Developing stakeholder understanding, technical capability, and responsibility: The New Bedford Harbor Superfund Forum

Abstract The community of New Bedford, Massachusetts, site of one of the world's worst underwater polychlorinated biphenals (PCB) dumps, is undergoing a second attempt to choose the method for the first phase of the harbor Superfund site clean-up. The first attempt, which some termed a “model public participation process,” ended unfruitfully when the larger community rejected the selected remedy. The authors examine how a new effort — the ongoing New Bedford Harbor Superfund Forum — is working to instill in its participants the technical understanding and capability to assist in the selection of a remedy, as well as creating a larger sense of community ownership that will outlive the process. This article briefly reviews the first attempt at public participation and the factors that contributed to its dissolution, and then examines the current forum and the changes that increase the likelihood of the community accepting the forum's recommendation.