean we will skip community involvement activities.

   • Power and importance of remediation staff to make a lasting first impression—the old saying “first impressions last the longest” rings especially true in Superfund dealings with local communities.

   • Power of an irate, unsatisfied public to stop your work dead in its track.

   • Frequent communication plus appropriate community involvement is the linchpin for the wheels of the SACM process.

2. Overview: Community Involvement is Superfund—presentation will touch on the following topics:

   • Community Involvement Philosophy—in order to understand how community involvement will affect you under SACM, you need to understand the importance of community relations in the Superfund process.

   • Community Involvement Challenges Under SACM—the challenges that face the community relations staff with SACM's place emphasis on front end activities. This is turn will require more community involvement activities rather than less.

• Six Tips for Community Involvement Success—there are a number of specific Community Relations (CR) strategies in SACM.

3. Community Involvement Philosophy

   • Superfund's Community Involvement program is designed to provide citizens the opportunity for input to decisions involving Superfund investigation and cleanup activities.

   • More communication with, and involvement by, affected citizens means a more efficient and speedier cleanup process.

   • An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

   • Affected citizens are our ultimate customer.

     • More important than how will community involvement help us is the reality that Superfund was created to help the people who live, eat and breathe, every day, by the perimeter of these sites. They are the reason Superfund was created, they pay taxes, and they are the boss.

     • EPA must accept community members as legitimate partners in the decision-making process. When we do, we have found there are fewer unpleasant surprises. In fact, we are more often than not pleasantly surprised.

     • Burlington Northern TAG example: Community input into remedy saved EPA more than $60 million!

   • Early - Often - Always

     By early, often and always, I mean community involvement activities should be initiated EARLY in the Superfund process, not just when CERCLA or the National Contingency Plan (NCP) requires it. Meet with the public OFTEN. Frequent communication will help you be responsive to citizen concerns. And ALWAYS . . . communicate with the public at every site and through every phase of the Superfund process.

   • Two-way communications

     • Includes proactive and responsive actions on the part of the EPA.

     • Goes beyond just providing information, but includes soliciting concerns of community and responding to those concerns.

4. Community Involvement Challenges Under SACM

   • More community involvement activities, not less

• Prior to SACM there were no Community Involvement requirements during the early assessment process. Many regions, however, realized the importance of early involvement and initiated it with excellent results. With the advent of integrated assessments and early actions under SACM, the need for early community involvement activities are even greater. Great emphasis on the front end will compel everyone involved to accept the legitimate role of the local community early on.

• Technical assistance options

  • Technical Assistant Grants (TAGs) have been a successful community involvement tool . . . however, TAGs are only available to sites already listed, OR PROPOSED FOR LISTING, on the National Priorities List (NPL).

  • Technical assistance is an option for communities with a high level of interest.

  • HQ staff is presently developing a TA options paper. It will be a list of technical assistance options that can be offered to interested community groups. Such possibilities include:

    • Superfund 101 courses for citizens

    • Risk Communications Workshops

    • Using local universities, OR LOCAL EXPERTS, to asist interested groups in evaluation of technical data.

• Participation of Community Relations Staff in Regional Decision Teams (RDTs) and Site Management Teams

  • RDTs will help determine amount of resources needed at site. They need Community relations perspective on the team.

  • Community Relations Coordinators (CRCs) working hand in hand with Site Assessment Managers (SAMs), RPMs, and OSCs will help determine the extent of community interest and the amount of resources allocated to community involvement at each site.

5. Six Tips for Community Involvement Success

   1. Distribute Fact Sheets

      • All remediation staff or contractors should use general fact sheets about the Superfund process, and SACM in particular.

      • At sites in early assessment stages, even better than the general fact sheets, are site specific fact sheets based on what has been done and what will be done next.

   2. Provide Communications Training

• All remediation staff should take communications courses, i.e., CR Basic Skills Course, Risk Communications Course, Presentations Course.

3. Designate EPA Contact

   • Need spokesperson for inquiries

   • Meet your CRC . . . If you don't know who they are, meet them. If there isn't one assigned, make sure one is. Using the CRC, a community relations professional, can make all the difference. CRCs are invaluable resources.

4. Conduct Community Assessment

   Do an informal assessment of community interest at site. Residential sites will obviously elicit greater community interest than a rural site.

5. Meet and Inform Local Officials

   At the beginning and end of process, meet with local officials including town council, town supervisor, planner, or mayor.

6. Provide Availability Session (if requested)

   • Public Meeting, Open House, etc.

   • Be open and honest about the process and the information.

6. Conclusion

   • Good community relations is often just good common sense. All you need to do is imagine what you would want to know and do if you discovered a million tons of toxic death in your community.

   • Community Involvement Philosophy

     • Community Involvement Challenges Under SACM

     • Six Tips for Community Involvement Success

   • Although this is a formula for success, there are no guarantees that your path will be a smooth one. As SACM continues to evolve, your feedback, both positive and negative, will help the community relations staff meet your and the public's needs.