What should be evaluated?

[Marty Walters <marty_walters@terrasano.com>]

This forum has been a good experience, particularly in 
hearing the different communication styles of participants.  I 
am always amazed at how a particular message at a public 
meeting is received in so many different ways, depending 
on the perspective of the person who attended the meeting 
and how the message then gets passed around by word of 
mouth.  I think we need to try all kinds of different ways to 
communicate environmental issues to reach all kinds of 
people.  I also think that EPA needs to place more trust in 
the people at the local level who seem to have the pulse of 
public opinion.  Not the bureaucrats, but those folks working 
in the community who really know how people live and what 
they care about.  These people are not usually sought out to 
participate in the environmental process because they don't 
hold positions of importance or power, but they seem to be 
the most effective at getting the word out to a large number 
of people and making it relevant.  

One example is my friend who is a farmer, surfer, stream 
restoration coordinator, wonderful role model for kids and 
teens, and really smart guy.  He is not going to sit down and 
read a 400-page report about cleaning up PCBs in 
Lualualei Valley on Oahu or have much patience with a dry 
Powerpoint presentation  The public affairs specialists think 
that he's some kind of itinerant trouble maker.  But when we 
sit down and just talk about what's in that report, how the 
cleanup will be conducted, what will be left at the end, and 
the long-term implications for Lualualei Valley, he 
immediately makes the connection to how this project will 
affect his community and he can then take that information 
to a large number of affected people.  

In Hawaii, like many other places, information still travels 
most effectively by word of mouth.  The computers, large 
documents, and internet sites will be accessed by a few 
people capable of navigating the complexities of the 
programs, but most discussion about a project (and 
learning about the laws and technical requirements) will 
take place between people sitting across a table sharing 
each other's company and opinions.  Evaluating the number 
of comments submitted or the number of participants at a 
meeting fails to consider this phenomenon.  The program 
can only be successful if people in the community have 
heard of it and have formulated some opinion about it.

Aloha,
Marty Walters
(private consultant in Honolulu, Hawaii)