RE: First Impression of Policy Goals and Implementation

[Peter Schlesinger <pschles@starband.net>]

While I agree that public involvement would be better served by increased dialogue among the public, I'm not sure I agree that the PIP should be directed toward that end. In fact, in any EPA led meeting/hearing, public discourse between public citizens is discouraged, with the exception of the answering of direct questions. I think the PIP should be directed toward getting information to/from people. In our activities here on Cape Cod involving our military services and their contamination of our land, water, and air, it doesn't matter what they hear us say, they have their plan and that's what they're going to do. Increasing the public's ability to talk to itself isn't going to come to compromise on these issues. It seems that they would rather not talk to us, but appease us. If a PIP, which had as its goal to create more opportunites for us to talk to each other were implemented locally, we people would have a chance to talk more with ourselves, but the issues and sides wouldn't change likely. Real discussion amongst public ought to take place, but more informally, and at the request of those public citizens, at their convenience and time scale, not at the request of their government.