RE: Involving people without a computer

[Marci Culley <culley@eudoramail.com>]

I agree that it is essential to involve folks without a computer, given that most folks affected by contamination do not have easy or efficient access.  While document repositories are  utilized by the EPA and other relevant agencies, this too (as pointed out in another posting) has its problems.  However, in my experience, this has more to do with the agencies involved than it does library staff.  

For example, over the past two years I've worked with a group of folks organized in Sugar Creek, MO called CLEANUP (Citizens Learning Everything about Amoco Negligence and Underground Pollution).  EPA Region VII is overseeing MDNR's technical lead at this RCRA site--an old Amoco (now BP) refinery that has contaminated the area.  Given that almost none of the documents produced in this investigation are available on-line (this is a problem), a repository was finally established in the Sugar Creek library (NOTE: the first repository was not even located in the same city as the RCRA site which led to problems of access--this should NEVER happen).  Although there is a repository now, it is riddled with problems.  Involved agencies (EPA, MDNR, ATSDR) have repeatedly failed to update to the repository in a timely fashion despite that the public has drawn attention to the problem.  Moreover, many of the folks heavily involved in reviewing these documents do not have the resources to copy them or spend hours in the library reviewing them.  There should always be the opportunity for check-out priviledges and if requested, an organized group should have the option to house a repository.