RE: EZ/EC Evaluation

[Peter Schlesinger <pschles@starband.net>]

Good point about the access to resources, time, and the sham, Steve.

Superfund and Impact Area Groundwater Study materials are deposited in all of our local libraries in the name of public involvement, and the libraries are expected to cope with the problem of organizing these materials, giving them space, and making them accessible. I know of only one library on Upper Cape Cod which has its Superfund materials in a place other than a closet (Falmouth). None of the librarians are particularly familiar with the material; the density of the material is challenging even for advisory team members who live and breathe it. EPA ought to support the organization of these materials or require the proponents of cleanups to support that outreach.

Regarding your point about public participation not being backed up by organizations: 

More than a year ago, the citizen members of the MMR Impact Area Review Team requested support of EPA's TOSC (Technical Outreach in Service to Communities) program. We wanted technical assistance much like those used by the Army National Guard to help them understand the myriad of complex data. We interviewed and began to work with several MIT staff members (TOSC advisors) with expertise in soil science and hydrology. The TOSC advisors have attended meetings, received and commented on documents, and provided us with much needed support. TOSC will continue through FY 2002, although we know nothing about FY 2003, as the new TOSC contractor has yet to contact us.

Without access to programs like TOSC, we would have been in the situation spoken of by Paul. We, citizens, were individual team members, not a part of group on our own. We found that while we could apply for grants from the State (DEP) or local community organizations, we really didn't want to do so. It meant that we would have to write grants, take responsibility for monies, become a group, take even more time from our families to make any of it work. We did learn after the TOSC notification that a local non-profit environmental group had volunteered to run our grant through their books to make it easier for us. Still the grant administration and reporting predicament would have made it very difficult for any one of us to handle.