Risk Perception Mapping and the Fermi II nuclear power plant: toward an ethnography of social access to public participation in Great Lakes environmental management

This article reports the preliminary findings and potential applicability of an environmental anthropology fellowship at the Great Lakes Commission (GLC). The fellowship project demonstrated the utility of an ethnographic approach called Risk Perception Mapping (RPM) to the public consultation and social research interests of the GLC and other regional organizations involved in Great Lakes environmental management. An RPM demonstration project was conducted in a five county area surrounding the Fermi II nuclear power plant in southeastern Michigan. The research addressed differential social access to environmental management by focusing on cultural, geographical, and social-contextual factors that influence the nature and distribution of perceived risk among potentially affected populations. Key findings pertain to perceptually-specific communities of environmental risk, with implications for what I call ‘participatory equity’ in environmental management. Potential application to Great Lakes environmental management is discussed in the context of developing equitable population-specific information and education exchanges through which more culturally sensitive indicators of Great Lakes ecosystem integrity may emerge.