A comparative analysis of the psychosocial impacts of waste disposal facilities |
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| Authors: | Susan J. Elliott Martin S. Taylor James R. Dunn Stephen Walter Aleck Ostry |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada;2. Office of the Vice President Research , University of Victoria , Victoria, BC, Canada;3. Department of Community Health Sciences , University of Calgary , Calgary, Canada;4. Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics , McMaster University , Hamilton, ON, Canada;5. Department of Health Care and Epidemiology , University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC, Canada |
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| Abstract: | This paper reports the results of a comparative analysis of the psychosocial impacts of municipal solid waste disposal facilities (both landfills and incinerators) in six communities in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, Canada. Telephone surveys were administered to random samples of residents living around each facility between 1990 and 1995 (total n=1203). The results of logistic regression analyses show that type of facility was the strongest predictor of residents' awareness, concern, and actions taken in response to site concerns. Essentially, residents living in close proximity to a landfill had a higher probability of reporting awareness, concern or actions than residents living around an incinerator site. There was little evidence of differences in reactions between Ontario and British Columbia (BC) residents, despite variations in provincial policies on waste disposal. The effects of other predictors, with the exception of involvement in the local community, were not consistent, supporting previous findings that the determinants of facility impacts are outcome‐specific. It is essential that environmental managers take this constellation of factors into account in the operation of existing, or siting of new, facilities. |
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