37    COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: THE CATALYTIC FACTOR
IN WASTE MANAGEMENT
Eleanor W. Winsor, President
Winsor Associates
Ardmore, Pennsylvania 19003
INTRODUCTION
The technologies needed to handle hazardous and industrial wastes are available. As early as 1980
the New England Regional Commission contracted with Clark-McGlennon Associates to prepare
documentation of acceptable types of hazardous waste facilities. The study pointed out that "properly
designed waste treatment and disposal facilities permitted under RCRA (Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976) are a necessary part of the solution to New England's hazardous waste
problem".1 Necessary though they may be, as of the Spring of 1987 new facilities have not been built
in New England, nor in many other states which profess a need for more treatment and disposal
facilities.
General agreement regarding the need for hazardous waste facilities mounts. Groups as diverse as
the State of California,2 the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste,3 and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers4 have stated that there are technologies available which can treat and
dispose of wastes far more safely than could past and current technologies. Locations where these
technologies can be implemented are needed.
To help identify needs many states have quantified the amount of waste currently being generated
and have projected anticipated future demand for treatment and disposal facilities. Pennsylvania's
Hazardous Waste Facilities Plan, which was approved in July 1986, identified the Commonwealth's
needs based upon a planning scenario requiring new commercial facilities to use best-proven or
maximum treatment. It identified the capacity (in metric tons/year) needed for incineration, wet
oxidation, advanced thermal destruction, and full service aqueous treatment, but stipulated that only
two disposal facilities were needed in the Commonwealth.5 The Plan's adoption has not resulted in a
plethora of applications for new facilities. Despite the official sanction of the state planning process,
commercial facility operators see too many regulatory and political hurdles to overcome before they
can have a facility permitted and operating. The regulatory and political hurdles, however, are in
reality among the least critical aspects of siting. The paramount concern nationwide is the public
opposition to facilities —any facilities —in their backyard.
Through the development of community involvement processes which incorporate the public into
the siting and operation of waste management facilities, industries can successfully overcome public
opposition. The process, however, is a lengthy one and must be based upon a genuine commitment to
work with the community. This is easier to suggest than to accomplish. By the time that many
corporate planners turn to public participation, the opposition is at full bay around their ears. At that
point, distrust is so high on both sides that little, if anything, can be done to overcome public
opposition. Meeting the public's concerns involves a major change in operating style.
A HYPOTHETICAL CORPORATION
Let us look at a hypothetical corporation in the waste management field. The Clean It Up Company
was formed in 1979 to construct and operate a comprehensive waste treatment plant. The facility was
to include a drum and container storage area, storage tanks for bulk liquids and sludges, a rotary kiln
incinerator, a small incinerator for PCBs, a waste oil recovery plant and physical and chemical
treatment facilities for inorganics. The facility also was to have its own landfill which was located off
site but within twenty five miles of the facility. The principals in the firm had been engaged in the
hazardous waste business for many years, had earned a good reputation and therefore had little
trouble raising sufficient capital to finance the operations.
Working with a large national engineering firm, Clean It Up selected an appropriate site for its
facility in an industrial area of a major metropolitan city. National surveys indicated that most of its
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