A version of this story was originally published in the Fall 2012 UW SRP eBulletin.
The UW-SRP Research Translation Core (the Core) has been part of a collaborative partnership with EPA Region 10 and the Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition (NWTCC) since the fall of 2010.
The Northwest Regional Outdoor Air Workshop for Communities held in May 2012 was one of the outcomes of this three-way partnership. The NWTCC is addressing another common goal that EPA and communities involved in the hazardous waste cleanup process have identified. Currently, plans are being developed to broaden community access to important information shared at agency-sponsored public meetings. The public meeting agenda offers agency status updates on the cleanup, reports from businesses responsible for the contamination and is one of the key opportunities for community members to give comments and share important information with all invested parties. Historically, it has been challenging to maximize attendance from community members at these meetings, which are often held the evening.
Wendy Steffensen, the lead scientist for the North Sound Baykeeper team of RE Sources in Bellingham, Washington, along with other members of NWTCC have been conferring with the EPA Region 10 Community Engagement and Environmental Health Unit about the importance of taping these sessions and making them broadly available to the public via video downloads on the internet.
The NWTCC is working with the Core on the creation of a list of upcoming agency-sponsored public meetings that will serve as pilot tests for posted videos. The Core will provide a video camera and will assist in posting the videos on the NWTCC website or with local pubic access television programming. Easy and timely access to this information will increase the participation of an important primary stakeholder in waste site issues.