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For illustrations that cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by xerographic means, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and inserted into your xerographic copy. These prints are available upon request from the Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any docum ent may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. Universe M iaonlm s International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8315461 Frankena, Frederick THE IMPACT OF TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IN A NONMETROPOLITAN SITING DISPUTE: A CASE STUDY OF THE HERSEY WFPP CONTROVERSY Michigan State University University Microfilms International PH.D. 1983 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 PLEASE NOTE: in all c a s e s this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this docum ent have been identified here with a check m ark V 1. Glossy photographs or p a g e s ______ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. Photographs with dark background______ 4. Illustrations are poor co p y 5. P ages with black marks, not original copy______ 6. Print shows through a s there is text on both sid e s of p ag e______ 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several p a g e s 8. Print exceeds margin requirem ents______ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine______ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print______ 11. P ag e(s)___________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. P ag e(s)___________ seem to b e missing in numbering only a s text follows. 13. Two pages n um bered____________ . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled p a g e s ______ 15. . * ^ Other__________________________________________________ _____________________ University Microfilms International THE IMPACT OF TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IN A NONMETROPOLITAN SITING DISPUTE: A CASE STUDY OF THE HERSEY WFPP CONTROVERSY BY F rederick Frankena A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan S ta te U niversity in p a r tia l f u lfillm e n t of th e requirem ents fo r the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology 1982 ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IN A NONMETROPOLITAN SITING DISPUTE A CASE STUDY OF THE HERSEY WFPP CONTROVERSY BY Frederick Frankena During the l a s t decade the environmental problem and the s o c ia l movement i t in sp ire d served to define technology as a s o c ia l problem. C ontroversies have p e r s is te n tly surrounded the s itin g of la rg e -s c a le energy production f a c i l i t i e s , p a r tic u la r ly nuclear and c o a l-fire d power p la n ts . This research study fu rth e r illu m in ate s p u b lic response to the sc a le of energy resource development by examination of a case involving a renewable energy technology — a 25 MW w ood-fired e l e c t r i c power p la n t (WFPP) to have been s ite d in the remote nonm etropolitan Michigan community of Hersey. The controversy began la te in 1978 s h o rtly a f t e r the three prime s it e s were announced and concluded in 1980 when the proposal was withdrawn in the face of a lo c a l hazardous and to x ic waste ordinance. O ffers followed from o th er communities while opposition continued to develop throughout the region. Using a case h is to ry approach th a t r e l ie s on a v a rie ty of data sources complemented by a content a n a ly sis of the Hersey s i t e hearing and accounts from the lo c a l newspaper, th is study focuses on Frederick Frankena a number of the s a lie n t issu es of power p la n t s iti n g . Foremost among these i s the s o c ia l and p o l i t i c a l impact of te ch n ical e x p e rtis e . E xpertise i s evaluated in terms of fa c ts /v a lu e s and local/cosm opolitan o rie n ta tio n s . Content an aly sis was also applied to the issu e s in the controversy. The Hersey controversy follows the p a tte rn of tec h n ic a l d isp u tes observed by Nelkin and o th e rs. The a n a ly sis supports the fin d in g of a s h if t toward values when ex p erts disagree on grounds of f a c t, a re la tio n s h ip th a t holds tru e fo r proponents and opponents a lik e . Proponents made g re a te r use of cosmopolitan arguments, whereas opponents began on a cosmopolitan note but soon u tiliz e d lo c a lly -o rie n te d arguments to promote th e ir cause. The an aly sis of issu es rev eals a change in emphasis from the p rospective impact of the WFPP on f o re s t ecosystems and the area economy to the lik elih o o d th a t waste would be burned in the p la n t and the th re a t to lo c a l autonomy. This trend r e f le c ts the enhanced ro le of values in the ev olution of the d isp u te. Policy im p licatio n s are discussed fo r scale and c e n tra liz a tio n in energy development, the concomitant d is tr ib u tio n of c o s ts , and the use of te c h n ica l e x p e rtise as a to o l to d e p o litic iz e is s u e s . This study suggests th a t p ublic concerns r e la tiv e to the sc a le of energy development may not be allay ed by continued re s o rt to e x p e rtise alone. To the memory of Olive Harwood Frankena ii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I owe a debt o f g ra titu d e to each member of my committee — Marilyn Aronoff, J . Allan Beegle, P eter Kakela, and my major p ro fesso r, Harry P e rls ta d t — fo r t h e ir moral support and very thoughtful treatm ent of th i s in te rd is c ip lin a r y d is s e r ta tio n . I am e sp e c ia lly indebted to P rofessor Harry P e rls ta d t fo r the i n te lle c tu a l rig o r and well-measured encouragement he brought to each stage in the development of th is research study. I fin d i t very d i f f i c u l t to imagine w ritin g a Ph. D. th e s is w ithout him. Documentary resources and c r i t i c a l th in k in g provided by Professor Denton Morrison made a s ig n if ic a n t c o n trib u tio n to th i s e f f o r t. P rofessor J . Allan Beegle deserves a sp e c ia l note of thanks fo r h is p atien ce, fin a n c ia l support, and an enduring in te r e s t in my academic progress. This d is s e r ta tio n i s la rg e ly a s p in -o ff from a study he d ire c te d on the impact of the population m igration turnaround in Osceola County. This U. S. Department of A griculture f ie ld study helped support a c q u is itio n of the d ata and searches of computerized b ib lio g rap h ic d ata-b a ses. Daverman and A ssociates of Grand Rapids and the Osceola County Herald, in p a r tic u la r Mrs. V irginia C a rtie r, generously provided m a te ria ls analyzed in th i s study. Marco Menezes was most h e lp fu l of those interview ed regarding the controversy. His e x c e lle n t memory and unwavering i n t e r e s t in t h i s study have l e f t th e ir mark. iii A fter a f r u i t f u l l i f e and an a l l too b rie f rep riev e from her stru g g le with cancer, my mother passed away in January 1982. a s p e c ia l s a tis f a c tio n in d ed icatin g t h i s work to h er. I take F in a lly , I must acknowledge the in s p ir a tio n provided by my young sons, Mark and Roy. Beholdng the fu tu re in f le s h and bone has, fo r me, made the p r a c tic a l consequences o f knowledge a sweet obsession indeed. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES ......................................................... ............................................. v i i LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ x Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 2. ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, AND EXPERTISE .......................................... 10 Energy and Environment: The S o c io p o litic a l Synergy .. Changing Opinions about Science and Technology ........... Scale and C e n tra liz a tio n in Energy Development ........... S itin g D isputes .......................................................................... The P o litic a l Impact of Technical E xpertise ................. 10 13 15 17 20 THE LOCAL CONTEXT ............................................................................. 28 Osceola County ......................................................... The Hersey Community ............................................................... The Wood-Fired Power P lan t .................................................. Influence of th e Michigan PBB Contamination ................. 28 32 36 40 THE ACTORS AND THE ACTION............................................................ 44 Early Planning and S ite S electio n ..................................... The I n i t i a l Local Response ............................................. The Ebb and Flow of P o li tic a l A c tiv ity ........................... The Stages and S tyle of the Technical Debate .................. 44 53 57 76 VALUES AND FACTS IN THE CONTROVERSY........................................ 80 In tro d u ctio n ................................................................................ Sources of Data and Inform ation ......................................... Fact-Value Content A nalysis .................................................. F ac ts, V alues, and E xpertise ................................................ 80 89 94 98 LOCAL AND COSMOPOLITAN ORIENTATIONS IN THE CONTROVERSY.. 114 In tro d u ctio n ................................................................................ Content A nalysis of Cosmopolitan/Local O rie n ta tio n s .. 114 120 3. 4. 5. 6. v Cosmopolitan O rie n ta tio n , Local O rie n ta tio n , and E xpertise ............................................................................ 124 THE ISSUES IN THE CONTROVERSY ......................................................... 133 In tro d u ctio n ..................................................................................... Content A nalysis of the Issues .................................................. 133 134 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................... 141 Summary ............................................................................................... The Impact of Technical E x p ertise in the Hersey C o n tro v e rsy ............................................. Policy Im plications .................................................................... Suggestions fo r F urther Research ............................................ 141 144 145 148 NOTES ........................................................................................................................ 150 APPENDIX I ............................................................................................................. 153 APPENDIX I I ........................................................................................................... 157 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 160 7. 8. vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Page P opulation Trends fo r Hersey V illag e and Osceola County, 1950 to 1980 ........................................................................ 34 R elativ e Growth in Town and V illag e to th a t in Open Country fo r Hersey Township and Osceola County, 1950 to 1980 ........................................................................ 35 3. Venture P ro je c t S ta ff and Outside P a rtic ip a n ts .................... 47 4. Scope of A c tiv itie s fo r the WFPP F e a s ib ility Study ............ 48 5. S ite S electio n C r ite r ia fo r the D em onstrational WFPP . . . . 49 6. Socioeconomic B en efits of the Dem onstrational WFPP ............ 52 7. Hersey WFPP Controversy Chronology of Major Events, 1978 - 1980 ........................................................................................... 58 8. Stages Common to Local D isputes ................................................... 75 9. Jo p lin g Model fo r Stages of R esistance to Nuclear Power P la n t S itin g ............................................................................ 77 WFPP Accounts in Selected Michigan Newspapers and Magazines ....................................................................................... 91 F e a s ib ility Study Conclusions about Prime S ite H earings................................................................................................... 92 12. Fact-Value Argument Typology ......................................................... 96 13. Fact-Value C h a ra c te ris tic s of Arguments in the Hersey WFPP S ite Hearing of October 24, 1978 ....................... 99 Temporal D is trib u tio n of Hersey WFPP Accounts and Arguments in th e Osceola County H erald, September 1978 - September 1980 ...................................................................... 102 15. Q uantity and Source of Arguments ................................................. 103 16. Temporal D is trib u tio n of Arguments ............................................ 104 2. 10. 11. 14. Hersey vii 17. C h a ra c te ris tic s of Arguments Rated on the Fact-Value Scale ................................................................................ 106 18. Fact-Value Scores fo r Experts and Nonexperts ........................ 107 19. Quantity and Q uality of Arguments by Experts ........................ 108 20. Cosmopolitan/Local O rien tatio n s Typology ................................ 121 21. Cosmopolitan and Local O rien tatio n C h a ra c te ristic s of Arguments in the Hersey WFPP S ite Hearing of October 24, 1978 ................................................................................ 122 Temporal D is trib u tio n of Cosmopolitan O rien tatio n Arguments .............................................................................................. 126 23. Temporal D is trib u tio n of Local O rien tatio n Arguments . . . . 127 24. Fact-Value Scores fo r Proponents and Opponents .................... 128 25. Issues in the Hersey Controversy . . . . , ......................................... 