Event
The meaning of a Superfund Site to an affected community
Edward Emmett, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine
This research is based on a series of in-depth interviews with a range of diverse stakeholders and addresses what having a superfund site with asbestos as the principal pollutant represents to the surrounding communities. The themes of time, space, activities and asbestos exposure, community input and the Community Advisory Group, attitudes perceptions and relationships with EPA and other agencies/authorities, attitudes to asbestos and risk, choice of remediation remedy, research needs and information gaps, and lessons for other communities are explored.
The views of community members were quite similar in most areas, but there were wide differences in perceptions of risk and preferred choice of remedies. The many implications of study findings are discussed.