Environmental policies, politics, and community risk perception: case study of community contamination in Casper, Wyoming

Our plain-English summary of Environmental policies, politics, and community risk perception: case study of community contamination in Casper, Wyoming, by M. Tajik, K. Gottlieb, N. Lowndes, et al (New Solutions, 2007).

The study

• Authors: M. Tajik, K. Gottlieb, N. Lowndes, G. Stewart
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 2007;17(4):345-61
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Objectives: We identify and explain factors that affected a community's perception of risk due to extensive industrial contamination and people's distrust of government agencies regarding the environmental investigations.

Methods: Intrinsic bounded case study methodology was used to conduct research about extensive environmental contaminations due to activities of an oil refinery in North Casper, Wyoming, and the citizens' response. Data were collected from multiple sources that included public testimonies, observations, public hearings and meetings minutes, newspaper articles, archived records obtained from federal and state environmental and health agencies, as well as industry records obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Findings: The overarching theme that emerged was lack of trust due to several critical events and factors such as no response or delay in response time to community concerns, lack of transparency, perceived cover up, vague and fragmented communication by government and state officials, perception of pro-industry stance, and perceived unfair treatment.

Discussion And Conclusion: People's perception of environmental risks and their willingness to accept official explanations and outcomes of environmental investigations are strongly affected by their direct experiences with government agencies and the evidence of influence the powerful industries exert over relevant investigations. The government cannot successfully address public and community concerns about environmental health impacts of contaminations and in turn the public perception of risk unless it adopts and implements policies, procedures, and protocols that are clear, timely, transparent, and free from industry influence.

In plain English

This qualitative case study examined how residents of North Casper, Wyoming, came to distrust government agencies investigating contamination linked mainly to a defunct BP Amoco refinery. The contamination included PCE groundwater plumes, BTEX chemicals and asbestos. The authors analysed public records, agency and industry documents, newspaper articles and testimonies covering 1989 to 2001. The overarching theme was lack of trust. About five years passed between discovery of the first PCE plume and the first public meeting in May 1994. The state environmental agency sampled indoor air in 113 residences and buildings in summer 1994 and found PCE in 22 samples. It retested only 61 of them in early 1995. The shortest recorded agency response to a citizen was five weeks. One EPA record criticized Amoco's failure to mention the extensive use, apparent mismanagement and onsite disposal of asbestos at the facility. The authors concluded that residents' risk perception and trust were strongly and adversely affected by first-hand experiences with agencies and by knowledge of industry influence. They noted that the data depended entirely on public records and documents and that in-depth interviews were outside the study's scope.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Qualitative intrinsic bounded case study based on document review and content analysis, part of a larger mixed-method epidemiology study
• Who was studied: The community of North Casper, Wyoming, and its interactions with federal, state and local agencies and industry from 1989 to 2001. The study drew on 8 to 9 boxes of archived records, testimonies, newspaper articles and meeting records.
• Exposure: Industrial contamination, mainly from a defunct BP Amoco refinery and its storage tanks: PCE and TCE groundwater plumes, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX), and asbestos, among other pollutants. The study measured no exposures or health outcomes itself.
• Main results:
  • The overarching theme across the records was the community's lack of trust in government agencies.
  • About five years passed between discovery of the first PCE plume and the first public meeting held by the County Health Department, EPA and WDEQ on May 16, 1994.
  • WDEQ took indoor air samples from 113 residences and buildings in summer 1994, and PCE was found in 22 samples.
  • In January and February 1995, WDEQ re-tested only 61 of the homes and buildings sampled the previous summer.
  • The shortest recorded response time by any local or federal agency to a citizen's concern or question was five weeks.
  • An EPA record, uncovered by citizens through the class-action lawsuit, criticized Amoco's report for failing to mention asbestos use, mismanagement and onsite disposal at the facility.
  • Under a settlement with BP-Amoco, most participating community members would receive about 11 percent of their property's assessed value.
  • Financial disclosures filed in late 2001 showed that the district judge presiding over the cases held stock or royalty interests in fifteen oil and gas concerns, including several with BP Amoco.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that public perception of risk and trust were strongly and adversely affected by first-hand experiences with agencies and by knowledge of polluting industries' influence over public policy.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The data depended entirely on public records and documents obtained through FOIA requests.
  • In-depth interviews with community members, staff and officials were outside the study's scope.
  • The response-time assessment did not account for unrecorded oral responses or missing records.

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