135 26. Issue A nalysis of the Hersey S ite Hearing of October 24, 1978 ................................................................................ 136 27. Rankings of Issues in the Controversy .................................... 138 28. Temporal D is trib u tio n of Economic, Environmental, and S o c ia l/P o litic a l Issues ........................................................ 139 22. viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Michigan Counties ............................................................................... 29 2. Study S ite : Hersey Township ........................................................ 30 3. Q uantity o f Expert Arguments R elativ e to T otal .................... 110 4. Q uality of Expert Arguments R elativ e to T otal ...................... Ill 5. Fact-Value Scores fo r Arguments by Experts ............................ 112 6. Q uantity of Nonexpert Arguments from a Local O rien tatio n ............................................................................................ ' 129 7. Q uantity of Expert Arguments from a Cosmopolitan O rien tatio n .......................................................................................... 130 Q uantity of Expert Arguments from a Local O rien tatio n .......................................................................................... 131 8. Ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CRUF Committee fo r th e R ational Use of Our F o rests DNR Michigan Department of N atural Resources EIS Environmental Impact Statement MW Megawatt - a measure of power equivalent to 1 m illio n w atts or 1 thousand k ilo w atts NRC Michigan N atural Resources Commission OCH Osceola County Herald PBB Polibrom inated biphenyl, as a f i r e re ta rd a n t RDF Refuse derived fu el WFPP Wood-fired power p lan t a complex organic chemical used x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Environmental q u a lity and the s o c ia l movement i t in sp ire d were e s s e n tia l to d efin in g science and technology as a s o c ia l problem during th e l a s t decade. The number of co n tro v ersies surrounding tech n o lo g ical change in p a r tic u la r has grown d ram atically . Prominent among these have been d isp u tes over the s itin g of la rg e sc a le energy f a c i l i t i e s . One of the problems most o ften c ite d (Nelkin, 1979d), e s p e c ia lly in connection with s iti n g c o n tro v e rsie s, has been the r o le of ex p erts and the growing demand fo r public p a r tic ip a tio n in te c h n ic a l d e c isio n s. This d is s e r ta tio n i s about such a d isp u te but one w ith a number of new w rinkles. In response to and technology, th e general r is e in public concern about science the S ociety fo r organized in 1976. S ocial Studies of Science was I t brought to g eth er sch o lars from a v a rie ty of d is c ip lin e s in order to deal b e tte r with problems neglected w ith in th e confines of the tr a d itio n a l d is c ip lin e s . c o n siste n t with the s p i r i t of th is group as w ell as a number of the problem areas i t has served to id e n tif y . The p resent study i s I t s purpose i s to illu m in a te f u rth e r the r o le of ex p erts and te c h n ic a l inform ation in community c o n tro v e rsie s. The case s e le c te d involves a modern a p p lic a tio n o f a technology used some years back, namely the wood1 f ir e d power p lan t (WFPP). The dynamics o f controversy i s , of course, worth studying on I t s own m e rits. However, the wider so cio - environmental im p lic atio n s of te c h n ic a l co n tro v ersies provides more compelling J u s tif ic a tio n fo r study of t h i s case. In d u s tr ia l s o c ie ty has been undergoing developmental change in connection with i t s reso u rce base and the nature and im pacts of i t s tech n o lo g ies. As f o s s i l fu e ls are d ep leted , the search fo r a lte r n a tiv e s portends a tr a n s itio n in energy-base. one a lte r n a tiv e source. Hood energy i s However, development of wood energy resources i s being heralded a t a time of r is in g public disenchantment with la r g e -s c a le energy-producing technologies. Concerns about r is k s and environmental hazards have v ir tu a lly h alted n u clear power development since the 1979 accident a t Three Mile Isla n d . Air p o llu tio n from c o a l- fir e d e l e c t r i c power p la n ts remains a s ig n if ic a n t source o f p ublic concern. Although wood energy p resen ts r is k s and hazards of a lower order o f magnitude, c e n tra liz e d schemes fo r wood e l e c t r i c power production a re also being c a re fu lly sc ru tin iz e d fo r th e i r pro sp ectiv e community im pacts. The choice has been posed between la r g e -s c a le , c e n tra liz e d ("hard" path) technologies on th e one hand, and sm a ll-sc a le , d e cen tralized ( " s o f t" path) technologies on the o th e r. Although hypotheses d ire c te d a t th is p o licy choice Eire not tre a te d in t h i s study, the value p o s itio n s o f the a c to rs do r e f l e c t the id e o lo g ic a l debate. The underlying resource and environm ental q u a lity issu e s as w ell as th e ex isten ce of an emergent id e o lo g ic a l debate lend J u s tif ic a tio n to t h i s e f f o r t. R egardless o f the sc a le of development, wood appears to be 2 benign compared to nuclear or even c o a l- fir e d e l e c t r ic power p la n ts. Indeed, th a t the w o o d -electric a lte r n a tiv e was proposed in the f i r s t place im plies the d e s ire to increase our energy supply without added th r e a t to the environment. There i s , however, a q u a n tita tiv e d iffe re n c e in sc a le between wood and conventional power p la n ts th a t d eriv es from economies of s c a le . Fuels fo r conventional power p la n ts are concentrated and thus can be economically tra n sp o rted to a c e n tra l lo c a tio n . Economies of sc a le e x is t under these circum stances, making power production cheaper fo r la r g e r power p la n ts . Wood i s a le s s concentrated energy source th a t must be harvested from a r e la tiv e ly larg e geographic a rea. As a r e s u lt the economic sc a le of WFPP's i s of a much lower order of magnitude. There are q u a lita tiv e d iffe re n c e s as w ell. The r a d ia tio n hazard of n u clear power p la n ts and the r is k s of system f a ilu r e s e t i t a p a rt from power p la n ts th a t r e ly on combustion processes. The v iru le n t o p p o sitio n to n uclear power stems from reco g n itio n o f th is d iffe re n c e . There i s another q u a lita tiv e d iffe re n c e , however, th a t goes to the h e a rt of the energy problem. source. sources. Wood i s a renewable energy Coal and nuclear are both d e p le ta b le , nonrenewable energy At the same time th e re i s an im portant q u a lita tiv e s im ila r ity . The mining o f coal and uranium o fte n cause environmental degradation. W ood-electric power gen eratio n involves la rg e -s c a le removal of the standing sto ck of n u trie n ts in fo re s t ecosystems, a p o te n tia l environmental problem. On the whole wood's r e la tiv e ly low p o llu tio n and i t s ren ew ab ility make i t a pro sp ectiv e improvement on conventional fu e ls . Wood, in e f f e c t, i s s o la r energy. F o rests are the energy n et th a t c o lle c t i t . Location of a WFPP to minimize tra n sp o rt co sts d ic ta te s a p lan t s i t e near the cen ter of the a rea to be harvested. For obvious reasons t h i s lo c a tio n i s lik e ly to be ru ra l and remote. Wood energy development i s c e rta in to be more problem atic fo r ru ra l communities. The s i t e choosen fo r the dem onstrational WFPP in th is study was Hersey, Michigan, a remote noi m e tro p o lita n community in the northern h a lf of the Lower P eninsula. The controversy th a t attended the e f f o r t to s i t e the p lan t th e re i s the focus o f th i s d is s e r ta tio n . The f a c t th a t i t i s r u ra l and remote p o in ts to some im portant asp ects o f the controversy. Hersey i s p re c ise ly the s o rt of town one would expect to welcome the p ro je c t with open arms. O rd in arily such a community lacks th e kind of d iv e rs ity th a t gives r i s e to c itiz e n p ro te s t. The appeal of a d d itio n a l jobs and growth in tax revenues would seem to be the o v errid in g in te r e s t in an economically disadvantaged community such as Hersey. I ro n ic a lly , the f a c t of its lo c a tio n among scen ic and re c re a tio n a l resources i s e s s e n tia l to understanding the community response to the WFPP proposal, The population m igration turnaround, a change c le a rly re la te d to these am en ities, g re a tly increased p luralism and, accordingly, in je c te d the in flu en ce of a cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n in the community. A p ro tra c te d controversy was the r e s u lt . In t h i s m ilieu of resource and so c io lo g ic a l fa c to rs the controversy shook t h i s r u ra l community to i t s foundation. The two- year controversy appears to have made a la s tin g im pression on the whole reg io n . How did a controversy a r is e over such a seemingly benign development? Why did i t follow the g eneral p a tte rn for public o p p o sitio n to la rg e -s c a le technologies in p lu r a lis tic communities? What does th is suggest about resource development in general and the development of renewable resources in p a rtic u la r? This study i s designed to begin answering these basic questio n s. The f a c to rs ju s t discussed and the growing body of knowledge about the s o c io p o litic a l dynamics o f te ch n ical con tro v ersies provide the conceptual framework fo r t h i s e f f o r t . The c e n tra l concern i s the impact of ex p erts and th e ir ro le in so c ia l change. Two innovations are o ffered fo r the study of ex p e rtise and i t s im pact. F i r s t , th is study examines the r e la tiv e Importance of value and fa c tu a l claim s in a te ch n ical controversy. Facts and values re sp e c tiv e ly r e f e r to a s s e rtio n s about "what is " and "what ought to be." A more thorough d e f in itio n w ill be attem pted f u rth e r along. Second, the r e la tiv e e f fe c ts of cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s are observed in conjunction with the use of ex p e rtise in the controversy. O rie n tatio n r e f e r s to the means o f achieving the purposes chosen. Local o r ie n ta tio n would be concerned with the in te r e s ts of the lo c a l community w hile cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n would focus on th e in te r e s ts of a la rg e r group, such as the S ta te or so c ie ty as a whole. Controversy i s so c ia l c o n f lic t. Any so c ia l s itu a tio n contains p o s itiv e and negative asp ects as w ell as th e ir sy n th e sis. Synthesis — the re c o n c ila tio n of opposing tendencies — c o n s titu te s the core of the s itu a tio n . A u sefu l d e f in itio n here fo r so c ia l c o n flic t i s a stru g g le over values and claim s to scarce s ta tu s , power and/or resources in which the aims of the opponents are to n e u tra liz e , in ju re , or elim in ate th e i r r iv a ls . C o n flict i s a form of in te ra c tio n in volving communication, re c ip ro c a l in flu en ce, and the development of a new u n ity (Caplow, 1968; Coser, 1956). This so c io lo g ic a l conception d eriv es from the thought of Georg Slmmel (see Wolff, 1950) and provides a foundation fo r t h i s d is s e r ta tio n . With regard to the r e la tiv e importance of fa c ts and v alu es, the follow ing g e n e ra liz a tio n were proposed to e f fe c tiv e ly focus t h i s case study: (i) Technical co n tro v ersies gen erally focus on fa c tu a l claim s, even though the underlying concerns are p o liti c a l and id e o lo g ic a l values. (ii) The impact of tec h n ic a l e x p e rtise in a controversy depends le s s on i t s v a lid ity or the competence of the experts involved than on the ex te n t to which i t re in fo rc e s e x is tin g valu es. ( i i i ) Although i t can serve to c la r if y tech n ical iss u e s , te c h n ic a l e x p e rtise in e f fe c t stim u lates c o n f lic t pred icated on e x is tin g values. (iv ) N otw ithstanding a general focus on fa c tu a l m atters [g e n e ra liz a tio n i ] , a r is e in controversy tends to s h i f t the focus o f the d is u te — e ith e r e x p lic itly or im p lic itly — from te ch n ical issu es to value iss u e s . The issu e s in te c h n ic a l co n tro v ersies are in creasin g ly seen as in volving choices between competing s e ts of values and not ju s t between tec h n ic a l a lte r n a tiv e s . In th is context, i t i s im portant to note a t the o u tse t th a t tec h n ic a l knowledge i s u tiliz e d as a to o l and ex p lo ited by divergent in te r e s t s to e s ta b lis h th e ir claim s (N elkin, 1975). Futhermore, where values c o n flic t and ex p erts are found to d isag ree, a p o l i t i c a l so lu tio n in e v ita b ly i s req u ired ; policymakers have l i t t l e o ption but to f a l l back on ideology, i n t e r e s t , group p ressu re, and the lik e fo r making decisio n s (Nelkin, 1975; King and Melanson, 1972; Jo p lin g e t a l.,1 9 7 3 ). G en eralizatio n s regarding cosmopolitan versus lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s were form ulated to serve the same basic purpose: (v) In te ch n ic al co n tro v e rsie s, p ro je ct promoters ignore lo c a l in te r e s ts and, based upon a perceived cosmopolitan mandate, seek to define decisio n s as tec h n ic a l and to impose these d ecisio n s on th e lo c a l community. (v i) In tec h n ic a l co n tro v e rsie s, lo c a l opposition groups advocating a cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n u t i l i z e lo c a l in te r e s ts to r e s i s t the plans of p ro je c t promoters. T reating the le v e l of the issu e s i n these terms should aid in understanding the dynamics of tech n ic a l ex p e rtise in co n tro v e rsie s. Severed p rin c ip le s o f cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s in s it in g d isp u tes are worthy of mention here. F ir s t, re sis ta n c e to te ch n ical change im p lic it in s itin g d isp u tes a r is e s a t le a s t in p art from concern fo r lo c a l autonomy (a response to the powerlessness in h eren t in the pervasive in fluence of e x p e rtise ) as w ell as concern fo r global q u estio n s o f value (a re a c tio n to the abrogation of values epitom ized by reductionism in sc ie n c e ). Second, lo c a l o rie n ta tio n i n s it i n g d isp u te s stems from a sin g le o v errid in g issu e — th a t the lo c a l community may be c a lle d upon to bear the s o c ia l co sts of a p ro je c t th a t w ill b e n e fit a much broader co n stitu en cy . Both p rin c ip le s are prominent in the Hersey controversy. The d is s e r ta tio n uses the follow ing form at. The m u ltid isc ip lin a ry l i t e r a t u r e bearing on th is study i s reviewed in Chapter 2. Evaluation of the s ix p ro p o sitio n s i s intended to supplement and extend the case d e s c rip tio n in Chapters 3 and 4. 