Bayesian spatial modeling of Lavaca Bay pollutants

Locational risk of increased mercury and PAH concentrations in Lavaca Bay, Texas sediments and eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) harvested from Lavaca Bay, Texas were analysed. Chemical analysis results were evaluated utilizing Bayesian geo-statistical methods for comparison of the model fit of a random effects model versus a convoluted model which included both random and spatial effects. For those results fit best with the convoluted model, continuous surface maps of predicted parameter values were created. Sediment and oyster concentrations of mercury and the majority of measured PAHs were fit best with the convoluted model. The locational risks of encountering elevated concentrations of these pollutants in Lavaca Bay sediments and oysters were highest in close proximity to industrial facilities.     

How to speak for aquifers and people at the same time: Environmental justice and counter-network formation at a hazardous waste site

A common source of conflict at hazardous waste sites in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program is the accuracy of scientific investigations and representations produced to inform cleanup decisions. Liable firms often produce these technical representations themselves, and communities surrounding sites frequently argue that such “voluntary” investigations are compromised by conflicts of interest. In order to challenge the representations of powerful firms, locally situated actors often develop trans-local connections with expertise and equipment concentrated at distant centers of calculation. Although some interpret the spatial politics of such connecting in terms of “jumping scales,” another important spatial dimension of this network construction is differential positioning. In a conflict over groundwater models at the St. Regis Superfund Site in Minnesota, the counter-network that emerged to challenge the owner’s representations of the site positioned some actors as “outsiders” and others as “insiders.” This differential positioning enabled the counter-network to balance the need to demonstrate the reliability and impartiality of its claims with the requirement to maintain its accountability to local public interests. I argue that these requirements result from the prevalent view of the science-policy interface, which assumes a rigid separation between science and politics. Nonetheless, the conflict over groundwater at St. Regis reveals how at the science-policy interface, speaking for things and speaking for people are thoroughly entangled.     

Granville Solvents: growth and remediation of a chemical recycling facility in a small Ohio town

Granville Solvents Inc. (GSI) operated for years on the Raccoon Creek flood plain in the central Ohio town of Granville, handling bulk quantities of fuels and solvents. The site is adjacent to Granville’s public water supply. The water wells of the village draw from a substantial buried-valley aquifer, which is vulnerable to surface influences and contaminants. GSI received a 3-year Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part A permit without any siting evaluation because of its grandfather status, and was able to expand its operations greatly. During the expansion, continued negotiations involving permit applications and modifications were conducted; with continued disregard for site contamination. Although a Part B permit was never granted, GSI operated for 6 years under RCRA. Today the site is a Superfund operation and more than five million dollars have been spent on cleanup and maintenance of contaminated soil and groundwater. After 15 years of cleanup, the active remediation has been suspended for the present; however, management of the site for the protection of the adjacent well field is likely to continue well into the future.     

Neoliberalism and environmental justice in the United States environmental protection agency: Translating policy into managerial practice in hazardous waste remediation

In response to the failings of the aggressive neoliberalism of the Reagan era, the Clinton administration sought new ways to promote and deepen the neoliberal project. One of its strategies was to develop “neocommunitarian” programs to support political empowerment and economic self-sufficiency in marginalized communities. Its environmental justice policy became an important vehicle for delivering these programs. This paper examines ways in which one regional office of the US Environmental Protection Agency translated the Clinton administration's environmental justice policy into practical guidelines for its managers. It investigates how these guidelines affected the work of personnel in the EPA's program to clean up hazardous waste sites. It asks how the Clinton administration's approach to environmental justice--emphasizing data analysis, managed public participation, and economic opportunity--helped both to deepen the neoliberal project and to transform the geography of risk and remediation. Although the EPA was unable to “normalize” the environmental justice community--to make it a standardized target for the Clinton administration's empowerment programs--its environmental justice policy both contributed to subtle changes in the distribution of hazardous waste risk and made the delivery of neocommunitarian programs an important part of the work of remedial personnel.