 Professor
Kent
E. Portney - Quantitative Methods, Public Policy, Political Behavior
Research & Publications
 Siting Hazardous Waste Treatment
Facilities: The NIMBY Syndrome
Synopsis:
 Since the 1960's and 1970's, a wave of environmental awareness has
swept the United States. News reports of oil spills, DDT damage to
wildlife, and the nuclear near disaster at Three Mile Island have,
along with other incidents, contributed to a widespread distrust of
industry and a collective fear of all chemical processing facilities.
This fear has been translated, according to Kent Portney, into local
political opposition to the sitting of much needed hazardous waste
treatment plants-the NIMBY("not in my backyard") syndrome. The failure
of federal, state, and local governments to effectively control
improper hazardous waste disposal has further strengthened the NIMBY
syndrome. Portney argues that once it is understood what motivates the
array of local attitudes toward hazardous waste treatment facilities,
and the political constraints placed on the search for solutions,
effective compromises can be reached.
The book begins by focusing on the facility siting dilemma and what
can be done to find new policies that work. Chapter two analyzes what
does and doesn't work in easing the effects of the NIMBY syndrome.
Democratic political processes are investigated in chapter three,
especially those that contribute to the development of NIMBY
opposition. Chapters four and five present empirical correlates of
changes in peoples' attitudes and explain how people can ultimately be
convinced to support local hazardous waste treatment facilities.
Social, cultural, and psychological construction of opposition to
facility siting is studied in chapter six. Portney presents viable
solutions to the facility siting problem, in light of the NIMBY
syndrome, in the concluding chapter. This important book will be of
great value to practitioners facing actual siting decisions, members
of statewide boards, private sector parties wishing to site
facilities, and those teaching courses in environmental policy or
politics.
About the Author
Kent E. Portney is Associate Professor of Political Science and
Director of the Citizen Survey Program at Tufts University. He is
co-author of The Distributional Impact of Public Policies and author
of Approaching Public Policy Analysis: An Introduction to Policy and
Program Research. He has also written articles for Hazardous Waste and
Hazardous Materials, Policy Studies Journal, and the Journal of
Voluntary Action Research.
AUBURN HOUSE
ISBN: 0-86569-016-2
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