7 The l i t e r a t u r e more d ir e c tly r e la te d to the analyses of fa c ts/v a lu e s and cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s i s reviewed i n the in tro d u c tio n s to Chapters 5 and 6. The nature of fa c ts /v a lu e s and cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s , re sp e c tiv e ly , as w ell as the p a r tic u la r array of each th a t c h a ra c te riz e the controversy, are then taken up in these ch ap ters. The case h is to ry and the a n a ly s is to d iff e r in g degrees re ly p rim arily on documentary sources, including tra n s c r ip ts of public h earin g s, lo c a l environmental re p o rts , newspaper and magazine accounts, and records o f m eetings. The study concludes w ith an assessm ent of the s o c ia l and p o l i t i c a l Impacts of tech n ical e x p e rtis e . In th e process the fin d in g s of th is case are compared and co n stra sted w ith the conventional wisdom about te ch n ical e x p e rtise . Having b r ie f ly described the "what" and "how" of th is study, a few remarks on the m atter of "why" occupy the remainder of the In tro d u ctio n . The major review of the l i t e r a t u r e on community response to energy f a c i l i t y s it in g (C lu e tt e t a l . , 1979) fin d s th a t the focus of a tte n tio n has been o b je c tiv e in d ic a to rs of so c ia l change, in p a rt because d ata are not e a s ily obtained fo r such s u b je c tiv e c o n sid e ra tio n s as public a ttitu d e s and v alues, community cohesion, so c ia l and p o l i t i c a l networks, p re fe rre d l i f e s t y l e , so c ia l d iv e r s ity , and sense of community. At the same time analyses of responses have u su ally e n ta ile d a c ro s s -s e c tio n a l look a t what in r e a l i ty i s a dynamic, unfolding process. Seldom i s the a n a ly tic approach applied lo n g itu d in a lly in these s tu d ie s . The authors of t h i s review s p e c if ic a lly c a ll fo r case s tu d ie s th a t cover a v a rie ty of s i t e co n d itio n s and d if f e r e n t f a c i l i t y types in order to judge how "g en eralizab le" fin d in g s may be to o th er s i t e s . The study of the Hersey case proposed here I s f u lly c o n s is te n t w ith th e ir p re s c rip tio n . 9 CHAPTER 2 ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, AND EXPERTISE Energy and Environment: The S o c io p o litic a l Synergy The response of in d u s tr ia l s o c ie ty to monumental environmental and energy problems encompasses the su b jec t of th is d is s e r ta tio n . The emergence of each problem area and t h e i r in te r a c tio n are b r ie fly described in t h i s s e c tio n . The ensuing s e c tio n s t r e a t su ccessiv ely more s p e c ific a sp ects of energy, environment, and e x p e rtis e . The environmental movement i s o fte n regarded as beginning w ith Earth Day in the Spring of 1970?" However, th e "e n v iro im en f became a major p o l i t i c a l issu e somewhat e a r l i e r in th e mid-1960s (N elkin, 1977). The movement’ s g r e a te s t success in m obilizing p u b lic opinion occurred in the 1970's (Council on Environmental Q uality, 1980). This success la rg e ly stems from a growing re c o g n itio n th a t negative environmental im pacts of s u b s ta n tia l p ro portions have accompanied the rap id e s c a la tio n of U. S. energy consumption. These im pacts r e s u l t from resource e x tra c tio n , e. g . , s t r i p mining of co al, as w ell as from the p o llu tio n asso ciated w ith energy conversion. Concern fo r both c a te g o rie s of impact i s a b asic f a c to r in th i s case study. Several concepts re le v a n t to th e man-environment r e la tio n s h ip 10 u n d erlie the approach taken in th is d is s e r ta tio n . F ir s t and foremost i s the notion th a t th is r e la tio n s h ip i s n e c e ssa rily h o l i s t i c (Caldwell e t a l . , 1976). The synthesis th a t o b tain s in t h i s r e la tio n s h ip i s analogous to th e sy n th esis in any so c ia l s itu a tio n , although the n atu ra l environnent p resen ts c o n s tra in ts on th e s o c ia l system th a t have no p a r a lle l w ithin th e so c ia l system per se. R esulting lim ita tio n s of a n a ly tic approaches, p a r tic u la rly where basic q u a lita tiv e asp ects are ignored, have been noted by sch o la rs of the su b ject (C lu e tt e t a l . , 1979; C ortese, 1979)* Experts u su ally do not c u ltiv a te a h o l is tic a ttitu d e , a problem to be explored in p a rt l a t e r in th is review. Consequently they are s k e p tic a l not only about public involvement in d ecisio n making but a lso about the p a r tic ip a tio n of o th er p ro fe ssio n a ls (Sew ell, 1971; Hoos, 1978). The h is to r ic a l f a ilu r e to recognize and properly manage the man-environment in te ra c tio n w ithin a h o l i s t i c framework has become p a in fu lly evident (Caldwell e t a l . , 1976). 2 By c o n tra s t, the p resent study adopts th e recommendations of C lu ett e t a l . (1979) w ith regard to a broader conception of the problem and a concomitant methodology. This approach a lso squares w ith C ald w ell's ex h o rta tio n fo r a h o l i s t i c framework. The method s e le c te d fo r the major analyses of the d is s e r ta tio n — namely content a n a ly sis of newspaper a r t i c l e s — lends i t s e l f to h o l is tic study o f s o c ia l dynamics (Motz, 1977). A s a lie n t and paradoxical fe a tu re of environmental re la tio n s h ip s i s th a t although c h a r a c te r is tic a lly h o l i s t i c — never being le s s than th e aggregate of t h e ir complex param eters — means f o r tr e a tin g environmental problems are g en erally a to m istic (Caldwell e t a l . , 1976). The lik elih o o d of c o n flic t i s th e re fo re in creased by the e s s e n tia l nature of the problem. The energy problem p resen ts sim ila r com plexities. The abrupt re v e la tio n o f a problem w ith continued exponential growth in U. S. energy p ro je c tio n shocked th e n atio n in 1973. The Arab o i l embarago lu c id ly brought out what lone government g e o lo g ist M. King Hubbert had a cc u ra tely p redicted a decade e a r l i e r - - the peak of U. S. petroleum production. Energy producers had c o n s is te n tly bandied about o p tim istic estim ates, lu llin g the nation in to complacency. The October 1973 embargo drew a tte n tio n to the f a c t th a t petroleum rese rv es on t h i s co n tinent were not w ithout lim its . This event also brought home fo rc e fu lly the fundamental ro le of energy in in d u s tr ia l economies (Caldwell e t a l . , 1976). being f e l t . The repercussions are s t i l l The so -c alled energy c r i s i s in now widely regarded as a long-term challenge. A ltern a tiv e s to nonrenewable energy resources are capturing th e i n t e r e s t of in d u s tria liz e d c o u n trie s. Energy policy i s in c re a sin g ly drawn to renewable energy resources and, fo r the sh o rt term, energy co nservation. At the same time some of the more ex o tic proposals fo r u t i l i z i n g nonrenewable energy su p p lies, fo r example synfuels ( i . e . , the conversion of coal to o il) have met w ith a cool rec ep tio n by the public because of t h e ir prospective environmental im pacts. Public oppo sitio n i s now a common response to proposals fo r the la rg e -s c a le development of energy resources. At the h e a rt of th is o p p o sitio n i s concern w ith m aintaining q u a lity of l i f e . The environm ental movement has been instrum ental in turning th is 12 sentim ent in to e ffe c tiv e p o litic a l a c tio n . I t i s w ell worth noting th a t public cau tio n over the e f f e c ts of la rg e -s c a le energy technologies on environmental q u a lity preceded th e energy problem. Rural areas are an im portant p a rt of th is p ic tu re . In d u s tr ia liz a tio n of nonm etropolitan areas has been ongoing in D. S. development. The experience i s not new, and i t s advantages and disadvantages are g en erally ap p reciated . N evertheless, the s iz e and r a te of rec en t energy resource development re p resen t a q u a lita tiv e s o c ia l, p o l i t i c a l , and economic d isc o n tin u ity fo r ru ra l areas (A lbrecht, 1978). Given the h o l i s t i c nature of the problem noted e a r l i e r , i t should come as no s u rp rise th a t value iss u e s would a r is e to supersede those of tech n ical and economic f e a s i b i l i t y . Changing Opinions about Science and Technology The ascendance of science and technology as the basic means fo r achieving s o c ia l goals d ates from World War I I (N elkin, 1977). The unprecendented growth of science and technology remained la rg e ly unquestioned during th e ensuing period of rap id economic growth (N elkin, 1979a). The transform ation of th is o p tim is tic f a ith began during in e v ita b le periods of so c ia l c r i s i s . The mid-1960s were a time of ferment in public a ttitu d e s th a t produced p o litic a l pressures to d ire c t and co n tro l science and technology (N elkin, 1977). Public a ttitu d e s toward technological progress have become more problem atical with th e passage of tim e. The year of the accident a t the Three Mile Islan d nuclear re a c to r - 1979 - marks th e beginning 13 of widespread p u blic doubt about th e unm itigated b e n e fits of technology. This event riv e te d worldwide a tte n tio n to a tech n o lo g ical f a ilu r e of p o te n tia lly c a ta stro p h ic dimensions. Soul searching, and to some ex te n t buck passing, occurred in the s c ie n ti f i c community (M arshall, 1979). N evertheless, p o lls te r s continued to fin d bedrock support fo r science and technology (M arshall, 1979» N elkin, 1979a). changes w ell worth notin g . Beneath th is o v e ra ll trend lay An e a r lie r study pointed out uneasiness about technology among th e young, a group " . . . whose mood i t behooves science policymakers to watch " (LaPorte and M etlay, 1975). More rec e n t p o lls have shown an abiding skepticism of the promise of technology among the young (M arshall, 1979)* N otw ithstanding th ese survey r e s u lts , th e re i s reason to suspect th a t th e p u b lic, by v irtu e of the p r o lif e r a tio n of d isp u tes about science and technology, grows am bivalent toward science as a source of leg itim acy . I t i s no longer seen as th e a u th o r ita tiv e standard o f ra tio n a l d e cisio n making th a t i t once was (N elkin, 1979c). The experiences of th e p ast decade have been p a r tic u la rly hard on la rg e -s c a le technologies (C lu e tt e t a l . , 1979)* The policy choice, as previously mentioned, has been form ulated as a s o ft path (sm a ll-s c a le , d e c e n tra liz e d ) versus hard path (la rg e -s c a le , c e n tra liz e d ) in tech n o lo g ical development. Environmental impact statem ents and p ro tra c te d l i t i g a t i o n now c h a ra c te riz e la rg e -s c a le energy p ro je c ts , g re a tly extending lead tim es. Although numerous attem pts have been made to cut th e red tap e, the p ressure to assure public h e alth and s a fe ty remains unabated. Environmental issu e s have become a p erennial so c ia l concern (Council on Enviornmental 14 Q u ality , 1980). Mazur (1975) p o in ts out th a t b e lie f about the la rg e r iss u e s i s c o n s is te n tly the m otivation fo r opp o sitio n le a d e rs. One general fin d in g o f n a tio n a l p o lls deserves mention in th is reg ard . Such surveys have unanimously found th a t environm entally benign energy choices, s p e c if ic a lly s o la r energy and conservation, are the forem ost s e le c tio n fo r in creasin g energy su p p lies. On the face o f i t a HFPF such as would seem id e a l fo r th e tim es. th e one proposed fo r Hersey Woodi s renewable and c h a r a c te r is tic a lly of a lower order of environmental impacts than conventional fu e ls . I t s lower th re a t to environmental q u a lity should meet w ith g re a te r public acceptance. Accordingly, th is case study provides an unusual opportunity to t e s t in d ir e c tly some of the general survey fin d in g s on public acceptance of technology. Scale and C e n tra liz a tio n in Energy Development The "two p ath s” id e o lo g ic a l debate over fu tu re energy development appeared f u l l fledged follow ing p u b lic a tio n of a paper by en v iro n m en talist Amory Lovins in th e jo u rn a l Foreign A ffairs (1976).3 Extensive congressional hearings on th e m erits of the debate have served to p o in t out the e ffic a c y of arguments a g a in st headlong development of conventional energy technologies, and to re in fo rc e and d iffu s e the controversy.4 In view of the widespread i n t e r e s t in th i s id e o lo g ic a l debate, i t i s f a i r to assume th a t energy p o licy w ill in c re a sin g ly d e fe r to th e terms of th e debate. Lovins argues th a