RE: Activists and the public

[Karen Stromberg <Karen.Stromberg@state.ma.us>]

But activists don't always represent the public at all, and the public doesn't always trust EPA (or any other form of government) to make decisions for them.  I agree that it's a huge committment of time to get educated enough to effectively participate in a cleanup, given all the complexities involved.  But it's our job as paid government officials to make resources available (staff time, web sites, info repositories, fact sheets, etc.) to everyone so they can participate if they want.  And it's also our job to try and educate them as to why they should want to participate.

Activists often have their own agendas that do not match those of a community.  I have seen acitivists initiate involvement, only to find out the actual community wasn't that concerned at all.  Those who have spoken out in the past, or those directly affected (whether they know it or not) should always be our first concern for communicating, and then anybody else interested or identified.