| Abstract: | - Cleanup of a contaminated site is halted as community residents launch a legal challenge against the method that those responsible for the site have selected for remediation.
- Parents and teachers at a public school call for an investigation to determine if substances in the building are making students and staff sick. Midway into the investigation, they also become concerned as to whether the right tests are being performed to detect contamination that may be present, and how they will know what the test results mean.
- Industrial neighbors of a facility oppose its air permit application out of concern for the effects the facility's emissions might have on their own workers.
Virtually no business enterprise or government entity is immune from the potential for public interest in or concern about environmental issues. Within the public arena, environmental issues are rarely viewed only in terms of their scientific, technical, or regulatory merits. Instead, they are invariably intertwined with other issues and perceptions regarding health and safety, property values, social justice, and overall quality of life. As such, environmental issues have the potential to create significant controversy, concern, and opposition among community residents. Fortunately, in many cases, much, if not all, of the anger and fear that community residents feel can be relieved through a substantive dialogue that either corrects misinformation or provides a platform for discussing actions that could, should, or are taking place to remedy a situation. Promoting and sustaining such dialogues is the goal of community relations. This article covers the process of designing and implementing a community relations program plan to address serious or long-term environmental issues surrounding facilities, sites, or projects. |