t th e re are two m utually exclusive ro u te s to 15 so lv in g the energy problem - - the hard path versus th e s o ft path. The hard path i s c h a ra e te riz d by la rg e -s c a le , c e n tra liz e d , c a p ita lin te n siv e , te ch n o lo g ica lly advanced supply systems. By c o n tra s t, the s o f t path r e l i e s on a lte r n a tiv e energy sources and technologies th a t are sm a ll-sc a le , d e c e n tra liz e d , not c a p ita l in te n siv e , r e la tiv e ly sim ple, and environm entally benign. The United S ta te s and o th er in d u s tr ia l c o u n trie s have been on the hard path since World War I I . P o lic ie s such as su b sid izin g and promoting th e use of n u clear power have engendered movement along th is path. Lovins b eliev es th a t the s o ft path i s th e c o rre c t policy choice. The tr a n s itio n to s o ft energy technologies th a t u t i l i z e p rim arily s o la r energy w ill, according to th is view, e n ta il energy conservation as w ell as a ll- o u t development of renewable energy reso u rces. As in any id e o lo g ic a l debate q u estio n s of epistemology and values in e v ita b ly crop up. Such q u estio n s are a t l e a s t as im portant in t h i s p a r tic u la r debate as the te c h n ic a l iss u e s . The choice between the two paths i s th e re fo re as much p o litic a l as s c i e n ti f i c . Purely te c h n ic a l argum entation cannot bridge the gap between th e view points in the debate. Furthermore, i t i s reasonable to assume th a t the ro le of e x p e rtis e in th is controversy, or in any tech n ical controversy, can only be understood by considering th e in te rp la y of value is s u e s . One of th e two major analyses in th is d is s e r ta tio n t r e a t s value e f f e c ts in order to gain a proper understanding of th is 5 r o le . A more extensive review of so c ia l science l i t e r a t u r e on f a c ts and values in c o n tro v e rsie s appears in th e in tro d u c tio n to Chapter 5. Recognition of th e b a sis fo r the two paths debate and i t s 16 p ro sp ectiv e impact has prompted sev eral so c ia l s c ie n tis ts to s e t out an am bitious research agenda on th e su b ject (Wolf, 1979; Morrison and Lodwick, 1981). The present study i s something of a te s t case fo r the impact of th e debate i t s e l f . The WFPP proposed fo r Hersey u t i l i z e s an in h e re n tly s o ft-p a th energy energy source by means of a hard-path technology, i . e . , a c e n tra liz e d , r e la tiv e ly la rg e -s c a le energy f a c i l i t y . This novel instan ce of renewable energy development provides an opportunity to document th e impact of the id e o lo g ic a l debate. S p e c ific a lly , i t can show public re a c tio n to th e negative fe a tu re s of sca le and c e n tr a liz a tio n denounced by exponents of the s o ft path. Although th is i s adm ittedly not the major i n te r e s t of th is research study, i t i s an undeniable element to which some a tte n tio n i s due. A fter a l l , both proponents (S e lls , 1979) and opponents (e. g . , CRUF, 1979b) in the Hersey controversy e x p lic itly recognized the id e o lo g ic a l debate and used fa m ilia r arguments to promote th e ir side in th e d isp u te. The environmental impacts of th e s o ft path versus those of the hard path can, in summary, le g itim a te ly be imputed to the Hersey controversy. The general concern fo r environmental q u a lity and i t s fo rm a liz a tio n in the two paths debate i s re fle c te d in th e myriad of lo c a l d isp u tes over la rg e -s c a le energy developments.6 The debate suggests th e re i s an im portant connection between lo c a l d isp u tes and cosmopolitan concerns. S itin g Disputes The fo c a l po in t of public o p p o sitio n to technology i s w ithout 17 q u estion the s it i n g of la rg e -s c a le f a c i l i t i e s . In general the r e c ip ie n t community must bear the c o s ts of a p ro je c t th a t w ill b e n e fit a d iff e r e n t or much broader population (N elkin, 1979a; Tichenour e t a l . , 1980; Mazur, 1975). When called upon to accept th is burden communities in c re a sin g ly refu se to s a c rif ic e lo c a l i n te r e s ts (Nelkin, 1977; Caldwell, e t a l . , 1976). A d iv e r s ity of f a c i l i t i e s has generated th is kind of response, including a ir p o r ts (Milch, 1979), high-voltage power lin e s (Tichenour, e t a l . , 1980), f a c i l i t i e s fo r nuclear waste disposal (Fallow s, 1979), c o a l-fire d e l e c t r i c power p la n ts (Mack and A ldrich, 1979), and most e s p e c ia lly nuclear power p la n ts (Jo p lin g , 1973; Nelkin, 1971, 1979b; Hudgepeth, 1965; Deal, 1975). Defense f a c i l i t i e s such as the proposed MX m issle deployment in ru ra l areas of the w estern U. S. and th e ELF submarine communication g rid planned f o r upper Michigan and Wisconsin have been opposed on s im ila r grounds. Power p lan t s it i n g d isp u tes are most re p re s e n ta tiv e of th is 7 type of p u b lic response. However, public re c e p tio n depends in la rg e measure on the kind of technology. Opposition has le s s freq u en tly attended the s itin g of f o s s il fu el power p la n ts, perhaps due to long experience and f a m ilia r ity with them (Council on Environmental 8 Q u ality , 1980; Mazur, 1975). Public recep tio n of nuclear power p la n ts provides a sharp c o n tra s t. Controversy s ta rte d soon a f te r the s t a r t of domestic n uclear power development in the U. S ., b uilding to a fever p itc h , w ith a few ups and downs, a f te r the 9 infamous accident a t Three Mile Islan d in March 1979. The obvious policy relevance of power p lan t development commends so c ia l science research on the public re c e p tio n accorded d if f e r e n t kinds of power 18 p la n ts to make fin d in g s more g e n eralizab le (C lu e tt, e t a l . , 1979; Krannich, 1981). Nelkin (1971, 1974, 1975, 1979b) s p e c if ic a lly studied th e impact of te c h n ic a l e x p e rtise in an e a rly power p la n t s itin g d isp u te , touching on some of the asp ects considered in the p resen t study, in p a r tic u la r fa c ts /v a lu e s and co an o p o litan /lo cal o rie n ta tio n s . Once again, f a c ts and v alues denote what " is " as opposed to what "ought to be." O rien tatio n s a re r e la te d to whether the means used to achieve so c ia l and p o litic a l go als are d ire c te d inw ardly or outwardly with resp ect to th e lo c a l community. N elk in 's evolving case study i s something of a model fo r the present e f f o r t . The b asic element of s itin g d isp u tes mentioned a t the o u ts e t, i . e . , th a t of lo c a l retic e n c e toward technologies b en efitin g a la r g e r group, u n d e rlie s the second major a n aly sis in th is study — th a t of cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s . Loss of lo c a l autonomy i s a concern fo r ru ra l communities under development (C lu e tt e t a l . , 1979). The fo rc es generating t h i s concern are both public and p riv a te (Tichenour e t a l . , 1980). C e n tra liz a tio n of decisionm aking i s the apparent u n relen tin g tendency. Federal and s ta te governments have in creased t h e i r involvement in lo c a l a f f a i r s , la rg e ly due to th e f a c t th a t many problems supersede lo c a l boundaries, or th a t so lu tio n s do, or both (Tichenour e t a l . , 1980). Environnental problems ty p ic a lly re q u ire a tte n tio n by higher le v e ls of government. The task o f energy f a c i l i t y s itin g has become more problem atical due to a demographic trend th a t i s e f fe c tiv e ly adding to the complexity of ru ra l so c ia l change. That trend — the population m igration turnaround ~ was f i r s t observed in th e 1970s. 19 The rec en t gains in r u r a l population r e s u ltin g from net in -m ig ratio n appear to be d ir e c tly re la te d to th e existence of environmental am enities in th ese a re a s. T ra d itio n a l, homogeneous ru ra l communities a re , as a r e s u l t , in th e m idst of changes th a t are b lu rrin g th e d is tin c tio n between urban and r u ra l (Caine, 1979). To c i t e a re le v a n t example, r u ra l in -m igrants have been instrum ental in preventing power p la n t s itin g in nonm etropolitan communities (C lu e tt e t a l . , 1979; A ldrich and Mack, 1979b, 1979c). In t h i s context a cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s a n a ly sis would appear to be u sefu l fo r plumbing th e depths of th is change and i t s e f f e c t in nonm etropolitan s itin g d isp u te s. A more extensive review of the l i t e r a t u r e of cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s can be found in the in tro d u c tio n to Chapter 6. The P o litic a l Impact of Technical E xpertise Much of the work on the p o litic a l impact of te ch n ical e x p e rtise has been accomplished under the auspices of the Science, Technology, and Society Program a t C ornell U niversity and the tu te la g e of Dorothy Nelkin. At th e same time study on th is su b ject i s r e la tiv e ly re c e n t. Most of the s tu d ie s and statem ents in th is review are dated a f t e r 1975, with a s u b s ta n tia l p o rtio n reaching p r in t in the l a s t th re e y ears. The su b ject was s u f f ic ie n tly tim ely fo r an in te rn a tio n a l conference to be convened in 1979. Apparently the f i r s t of i t s kind, the conference " S c ie n tific E xpertise and th e P ublic" was held in Oslo, Norway (Skoie, 1979). Understanding the ro le of tech n ical ex p erts and tech n ical 20 inform ation in p u b lic co n tro v ersies becomes a more im portant research q u estio n as th e number and d iv e rs ity of such co n tro v ersies in c re a se s . Technological innovations are created w ith l i t t l e concern fo r t h e i r so c ia l impact or public re c e p tio n . As a consequence of the r is in g an x iety over th e hazards and r is k s of such technologies as recombinant DNA and ra d io a c tiv e waste d isp o sa l, te ch n ic a l e x p e rtise i s in c re a sin g ly used to challenge as w ell as promote c o n tro v e rsia l d ecisio n s (N elkin, 1979c). Science and technology thereby serve as a p o lit ic a l resource ex p lo ited by various i n t e r e s t s to j u s t i f y th e ir claim s. This tren d has eroded the success of proponents in d e p o litic iz in g p o l i t i c a l controversy by m obilizing te c h n ic a l e x p erts. Put d if f e r e n tly , promoters of te c h n ic a l innovations have sought to i n s t it u t io n a l iz e tech n ical e x p e rtise in order to cope w ith controversy (N ichols, 1979; Nelkin, 1975). But t h i s approach o fte n f a i l s because the public i s in te re s te d in m atters of value as w ell as m atters of f a c t. Technology c re a te s problems th a t are both te c h n ic a l and nontechnical (Consumption. Location, and Occupational P a tte rn s Resource Group S ynthesis Panel, 1980, Chapter 7; Holdren, 1976). Narrow d e f in itio n of issu e s as " te c h n ic a l" has been c e n tra l to public h o s t i l i t y toward te c h n ic a l ex p erts and p u blic apprehension about technology (N ichols, 1979). Not s u rp ris in g ly , the c r e d ib ility of e x p erts has become an issu e (Hoos, 1978)^° Those c a llin g fo r increased public p a r tic ip a tio n as a remedy are too numerous to c ite here?-1 S uffice i t to say th a t sh o rt of f u l l public p a r tic ip a tio n l i e s the use of c o u n te r-e x p e rtise . C itizen o p p o sitio n groups have learned th a t i f e x p e rtise can serve as a weapon fo r so c ia l m anipulation in th e name of r a tio n a lity (B enveniste, 1972), then i t can be used to c re a te c o n flic t to serve t h e i r ends (Primack and Von H ippel, 1974; Jo p lin g , 1973). Two asp ects o f te ch n ical e x p e rtise occupy th e r e s t of th is review . F i r s t , the concept of ex p ert i s defined and re la te d to o th er r o le s , namely c o n su ltan t, advocate, and adversary. Second, the dynamics o f e x p e rtise in c o n tro v ersies i s elab o rated . This review of the l i t e r a t u r e i s used as a base fo r focusing th e case h is to ry in Chapter 4. What, then, i s an expert? 12 The concept of ex p ert i s s o c ia l, and u su ally a sso ciated w ith co n tro v ersies because they involve complex problems th a t must be in te p re te d . The ex p ert may be employed by one party to a controversy or s(he) may be actin g as a committed v o lu n te e r. In any event, e x p e rtise involves sp e c ia l s k i l l or knowledge in a p a r tic u la r f ie ld or s p e c ia liz e d d is c ip lin e (N ichols, 1979). Although the ex p ert i s expected to make an honest p re se n ta tio n , s(he) i s understood to be lia b le to system atic in flu en c e in coming to opinions on tec h n ic a l m atters. Ravetz b eliev es th a t t h i s understanding i s more o fte n applied to le s s developed d is c ip lin e s where honest opinions can d if f e r r a d ic a lly , e. g . , r is k a n a ly s is and energy-use p ro je c tio n s. This conception of expert c le a r ly diverges from the popular id ea o f the independent, o b je c tiv e s c ie n tis t/te c h n ic ia n . tr a d itio n a l s c ie n ti s t f i t s th e ro le of c o n su lta n t. advice on a problem defined by a c lie n t. The S(he) gives Those accepting th is ro le do not choose the problem, but they are understood to act independently in t h e i r In v e stig a tio n . 22 The co n su ltan t i s expected to l e t the cards f a l l where they may, even i f the fin d in g s d if f e r from the c l i e n t 's opinions. The p r o lif e r a tio n of co n tro v ersies suggests th a t the ro le of co n su ltan t i s , in r e a l i ty , d i f f i c u l t to achieve. Human natu re (Mazur, 1973)» the ideology of science and technology (Consumption, Location, and Occupational P a tte rn s Resource Group S yn th esis Panel, 1980; Hoos, 1978), and the dynamics of co n tro v e rsie s (King and Melanson, 1972) make th is a d i f f i c u l t model to a tta in . The expert and th e co n su ltan t are both considered to be s c i e n t i f i c ; t h e i r ro le in debates i s clo se ly tie d to s c ie n tif ic /te c h n ic a l d isc u ssio n s. Toward th e other end of the continuum of p o ssib le ro le s l i e s the advocate, who a c ts as a s k ille d d ebater fu th e rin g th e i n t e r e s ts of one p arty . The advocate i s not regarded as someone e ith e r competent in the s c ie n tif ic /te c h n ic a l asp ects or committed to the tr u th . The procedures fo r advocacy are highly s ty liz e d and te c h n ic a l, and occur in tr a d itio n a l forums of advocacy such as c o u rts of law. Confusion can r e s u l t i f the advocate to u ts p ro fessio n al or academic c re d e n tia ls . The adversary i s th e p o lar opposite of the co n su ltan t. i s th e re to win. S(he) Only prudence and e ffic a c y c o n stra in th e adversary in p u rsu it o f h is or her g o als. The in te p re ta tio n of any s c ie n tif ic /te c h n ic a l statem ent is s u b je c t to in flu en c e accorded the ro le s accepted by the a c to rs and audience in a d isp u te . I t i s by no means c e rta in th a t special c re d e n tia ls ca st an ac to r in the ro le of co n su lta n t. Ravetz cau tio n s th a t ". . . those who are assessin g statem ents which purport to be s c ie n ti f i c in such s itu a tio n s must judge the person 23 w e ll." Whether a person i s an adversary, advocate, co n su ltan t, or expert depends on how s(he) in te r a c ts in an ac tu a l controversy. These ro le s a re not defined a p r io r i, nor by the in te r e s t groups in the debate. I t remains fo r the public to assign th ese ro le s and the d isp a ssio n a te observer to s o r t them out. N elkin, in her p re s id e n tia l address to the Society fo r S ocial Studies of Science (1979c), surveyed th e changing re la tio n s h ip s between science and th e p o lity , id e n tify in g t h e ir research-w orthy consequences. She r e j e c ts a shopping l i s t of explanations o fte n given fo r the growing c o n f lic t, arguing in ste a d th a t the main undercurrent i s a r is in g ambivalence in th e public perception of science as a source of legitim acy. t h i s change. co n tro ls?" Value iss u e s a re fundamental to The overriding q u estio n , according to Nelkin, i s "who Such c o n tro v ersies ". . . express both an id eo lo g ical re s is ta n c e to the reductionism epitomized by science and a p o litic a l re s is ta n c e to the pow erlessness im plied by the pervasive influence of e x p e rtise " (N elkin, 1979c). Nelkin argues on t h i s b asis th a t the s c ie n tis t/te c h n ic ia n as expert has become a p o litic a l resource, a to o l. Technical e x p e rtise i s viewed to be th e only way to challenge c o n tro v e rsia l d ecisio n s, whatever the p o l i t i c a l or moral o b je c tio n s. Her suggestion th a t science and technology should be studied not only as an a c tiv ity of exclusive e l i t e s but as a resource commends th e present e f f o r t (N elkin, 1979c). Technical e x p e rtise i s a c ru c ia l p o litic a l resource in co n tro v e rsie s because access to knowledge and th e r e s u ltin g a b i l i t y to q u estio n the d ata and inform ation used to le g itim iz e d ecisio n s is 24 an e s s e n tia l b a sis fo r power and influence (N elkin, 1979a). C itizen o pp o sitio n groups have found i t both necessary and f r u i t f u l to use t h is to o l in opposing p olicy d ecisio n s. The complex d ata supporting a p a r tic u la r development cannot e f fe c tiv e ly be challenged w ithout r e s o r t to co u n terex p ertise (B enveniste, 1972). With regard to s itin g co n tro v e rsie s, concern about the q u a lity o f l i f e in the community i s th e source of opposition but th e debate c e n te rs on te c h n ic a l iss u e s . According to Nelkin (1979a), to be e f fe c tiv e t a c t i c a l l y opponents must seek to m anipulate knowledge, emphasizing a rea s o f u n certain ty th a t are open to c o n flic tin g s c ie n ti f i c in te p r e ta tio n . In th is way c itiz e n op p o sitio n groups can seek to ju s t i f y t h e i r p o litic a l and economic views. P o litic a l values and s c i e n t i f i c f a c ts consequently become d i f f i c u l t to d istin g u is h in c o n tro v e rsies. What happens when e x p e rtise i s m arshalled by both sid e s in a controversy, th a t i s , when i t becomes a weapon in both of th e ir a rse n a ls? The r e s u l t i s u su ally fu rth e r p o la riz a tio n of the c o n f lic t, f ir i n g up th e controversy and o fte n ending in th e defeat o f the proposed p ro je c t (e. g . , Fallows, 1979). The s c ie n tis ts and te c h n ic ia n s in th e d isp u te are revealed to be f a l l i b l e , dem ystifying t h e i r sp e c ia l e x p e rtise and c a llin g a tte n tio n to nontechnical and p o l i t i c a l assumptions th a t in flu en ce tech n ical advice (Nelkin, 1975). D isputes between ex p erts in v a ria b ly lead to public confusion, reducing t h e i r p o litic a l impact. In th e end controversy pushes public opinion toward o p p o sitio n r a th e r than acceptance (Mazur, 1975? Crain e t a l . , 1969). Concurrently the public i s u su ally le s s in te re s te d in th e 25 te c h n ica l fa c ts under d isp u te than I t I s In th e choloe between d iff e r e n t p o l i t i c a l and so c ia l v alu es. This i s an e s p e c ia lly im portant fe a tu re of environmental co n tro v ersies (N ichols, 1979; Nelkin, 1974). Controversy h ig h lig h ts th e need fo r a p o litic a l so lu tio n in th ese terms. In f a c t, controversy encourages the d ecisio n maker to r e v e rt back to h is or her o rig in a l normative p re d isp o sitio n or simply to avoid a d ecisio n (N elkin, 1975; S a b a tie r, 1978). During the course of a controversy acceptance of te c h n ica l advice in c re a sin g ly hinges on th e ex ten t to which i t re in fo rc e s e x is tin g v alu es. In th is context opponents fin d e a s ie r s a ilin g because i t i s o fte n s u f f ic ie n t to r a is e q u estio n s th a t undermine tec h n ic a l e x p e rtis e . The q u a lity and q u a n tity of the opposing evidence need not match th a t of the promoters. The few s tu d ie s turned up in th e l i t e r a t u r e search th a t deal w ith the impact of te ch n ical e x p e rtise in nonm etropolitan s itin g d isp u tes were a l l done in Minnesota (A ldrich and Mack, 1979a, 1979b; Tichenour e t a l . , 1980). Aldrich and Mack (1979b) note the strong in flu en ce of the population m igration turnaround in th e lo c a l p o litic s of s it i n g . Their fin d in g s on tech n ical e x p e rtise are th e re fo re e s p e c ia lly germane to study of the Hersey controversy. One seemingly in s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e in terminology is th e ir use o f "lo c a l e x p e rt." This term im p lic itly recognizes th e ro le of co u n terex p ertise. Local ex p erts turned out to be recen t m igrants from urban are as. The study by Tichenour e t a l . (1980) i s useful because i t compares and c o n tra s ts urban and ru ra l d iffe re n c e s in the use of te c h n ica l inform ation and e x p e rtis e , a c o n trib u tio n flesh ed out in the in tro d u c tio n to Chapter 6. 26 A b rie f d e s c rip tio n of the Hersey community, the p ro je c t, and an im portant environmental case th a t a ffe c te d th e area are taken up i n the next chap ter, followed by th e case h isto ry of the Hersey controversy. 27 CHAPTER 3 THE LOCAL CONTEXT Osceola County Osceola County l i e s w ith in a scenic and re c re a tio n a l region in th e northern h a lf of Michigan’ s lower peninsula (see Figure 1 ). Manistee N ational F orest borders i t to the w est, while Chippewa S ta te F orest occupies much of i t s c e n tra l p o rtio n (see Figure 2 ). Numerous la k e s, stream s, and r iv e r s are found w ith in i t s boundaries. Three major highways provide easy access to or from any p a rt of the s ta t e . The n earest major c ity i s Grand Rapids some 75 miles d ir e c tly south. The county contains only s ix towns and v illa g e s , a l l of which re p o rt a t l a s t censuss under 2,500. During the 1970s i t s population v ir tu a lly exploded, r is in g from 14,838 in 1970 to 18,929 in 1980. The g ain of 4,090 equates w ith a growth r a te of 27.6 p ercen t. of th i s growth has been due to in -m ig ra tio n . Most Newcomers have g e n era lly s e ttle d in open country areas of the county. Only 6.5 percent of the growth i s accounted fo r by the s ix small v illa g e s and towns. The experience of the population m igration turnaround here i s ty p ic a l of th a t in many remote nonm etropolitan areas of the U. S. The turnaround in general has been o rie n te d to q u a lity of l i f e 28 B aeesT T T C T f p O f 0 3 r * 7 |3 3 S T rairsr prtt nr isrr 3W ta n 1 Fig. 1. Michigan Counties 29 OSCEOLA COUNTY MICHIGAN Harford Co Highland Sherman Marion Hartwi Middle Branch Clara LeHoy Co I Marl in c o ln kt> Co \ vare Hersey Macoaca Co. Fig. 2. Study site: Hersey Township 30 O rien t (Ploch, 1978). The environmental values of newcomers are im plied by th e ir r e s id e n tia l p referen ces. The ex isten ce of bodies of water and adequate road a c c e s s ib ility are the major lo o a tio n a l fa c to rs in the re se ttle m e n t of the Osceola countryside (Kobernick and Frankena, 1980). The forem ost example i s the su b d iv isio n of land along the Muskegon R iver, which flows a s ig n if ic a n t distan ce in southern Osceola County in cluding Hersey township (see Figure 2 ). Although many of those m igrating to the county are r e t ir e e s , an im portant component of the turnaround th e re has been the young and w ell educated. A fa c to r promulgating in -m ig ratio n i s the growth of sm a ll-sca le m anufacturing. Increased job o p p o rtu n itie s have helped to r e ta in the co u n ty 's crop o f youth as w ell. About f o u r - f if th s of the m igration stream can be a ttrib u te d to u rb a n ite s, most from downstate c e n tra l c i t i e s , e sp e c ia lly D etro it and Grand Rapids (Rathge, 1981). The newcomers in the population m igration turnaround are d istin g u ish ed by th e i r noneconomic m otives. As a consequence they are a more d iv erse group than the r e la tiv e ly homogeneous fa m ilie s who m igrated to the suburbs. The newcomers include much younger dropouts from urban s o c ie ty , middle c la s s fa m ilie s with school-aged ch ild re n , and a s u b s ta n tia l number the a fflu e n t (Sokolow, 1981). R e tire es o ften number among the l a t t e r . p a rt of the p ic tu re . The mobile poor are also The population m igration turnaround f ie ld study mentioned in the Acknowledgements made use of the follow ing ca te g o rie s of newcomers — e ld e rly r e tir e e s (seasonal and y earround), young p ro fe ssio n a ls, tra n s ie n t workers, voluntary s im p lic ity persons, and w elfare c lie n ts . Among the e ld e rly many were found to 31 be re tu rn in g to th e ir b irth p la c e a f te r r e t ir i n g from th e ir jobs in la rg e c i t i e s . The in flu x o f newcomers has e n ta ile d q u a lita tiv e changes th a t a re o fte n not addressed in assessm ents of the Impact of nonm etropolitan growth (C ortese, 1979)* Such q u a lita tiv e changes, most notably in lo c a l p o litic s (Sokolow, 1981), are evident in the northern lower Michigan region (ISR N ew sletter, 1978). Newcomers are in je c tin g new values and c a p a b ilitie s in to lo c a l p o l i t i c s . The region-w ide in flu en ce of the opposition a f te r the p ro je c t was shelved underlines th i s p oint. The Hersey Community Hersey township has the lo n g est h is to ry of settlem en t in the county. Hersey v illa g e was the co u n ty 's f i r s t c e n tra l place. Figure 2 shows the lo c a tio n of the town and township o f Hersey. In th i s study the Hersey community i s id e n tif ie d with the township. P o litic a l a c tiv ity in the controversy occurred la rg e ly a t t h i s le v e l since the proposed s i t e fo r the f a c i l i t y was th re e -q u a rte rs of a m ile so u th east of Hersey v illa g e . The turnaround connected with environmental am enities has been f e l t by the Hersey community. A cursory look a t a p la t map book fo r the county shows extensive subdivision along the Muskegon River in the township. An a n a ly sis of county a p p lic a tio n s fo r s e p tic tank perm its (which sig n ify new homesteads) re in fo rc e s the perception th a t t h i s has been an area under development (Kobernick and Frankena, 1980). 32 Census d ata provide a q u a n tita tiv e p ic tu re of t h i s growth ( r e f e r to Tables 1 and 2 ). Environmental values apparently generated growth in Hersey township much e a r l i e r than in o th er p a rts of the county. I t s growth r a te of the decade of the 1950's. p ercen t. 41.5 percent was phenomenal for No o th er township grew by as much as 4 In f a c t, 13 of the 16 townships lo s t population in th a t decade, 5 by more than 10 percent. During t h i s time period the county population decreased by 1.5 p ercen t. Very l i t t l e of the township growth (only 6 percent) occurred in the v illa g e of Hersey. The population of the countryside in the county as a whole d eclined. All 16 townships grew in the 1960s. Hersey edged down s lig h tly in rank, with a growth r a te of 35.1 p ercen t, second to O rient township a t 44.5 p ercen t. The r e la tiv e share of growth in the v illa g e to th a t in the township increased from 6 to 21.4 percent. N evertheless, most of the growth s t i l l took place in the o u tly in g township. During t h i s period growth in the county as a whole took place almost e x clu siv e ly o u tsid e the v illa g e s and towns ( i . e . , 98.4 p e rc e n t). In th e 1970s O sceo la's v illa g e s and towns in creased m arginally more than in th e 1950s. The ab so lu te growth of Hersey v illa g e was more than twice as g re a t in the 1970s compared w ith the 1960s, re sp e c tiv e ly 88 more people versus 30, but i t s share of the growth in the township f e l l to h a lf th a t of the 1960s, from 21.4 percent down to 12.8 p ercent. This means th a t the very rap id in crease in Hersey township (128 p ercent) continued p rim arily in open country. The county grew during th e 1970s by 27.6 p ercen t, up from 9 percent the previous decade. The continuing tren d in Hersey was r e fle c te d 33 TABLE 1 POPULATION TRENDS FOR HERSEY VILLAGE, HERSEY TOWNSHIP, AND OSCEOLA COUNTY, 1950 to 1980 Population 1950 1960 Percent Change Population 1970 Percent Change Population 1980 Percent Change Hersey Village 239 246 2.9 276 12.2 364 31.9 Hersey Township 282 399 41.5 539 35.1 1,229 128.0 13,797 13,595 -1.5 14,838 9.1 18,928 27.6 Osceola County SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Census, Census of Population, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980. TABLE 2 RELATIVE GROWTH IN TOWN AND VILLAGES TO THAT OF OPEN COUNTRY FOR HERSEY TOWNSHIP AND OSCEOLA COUNTY, 1950 to 1980 Population Change 1950-1960 Percent Population Change 1960-1970 Percent Population Change 1970-1980 Percent Hersey Township, excluding Hersey Village 110 94.0 110 78.6 602 87.2 Hersey Village __ 7 6.0 30 21.4 88 12.8 Hersey Township, Totals 117 1 0 0 .0 140 100.0 690 1 0 0 .0 -411 1223 98.4 3825 93.5 209 20 1.6 265 6.5 100.0 4090 100.0 Osceola County, excluding towns and villages Osceola County Villages and towns Osceola County, Totals SOURCE: -2 0 2 1243 U.S. Bureau of Census, Census of Population, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980. in the la rg e r community; open-country in the country accounted fo r 93.5 percent of t o ta l growth during t h i s decade. Demographic changes a re an in d ire c t cause of the controversy th a t engulfed th e proposed WFPP. The q u a litie s o f in-m igrants , most s ig n if ic a n tly th e ir values and o rie n ta tio n s , gave r is e to the oppostion and must be considered to understand the controversy. The Hood-Fired Power P lant The use of wood fo r the production of steam and/or the g en eratio n of e l e c t r i c power i s not new. The p ra c tic e was common e a rly in the century when wood rep resen ted a much la rg e r proportion of U. S. energy consumption. One e ld e rly county re s id e n t, who became an opponent of the WFPP, reported th a t h is grandfather operated a WFPP in Evart, a town ju s t n o rth east of Hersey, in the e a rly 1900s (Grand Rapids P ress. 1979a). Wood energy today i s described by the term "biom ass," an in d ic a tio n , perhaps, of the r is e of tech n ical e x p e rtise (see Burwell, 1978). Biomass i s any energy source th a t r e l ie s on liv in g (org an ic) m a te ria ls . The modern use of wood biomas fo r power production has la rg e ly occurred in the fo re s t products in d u stry of the w estern U. S. to provide in d u s tr ia l process steam. The m unicipal u t i l i t y of one of the towns in the region, Eugene, Oregon, has made use of su rp lu s f o r e s t resid u es to generate e l e c t r i c i t y and steam sin ce 1941 (Grace, 1980). More re c e n tly a p riv a te u t i l i t y in B urlington, Vermont experimented w ith a m ixture of 75-percent wood chips and 25-percent 36 o i l in th re e 10-MW power p la n ts, reducing co st per k ilo w att hour of e l e c t r i c i t y from 3 cen ts to 2. Encouraged by t h i s experience the u t i l i t y proposed to b u ild a 50-MW p la n t. In 1978 B urlington area v o ters overwhelmingly approved the $40 m illio n bond issu e to finance th e p ro je c t (H a rris, 1978). In te re s tin g ly enough, H arris c ite s the Michigan Public Service Commission re p o rt (H iser e t a l . , 1977) on th e g re a t p o te n tia l for Michigan in t h i s a r t i c l e promoting the concept of wood energy. With resp ect to the B urlington proposal h is fav o rab le prognosis turned out to be wrong. On November 15, 1979, ju s t as th e Hersey controversy was coming to f u l l t h r o t t l e , the Osceola County Herald (OCH)13 c a rrie d a fro n t page a r t i c l e bearing the t i t l e "Vermont Wood Chip P lant Shelved." O f fic ia ls of the B urlington E le c tr ic Department had in ste a d decided to buy a 25-MW block of power from O ntario Hydro. I t i s very lik e ly th a t th is re p o rt appeared on th e fro n t page of only two newspapers in the U. S. — the B urlington Free Press and the OCH. The a r t ic le in the l a t t e r p o in ts out th a t a p e titio n p ro te s tin g the proposed B urlington WFPP had been subm itted to the Vermont S ta te Energy and Public Service Board. An organizer in the opposition a t B urlington was quoted as saying ". . .A l o t of people are concerned about the e f f e c ts o f th is " (OCH, 11-15-79). The dem onstrational p la n t proposed fo r Hersey was to be somewhat more modest i n i t i a l l y , a s ite - s p e c if ic 25-MW f a c i l i t y . It would provide enough e l e c t r i c i ty fo r 25,000 to 30,000 homes (Lansing S ta te Jo u rn a l, 1979). None of the technology involved i n the power p lan t would be in n o v ativ e. The u t i l i t y p a rtn e rs decided not to take any r is k s in order to improve on the f i r s t gen eratio n hardware of 37 WFPP’ s (S e lls , 1979). The voluminous $300,000 f e a s i b i l i t y study completed by Daverman and A ssociates o f Grand Rapids estim ated the annual fu el requirem ents fo r the WFPP a t 285,000 tons o f green wood. (150,000 tons) was expected to come from S ta te lan d . About h a lf The f o re s t base fo r the g en eratin g p la n t was put a t o n e-h alf of one percent of the f o re s t w ith in a 25-m ile rad iu s of the f a c i l i t y ( S e lls , 1979), a claim th a t became a liv e ly source of te c h n ic a l debate. Enough wood was deemed a v a ila b le in the surrounding s ix counties to s u s ta in the p la n t, although l a t e r a 75-m ile ra d iu s was e s ta b lis h e d fo r wood to be auctioned from s ta t e land. The f e a s i b i l i t y study notes th a t the maximum economic d istan ce fo r hauling wood chips i s le s s than 50 m iles (Daverman and A sso ciates, 1979, Appendix F ). W hole-tree h arv estin g would be accomplished with the use of equipment manufactured by Morbark In d u s trie s . I f completed by 1983 as planned, the WFPP would have been the f i r s t t o t a ll y wood burning power p lan t in th e country (Grand Rapids P ress, 1979b). I n i t i a l l y a 10-30 MW p la n t was considered fo r the purposes of developing estim a tes o f c a p ita l and o p eratin g c o s ts . of sc a le e sta b lish e d in c re a sin g economies w ith u n it s iz e , 30-MW u n it the most economic choice w ith in t h i s range. The The f e a s i b i l i t y concluded, however, th a t . . . sin ce the s i t e s e le c tio n and prelim inary design a re based on an u ltim ate p la n t s iz e of 50-MW gross o u tput, i t was determined th a t a dem onstrational p lan t w ill i n i t i a l l y have a 25-MW u n it which could u ltim a te ly be d u p licated (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979» Executive Summary). Economies o f s c a le may e x is t fo r WFPP's up to 50-MW, but 38 a n a ly sis makinga economic lim its on wood h arv estin g and tra n sp o rt quickly c o n stra in fe a s ib le p lan t s iz e . By comparison, coal and nu clear p la n ts are la r g e r by a f a c to r of a t l e a s t 10. T heir economies of sc a le are not dependent on a v a ila b le h arv est and tra n s p o rt d istan ce fo r a b io lo g ic a l resource having a low r a t io of volume to economic value (an in d ic a to r of energy c o n c e n tra tio n ). Accordingly, the s iz e s of the WFPP's proposed fo r both Hersey and B urlington, Vermont are tin y by conventional stan d ard s (H iser e t a l . , 1977)* Consider as w ell th a t L o v in 's d is tin c tio n between s o f t and hard path technologies i s r e l a t iv e not a b so lu te. Even though a WFPP i s small by conventional standards i t n e v e rth e le ss i s a la rg e -s c a le use of wood energy reso u rces. The d ire c t environmental impact of burning wood has only re c e n tly become an iss u e .14 Previously the c le a n lin e s s of burning wood was unquestioned, e s p e c ia lly r e la tiv e to c o a l- fir e d power p la n ts (H iser e t a l . , 1977; S e lls , 1979). Recent research has shown, however, th a t more than 100 chem icals a re produced by incom plete wood combustion, some of which are known to cause cancer (American Council on Science and H ealth, 1981). The growing p o p u la rity o f woodstoves accounts fo r some of the concern. Incomplete combustion may be more of a problem in domestic woodburners than under the c o n tro lle d co n d itio n s of a WFPP. In any event, the f e a s i b i l i t y study did not fo resee problems with meeting a l l a p p lic ab le a ir - q u a lity stan d ard s. P a r tic u la te s would be removed by e l e c t r o s t a t i c p r e c ip ita to r s . Wood burning was no novelty fo r the Hersey community a t the time the WFPP was proposed. The use of wood fo r r e s id e n tia l space 39 h eatin g had become commonplace. Perhaps because of the low d en sity o f se ttlem en t, th i s use of wood was not regarded as a problem. The prospect of p o llu tio n from burning wood in WFPP was r a re ly alluded to during th e controversy. Influence of the Michigan PBB Contamination An im portant development in th e p ublic perception of environmental hazards i n Michigan was the PBB contam ination of 197378* 15 There i s good reason to suspect a connection w ith the Hersey controversy. The p o l i t i c a l f a llo u t from the handling of the PBB problem by public i n s t i t u t i o n s appears to be r e la te d to the op p o sitio n to the Hersey WFPP.16 C ertain ly the p o te n tia l danger of the chemicals being manufactured by modern in d u s tr ia l s o c ie tie s was riv e te d in to the consciousness of those a ffe c te d by the contam ination. Hersey was one of the contam ination s it e s . Although the re la tio n s h ip between the PBB contam ination and the response of the Hersey community to the proposed WFFF i s not explored here in d e t a i l , some a tte n tio n i s given t h i s su b ject based on mention of PBB in media accounts and in post-hoc in terv iew s with se le c te d p a r tic ip a n ts . in c id e n t and i t s leg acy . The follow ing i s a b rie f summary of the PBB Emphasis i s placed on d ir e c t e f fe c ts encountered by Hersey. Two j o u r n a lis tic case s tu d ie s have been w ritte n about the e f f e c ts th a t the a c c id e n tia l mixing o f PBB with c a t t l e feed had on Michigan and the U. S. beginning i n 1973.17 The chemical worked i t s way through the food system with c a ta s tro p h ic e f f e c ts on the farms 40 and farm fa m ilie s who In ad v erten tly used the feed. The r e s u ltin g controversy peaked between 1975 and 1978* Ju st p rio r to the Hersey WFPP proposal (see Coyer and Schwerin, 1981). Almost a l l Michigan re s id e n ts now have measurable le v e ls of PBB in th e i r bodies. e s ta b lis h e d . The long-term h ealth e f fe c ts have not been I t i s c le a r, however, th a t a g ric u ltu re in Michigan has been transform ed by the experience with the PBB contam ination. A ttitu d es and p ercep tio n s about to x ic chem icals and the need fo r i n s t i t u t i o n a l mechanisms to p ro te c t the environment l i e a t the core o f th is change. Both case stu d ie s document the magnitude of the environmental impact and p o l i t i c a l haggling th a t r e s u lte d from the contam ination. Osceola County (e s p e c ia lly the Hersey community) and ad jacen t Oscoda County contain co n cen tratio n s of farms a ffe c te d by PBB. The map in Egginton (1980) names Hersey among sev eral dozen heav ily a ffe c te d s i t e s re fe rre d to i n the study. p r o f ile to Hersey. Chen (1979) a lso gives a high I t i s a reasonable assumption th a t re s id e n ts of Hersey were aware of the PBB contam ination and i t s e f f e c ts on lo c a l farms. They a lso must have been aware of the b elated s ta t e attem pts to shore up th e problem. In any event, i t became a major issue in th e g u b e rn a to ria l campaign of 1978 (Egginton, 1980). The Democratic challenger was given a good chance of winning because encumbent William M illiken had been so slow to give p r io r ity to the problem. Egginton notes th a t many o u ts ta te farm ers were so incensed th a t they were prepared to v o te Democratic fo r the f i r s t time in th e ir liv e s . D espite setbacks in th e co u rts fo r v ictim s of PBB, the issu e p e rsis te d i n th e p o l i t i c a l arena. 41 Governor M illiken was re -e le c te d but Republicans l o s t some of M ichigan's r u r a l vote and a few l e g is la to r s who had supported the p o litic s of the vested in te r e s ts were ousted. The d ire c to r of the Michigan Department of A griculture resigned under p ressu re (Egginton, 1980). Experts were s o lic ite d to decide i f PBB was the cause o f the problem and, when cau satio n was e s ta b lis h e d , what e f f e c ts could be a ttrib u te d to i t . Experts from s ta te government and the u n iv e r s itie s quickly lo s t c r e d ib ility because they served and v igorously defended th e re g u la to ry in s t itu tio n s involved in v arious stag e s o f the contam ination. Egginton examined the r o le of ex p erts, devoting sev eral chapters to i t , i . e . , "What the Experts Knew” and " P o litic ia n s v ersu s S c ie n tis ts ." Dr. Irv in g S e lik o ff, a medical rese arch e r from New York and pioneer in the f ie ld o f chemical contam ination, was h ire d as an o u tsid e co nsultant to conduct an independent in v e s tig a tio n . The d isp o sal of contaminated c a t t l e carcasses became a h o tly contested p ro p o sitio n in the northern Michigan community se le c te d fo r the b u ria l. Mio, a town in Oscoda County ju s t to the north and e a s t of Osceola County, b i t t e r l y opposed th e d isposal th a t ev en tu ally took place th e re . Oscoda re s id e n ts fought the measure in court and, when th a t f a ile d , took such a c tio n s as s c a tte rin g n a ils on the road to the c la y -lin e d d isp o sal p i t . They displayed e f f ig ie s of Governor M illiken, Howard Tanner (DNR D irecto r) and Dale B all (A g ricu ltu re D irec to r) hung from a gallows a t a nearby road ju n c tio n . This dem onstration la s te d fo r months (Egginton, 1980). Eventually the b u ria l took place by court order. The s ta te subsequently had th e rem aining b arre le d , frozen carcasses of 42 contaminated c a t t l e shipped to Nevada fo r d isp o sa l. Iro n ic a lly , the 3500 or so animals buried a t Mio oontained an estim ated two ounces o f PBB among them. E a rlie r an estim ated 269»000 pounds o f the chemical had been dumped without p ro te s t in to a Mio l a n d f i l l between 1971 and mid-1973! The community of Mio had obviously s h ifte d in to high gear in coming to terms w ith chemical contam ination. When the Hersey proposal was debated a t a public meeting l a t e i n th e controversy, a d isturbance th a t almost h a lte d the meeting follow ed th e answer from p lan t promoters to a qu estio n about whether or not PBB-tainted c a t t l e would be burned in the f a c i l i t y (OCH, 417-80). Some of the re s id e n ts o f Hersey had been ra d ic a liz e d by the handling o f the PBB contam ination. 43 CHAPTER 4 THE ACTORS AND THE ACTION Early Planning and S ite S e le c tio n The search fo r a lte r n a tiv e energy sources as a s u b s titu te fo r a p o rtio n of the f o s s i l fu e ls imported by Michigan, and fo r which d o lla rs must be exported, does not seen, in re tro s p e c t, to have been overly ag gressive. C onsistent with public opinion on the su b je c t, s ta t e government took a t face value the term " c r i s i s . " would soon pass. Perhaps i t Whatever the fu tu re might hold, most of the actio n was tak in g place a t the n atio n al le v e l in assu rin g continued su p p lies of conventional energy reso u rces. That i t was not viewed as an enduring problem i s revealed by the sh o rt-term , emergency remedies in connection w ith gasoline a llo c a tio n and home heatin g a s sis ta n c e fo r the poor. The p e rsiste n c e of r is in g r e a l energy p ric e s, beginning w ith a "modest" quadrupling in 1973 (fo r imported o i l ) , prompted co n sid eratio n of a lte r n a tiv e energy development in Michigan. One of the r e s u lts was th e in tro d u c tio n of a renewable energy ta x c r e d it in 1979 to encourage the sm all-sca le development of s o la r , wind, and low-head hydro. The p o te n tia l of another renewable energy resource was a lso recognized — the abundant supply of wood biomass in the 44 cu t-o v er area of northern Michigan. Hood from M ichigan's ex ten siv e f o r e s ts suddenly was seen as a promising source of energy for something o th er than fu e lin g a rennaisance i n space h eatin g . The Michigan Public Service Commission surveyed the p o s s ib il itie s and concluded th a t northern Michigan was capable of producing more e l e c t r i c i t y from wood than th a t region consumed in 1976, and th a t proper management techniques oould g re a tly expand th e p o te n tia l supply (H iser e t a l . , 1977). In November 1977 Michigan Governor William M illiken convened a natio n al conference on wood energy development (H iser, 1978) a t the U niversity of Michigan. In a speech to the conference the Governor suggested th a t a dem onstrational WFPP be b u il t in Michigan (F ra z ie r, 1977). P riv a te i n t e r e s t s leaped in to the breech. Morbark In d u s trie s , In c. of Winn, Michigan took a sp ecial i n te r e s t in the proposal, fo r i t stood to gain f in a n c ia lly by the expanded market fo r i t s wholetr e e h arv estin g equipment. P a re n th e tic a lly , Morbark was fe a tu re d as a model o f p riv a te i n i t i a t i v e in energy development on then p re s id e n tia l candidate Ronald Reagan's n atio n a l broadcast, a fa c t rep o rted in a lo c a l newspaper a t the beginning of the Hersey controversy ( Evart Review, 1979). Morbark In d u s trie s jo in ed with Consumers Power Company, the la r g e s t u t i l i t y in the s ta t e (serv in g most of the s t a t e o u tsid e of the D etro it m etropolitan area) and Wolverine E le c tr ic Cooperative, a r u ra l e l e c t r i c cooperative based in Big Rapids, to undertake the venture. On June 5, 1978 they issu ed a s p e c ia l news re le a s e marking t h e i r agreement to pursue c o n stru c tio n of a p il o t e l e c t r i c g en eratin g p la n t in Michigan "to be fu eled by wood and s o lid re fu s e " (Hale, 1978). 45 This p artn ersh ip subsequently co n tracted with Daverman and A ssociates, Inc. of Grand Rapids to do the f e a s i b i l i t y study o f a demonstrate.onal waste woodf ir e d g en eratin g p la n t which could have an u ltim ate r a tin g of 50-MW (Daverman and A sso ciates, 1979). Table 3 shows th e network of groups involved in planning the p r o je c t. Members of committees and groups to ta l 48, including 18 from Consumers Power (38%), 7 from Morbark In d u s trie s (15%), 6 from Wolverine E le c tr ic Cooperative (13%)» and 17 (35%) from Daverman and A ssociates and W. P. London and A ssociates, the two consulting firm s. The most in f lu e n tia l in d iv id u a ls would appear to have been J . N. Keen, manager of Wolverine E le c tr ic , and W. H. S e lls of Morbark In d u s trie s , who served on fo u r committees each, and P eter R a tc lif fe of Morbark In d u s trie s and A. J . Hodge, J . L. Schautt, and H. C. Wayman of Daverman and A ssociates who served on th re e committees each. The scope of a c t i v i t i e s considered in d ra ftin g the f e a s i b i l i t y study a re l i s t e d in Table 4. Twelve s i t e s were evaluated using the s ix s e le c tio n c r i t e r i a in Table 5. On t h i s b asis th re e s ite s were p ro v isio n a lly se le c te d - - Harlan, Hersey, and W hitehall. A sp ecial meeting was held in Big Rapids "to o b ta in input from in d iv id u a ls and o rg an iz a tio n s w ith p a r tic u la r environmental in te r e s ts " (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979). P ublic m eetings were then held near each of the f in a l th re e pro sp ectiv e s it e s during October 1978 in order to gauge p u blic sentim ent toward the proposal. The public meetings were summarized and evaluated as follow s: In g en eral, the p ublic meetings appeared to e s ta b lis h o v e ra ll p ublic acceptance of the p o s s ib ility of in s ta llin g a waste w ood-fired e l e c t r i c g en eratin g p la n t a t each of 46 TABLE 3 VENTURE PROJECT STAFF AND OUTSIDE PARTICIPANTS PROJECT HUNACER PUBLICITY COMUTTEE EIIVIROHMEWTAL CONSIDERATIONS COMMITTEE S . L. Ir is h - C J . N. K een - W w. H. S e lls - N C . W ondergem - D G . A . D a w so n B . W. R a s h e r P. R a tc lif f e J . J . R o ch o w EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FiHAHCINC AHD OWNERSHIP COMMITTEE SPEC IA L ADVISORS R. E . A lb re c h t - C J . : I . K een - W W. I I . S e l l s - M C. A. J. H. L . B le d e r m a n R. J . D a v erm an H . M o re y - M C . H. I l l i n g w o r t h - 0 E. B a y le s s - C Ilo d g e - D H. K een - W H. S e lls - H J. S IT E SELECTION COMMITTEE - C C M C D GOVERNMENTAL L IA ISO N REPRESENTATIVES PLAHT DESIGH COMMITTEE R. R. A. P. J. H. -vl C. H. J. R a J. C. A rn o ld - W C e rz e tic h - C H odge - D tc liffe - H R o ch o w - C W ayman - D FUEL SUPPLY C0HH1TTEE K. H. L. P. J . R. B. E. C. R a L. E. H. c. C a rte r H o lm e s N e w e ll tc liffe Schaut S ch ep ers H aym an - C c c H D - C D PO L IT IC A L COORDINATION COMMITTEE J . N . K een - W A . W. L a n d - C W. H . S e l l s - M C . W o n d erg em - D CRG, T. L. H. J. A. B o ttin g - D H. C e r z e tic h T . L a w to n - L E . H c E lro y - C T u rc o tte - L C . W ayman - D O . Wood - N c M. L . H i s e r - M i c h i g a n P u b l i c S e r v i c e C o m m is s io n U .S . D e p t, o f A g r i c u l t u r e F o r e s t S e rv ic e G . A . R o se - M ic h ig a n D e p t. N a t u r a l R e s o u rc e s H . K . M ann - INDUSTRY L IA ISO N REPRESENTATIVE j D. J . PERMITS COMMITTEE P. C. H lt t le - C D. L . S to w e - C H. C . H aym an - D ECONOMIC ANALYSIS COMMITTEE E . H . B r o w n in g - C A. J . H odge - D J . L. S ch au t - O E llio tt - P a c k a g in g C o rp o ra tio n o f A a m r ic a T . A n u s k ie w ic z - M ic h ig a n E n e rg y a n d R e so u rc e R ese arch A s s o c ia tio n SPEC IA L CONSULTANTS E . A . B o u rd o - M ic h ig a n T e c h n o lo g ic a l In s titu te H . H . H u d s o n - R e m o te S e n s i n g P r o j e c t M ic h ig a n S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y REPORT PREPARATION CROUP R . F is h m a n (M s) - o c . H, I llin g w o r th - D J. SOURCE: Daverman and Associates L. Schaut - D (1979). C D L H H - C o n s u m e r s P o w e r C o m p an y D av erm an A s s o c i a t e s W. P . L o n d o n A A s s o c i a t e s M o rb a rk I n d u s t r i e s W o lv e rin e E l e c t r i c C o o p e r a tiv e TABLE 4 SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE WFPP FEASIBILITY STUDY A. D eterm ination of th e adequacy and u s a b ility of a wood and/or a wood and RDF f u e l supply. B. D eterm ination C. D eterm ination of equipment a v a ila b ility , optim al s iz in g , and conceptual design, including th e determ ination of the mode of cooling and source of cooling w ater. D. Production of schem atic drawings of the fu e l handling, b o ile r and steam tu rb in e of the wood and wood/RDF-burning e le c t r i c gen eratin g p la n t. E. Determ ination of the optimum lo c a tio n s fo r a wood-fired and a wood and RDF-fired p la n t. F. Prelim inary plan view of the major f a c i l i t i e s of the p la n t. G. D eterm ination of th e reg u lato ry perm its and approvals necessary fo r the e n tire P ro je c t. The a p p raisal of the lik elih o o d of success in ob tain in g the necessary reg u lato ry perm its and approvals. H. D eterm ination of the estim ated c a p ita l and o perating c o sts of the e l e c t r i c g en eratin g p la n t. I. D eterm ination of th e estim ated co st of the design, and c o st of the re g u lato ry approvals and perm its phase of the P ro je c t. J. D eterm ination of financing options a v a ila b le to carry on the P ro je c t and explore p o ssib le ow ner/operating arrangem ents. of fu el handling and ash -d isp o sal methods. SOURCE: Daverman and A ssociates (1979). 48 TABLE 5 SITE SELECTION CRITERIA FOR THE DEMONSTRATIONAL WFPP 1. Minimal environmental Impact. 2. Location w ithin serv ice t e r r i t o r i e s of Consumers Power and/or Wolverine E le c tr ic Cooperative. 3. Proximity to e l e c t r i c transm ission f a c i l i t i e s . 4. T ransportation of fu e l. 5. Adequate supply and a v a ila b ility of waste wood and/or RDF [fo r southern lower Michigan s i t e s considered]. 6. A v a ila b ility of s u f f ic ie n t land fo r development of a 50-MW s i t e . SOURCE: Daverman and A ssociates (1979). 49 the s i t e s , provided th a t impact on th e environment would be minimal. There was some o p p o sitio n . There was also some apprehension as to p o ssib le odors a t the Harlan and Hersey s ite s which might r e s u lt i f RDF i s burned as a supplemental fu e l (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979* Executive Summary). This summary of the meeting o v e rsim p lifie s the concerns expressed a t the h earin g s. Those who would soon serve as ex p erts fo r the oppo sitio n a t Hersey (see q u o t e , top of p. 73) honed in on the motives and methods o f the proponents, s ta tin g , fo r example: • I t seems to me lik e i t ' s the same old th in g . The la rg e power companies a re ju s t w illin g to take a l l our reso u rces, make th e i r money and run o f f w ith them and leave us w ith a barred looking p la c e ' [follow ed by applause] . . 'What I'm concerned about i s , once you g et s ta r te d on something lik e th is , then i t ' s hard to sto p . Ju st lik e the n uclear power p la n ts are hard to sto p ; once they g e t going on them, th ey 'v e got a l l t h i s money in v ested in them and they ju s t c o n tin u e .' And: 'What I'm saying i s the la rg e power companies g en erally have more o b lig a tio n s to t h e i r stockholders than they do to the re s id e n ts o f the a rea where the p la n ts e x i s t 1 (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979, 1-106-7). The opponent then c le a rly a r tic u la te d the case fo r a d iffe re n t technology fo r u t i l i z i n g the resource: 'Y ou're here to fin d out what our options a re too. Now, we have other options th a t Consumers d o e s n 't have because Consumers i s a la rg e -s c a le o p eratio n . The p riv a te c itiz e n in t h i s country has the option of going to sm all-sca le o p eratio n s, wind power, s o la r power, a l l the coming tech n o lo g ies. . . And a lso burning wood fo r heat which i s another sm a ll-sca le th in g ' (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979* 1-108). The exchange th a t ensued brings out the philo so p h ical (cosm opolitan, as i t were) d iffe re n c e s between the promoters and the opponents of the WFPP. Proponent: 'W e're not adverse to t h a t ' [ i . e . , sm all-sca le use of wood fo r home h e a tin g ]. Opponent: 'One place i s making a d ecisio n 50 between your la rg e -s c a le operation and . . the option of try in g some sm all-sca le th in g .• Proponent: 'But [th e re a re ] problems w ith a l l those, and th i s i s p a rt of my job with Consumers . . i s looking a t v ario u s o p tio n s .' [He then r e c ite d some problems with the te c h n ic a l f e a s i b i l i t y of sm a ll-sc a le a lte r n a tiv e s using wind power as an example]. Opponent: 'What y o u 're fin d in g out i s th a t things lik e s o la r and wind technoogy are sm allsc a le technologies and they r e a lly d o n 't pay o ff fo r something lik e Consumers.' Proponent: 'No, they would pay o ff fo r Consumers i f th ey 'd pay o f f fo r the sm all in d iv id u a l. I d o n 't th in k th e r e 's anything th a t says we c o u ld n 't form a su b sid iary th a t d id n 't promote s o la r energy and we would do th a t, I would th in k , i f i t were a f e a s ib le option. We're in th e energy b u sin ess' (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979, 1-109-10). Hersey was se le c te d as the proposed s i t e "p rim arily on the b a sis th a t i t w ill have, along with reasonable economics, the lowest environmental impact of a l l th re e s ite s " (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979, Executive Summary). Technical asp ects of the Hersey s i t e and o f the WFPP hardware were analyzed and rep o rted i n the f e a s i b i l i t y study. I t l i s t s seven immediate socioeconomic b e n e fits of in s t a l l i n g th e WFPP (Table 6 ). F inal recommendations suggested a u th o riz a tio n of f in a l design, fin an cin g , and c o n stru ctio n , contingent on wood supply committment from the Michigan N atural Resources Commission. The f i r s t Osceola County Herald (OCH) account of the proposal summarized the f i r s t p ublic meeting i n Big Rapids (OCH, 9-28-78). The two iss u e s upon which the controversy would hang — impact on 51 TABLE 6 SOCIOECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THE DEMONSTRATIONAL WFPP 1. The impact on lo c a l merchants and serv ice in d u s tr ie s during co n stru c tio n when the lab o r force could approach 200 workers. 2. A r e s u ltin g increased employment opportunity fo r co n stru ctio n tra d e s in Western and C entral Michigan during co n stru c tio n . 3. A permanent in crea se of about 80 new jobs rep resen ted by the p la n t s t a f f and wood gathering personnel. 4. Increased income to p riv a te property owners through sa le of waste wood from what are now m arginally productive woodlands lack in g a market. 5. Increased f o r e s t y ie ld s and improvements to wild game h a b ita ts re s u ltin g from s e le c tiv e h arv estin g of waste woods. 6. A dditional revenues to th e S ta te of Michigan from the s a le of waste woods under i t s f o r e s t management program - waste wood th a t the S ta te must now pay to have removed. 7. A dem onstration to the remainder of the Michigan e l e c t r i c u t i l i t y in d u stry o f the b e n e fits to be derived by the concerted e f f o r ts o f the p riv a te and consumer-owned se c to rs of the in d u stry in conjunction w ith p riv a te in d u stry accomplished w ithout the expenditure of governmental funds. SOURCE: Daverman and A ssociates (1979)- 52 area f o re s ts of la rg e -s c a le h arv estin g and the burning of s o lid waste in the WFPP — were evident in th a t account. The a r t i c le c a rrie d the sem iaccurate and somewhat provocative headline "Hersey S ite Chosen fo r Chipping P la n t." Final s e le c tio n would not be made u n til February 1979. The I n i t i a l Local Response The public meetings had revealed enough about the p ro je c t to give c itiz e n s , who conceiveably might see things d iff e r e n tly than th e ex p erts from Daverman and A ssociates, the opportunity to consider a response. Although Hersey was not the unequivocal s it e u n til the f e a s i b i l i t y study was released four months l a t e r , the fa c t th a t i t was in the running proved s u ff ic ie n t to arouse some Hersey area re s id e n ts . By the time a meeting was held on the Hersey s i t e a r e la tiv e ly la rg e group o f c itiz e n s took an in te r e s t in the proposal. "Approximately 100 people, mostly from the Hersey area, attended the fo u rth and f in a l public hearing concerning the p la n t a t the Osceola Inn [Reed C ity ]" (OCH, 10-26-78). The OCH headline t e l l s the sto ry : "Opinions S p lit on Plant Near Hersey." Three weeks l a t e r Hersey v illa g e P resid en t Bion Jacobs, a life tim e re sid e n t of the area, convened a public meeting in the Hersey township h a ll for the purpose of l e t t i n g lo c a l c itiz e n s express th e ir views on the proposed WFPP (OCH, 12-14-78). In doing so, he responded to a p e titio n which a sserted th a t the issu e had not been f u lly a ire d in Hersey. Approximately 50 people attended th a t meeting. The newspaper account documents the formal response of the Hersey 53 community: The outcome of . . the meeting was the appointment of a four member committee to 'keep on top of the s itu a tio n and to in v e s tig a te the m atter f u r t h e r . ' Appointed to the committee were Fred Cole, Dave S pringer, Ken Ford, and Marco Menezes (OCH, 12-21-78). I n te re s tin g ly enough a l l were r e la tiv e newcomers. During the d iscu ssio n Jacobs a r tic u la te d the doubts o f many in the community: I t was p re tty one-sided in Reed C ity. They gave some very vague answers. You'd think th ey 'd have some concrete answers i f th e y 'r e going to spend th a t kind of money (OCH, 12- 21- 78 ) . One could e a s ily assume from t h i s statem ent th a t the d isp u te was about to be thrashed out on the te ch n ical aspects of the p ro je c t. Jacobs then made the most quotable statem ent in the controversy: Vhen I f i r s t heard about the p lan t I thought i t was the g r e a te s t id ea, but I'm g e ttin g ti r e d o f reading i n the newspapers how o th er people are saying th a t they want the p la n t in Hersey. They d o n 't liv e here. He do. D on't we have any say? He want to make our own d ecisio n (OCH, 1221 - 78 ). The issu e of the th re a t to lo c a l autonomy rep resen ted by the HFPP had been jo in ed . Members of the committee formed a t th a t f i r s t Hersey meeting gathered a t H enry's Bar in Reed C ity sev eral weeks l a t e r to d iscu ss th e problem. Over d rin k s they decided to i n i t i a t e an o pposition group, agreeing on the name Committee fo r R ational Use of Our F o re sts, CRUF fo r sh o rt. During the next two y ears CRUF would in co rp o rate, s o l l i c i t funds, aid o th er o pposition groups in the reg io n , and oppose the Hersey HFPP in every a v a ila b le forum. A r is i n g tid e of o p p o sition, spearheaded by CRUF, awaited the d ecisio n to s i t e the HFPP a t Hersey. Several a r tic le s fav o rab le to wood- 54 e l e c t r i c power d e ta ilin g the B urlington, Vermont experience (OCH, 1-25-79; 1-31-79) did not q u e ll community apprehension. Both d e a lt w ith a v i s i t to Morbark In d u strie s in Winn by Robert Young, General Manager of B urlington. When the f e a s i b i l i t y study was rele a se d and the Hersey s i t e announced in e a rly February 1979* the opposition was already well e s ta b lis h e d . A meeting held in Hersey Elementary School on February 6, 1979 was rep o rted even in the d is ta n t D e tro it newspapers (D e tro it Free P ress, 1979)* That meeting overflowed th e f a c i l i t y and was estim ated a t 200-250 people. The D etro it Free Press a r t i c l e assessed th e s itu a tio n as follow s: Most of the audience showed some h o s t i l i t y to the p ro je c t. Their a ttitu d e seemed to be th a t although the corporate re p re s e n ta tiv e s and S ta te Department of N atural Resources o f f i c i a l s had p lenty of f a c ts and fig u re s , a c itiz e n ju s t c a n 't tr u s t government or big business anymore. The j o u r n a l i s t 's conclusion in th i s a r t ic le i s rein fo rced by the statem ent of a Hersey re s id e n t who was moved to w rite a l e t t e r to Michigan Out-of-Doors magazine (Bolyard, 1979): . . . [ a t th e] meeting . . held i n Hersey . . a number of knowledgeable men re p re se n tin g the involved companies spouted r h e to ric blocking opposition and q u estio n s with fig u re s and statem ents which a person of average in te llig e n c e could not d isp u te . . These are companies and in d iv id u a ls who w ill gain m onetarily in t h i s venture and then leav e, w hile those of us whose needs and l i f e - s t y l e s a re le s s complex w ill be l e f t to pick our way among the stu b b le and worry about s o il con d itio n s. As many in th is a rea h eat by wood, we w ill not longer be able to take our fa m ilie s in to the woods to gather firewood. During th e four-hour meeting c itiz e n s repeatedly expressed concern about the iss u e s of burning s o lid waste in the WFPP and the adverse e f f e c ts o f c le a r -c u ttin g fo re s tla n d (OCH, 2-15-79). Walt Grysko, a c ru sty lo c a l colum nist, got in to the fra y on the 55 sid e of the opp o sitio n . Woodohip P lant Monster!" debate (OCH, 2-15-79). His f i r s t column of the d isp u te — "Hersey — marked a change in the s ty le of the He questioned the tech n ical claim s made on behalf of the WFPP and th e v a lid ity of comparisons with B urlington, Vermont. The in te n se debate a t th is e a rly stage focused on te ch n ic a l m atters d e sp ite the evident value preferen ces. By the end of February the OCH was ex ten siv ely re p o rtin g the c o n tra stin g views of promoters and opponents, e. g . , "How and Why: Morbark Ventures R eplies to CRUF's 12 Questions Concerning Wood Chip P la n t." On March 26, 1979, CRUF re le a se d a well-documented p o s itio n paper a tta c k in g th e f e a s i b i l i t y study (CRUF, 1979a). and A ssociates study had co st $300,000. The Daverman By c o n tra s t, CRUF members volunteered t h e i r time and e x p e rtise in f o r e s tr y , engineering, and business to d r a f t the 21-page r e b u tta l. Knowledge of the tech n ical asp ects o f w ood -electric power and la rg e -s c a le wood h arv estin g , a d ed icatio n to stopping th e WFPP on te c h ic a l grounds, and a capacity fo r research and te c h ic a l w ritin g a re a l l apparent i n th e ir re p o rt. The very ex isten ce of two f e a s i b i l i t y s tu d ie s , even though one was f a r more s lic k and s o p h is tic a te d than the o th er, fomented controversy. The promoters were forced to repond a t length to the CRUF challen g e. In re tro s p e c t i t i s c le a r th a t the p u b lic, a t le a s t the c itiz e n ry of Hersey township, found CRUF's a n a ly s is c re d ib le . CRUF ra p id ly gained legitim acy in the community to match th a t of ex p erts from Daverman and A ssociates and the Michigan DNR. The attem pts by p ro je c t promoters to respond to a barrage of c r itic is m did not reduce public concern or m itig a te the e ffe c tiv e n e s s of CRUF. Indeed, the o p p o sitio n seemed to gain ground as the debate sharpened. 56 The Ebb and Flow of Political Activity A d e ta ile d chronology of the Hersey controversy i s provided in Table 7. A number of i t s s a lie n t events a re explored in the r e s t of th is case h is to ry . The i n i t i a l period of in ten se debate in the media and a t public hearings culminated in an extensive re p o rt in the Osceola Countv Herald (OCH) w ritte n by two r e p o rte rs from the Big Rapids Pioneer, one of whom would soon be h ired as e d ito r of the OCH. The re p o rt was preceded by an e d i t o r 's note s e ttin g out i t s purpose, i . e . , to present th e issu e s involved b e tte r . Each re p o rte r acted independently in in terv iew in g and summarizing the views of proponents and opponents of the HFPP. noted ~ The next c r i t i c a l step was the long-term committment of wood su p p lies by the s ta te . The in c ip ie n t debate in "The Wood Chip Controversy" (OCH, 4-12-79) was a p p ro p riately s u b title d "Pro: Money's a Key" and "Con: Use Is I n e f f ic ie n t." The promoters interview ed emphasized i t s co n trib u tio n to the tax base, w hile the opponents questioned Daverman and A sso ciates' fig u re s on the p la n ts tec h n ic a l e ffic ie n c y . Ken Ford summed up the case a g a in st, p o in tin g out th a t " . . the p lan t i s the le a s t we can g e t fo r th i s wood. L e t's aim fo r something higher" (OCH, 4-12-79). A four-month l u l l in the controversy preceded d e lib e ra tio n s by the Michigan N atural Resources Commission on wood supply committment. CRUF hedged i t s bet on stopping the p la n t in th is 57 TABLE 7 HERSEY WFPP CONTROVERSY CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS, 1978 - 1980 Month Promoters' Activities _____________________ Citizens' Activities _____________________ Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory Activities__________ 1978 June Joint venture to build a demonstrational WFPP announced by Consumers Power, Wolverine Electric, and Morbark Industries. September The three final round sites announced — Harlan, Whitehall, and Hersey. U1 oo October December Big Rapids Industrial Development Commission endorses Hersey site. Daverman and Associates holds environmental meeting at Big Rapids. Concerned Hersey area residents attend hearing in Reed City. Daverman and Associates conduct hearings at or near each of the three sites in the final round. Hersey citizens ask that WFPP proposal be aired in Hersey._____________ Citizens * study committee and CRUF form in wake of Hersey meeting. Public meeting held in Hersey held in Hersey Township Hall. TABLE 7 (CONT.) Month Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory Activities__________ Promoters' Activities Citizens' Activities Visit to Morbark by Burlington (VT) utility representative.______ Proposal presented to State Public Service Commission and DNR. Daverman makes initial request to NRC for commitment of State wood. Sites narrowed to Hersey and Whitehall. Research begins on CRUF position paper. CRUF holds several meetings and strategy sessions. February Daverman feasibility study released; copies presented to Gov. Milliken and Public Service Commission.____ Hersey site selected. Reply to CRUF's 12 questions in OCH; reply also distributed at Hersey meeting. CRUF's list of 12 questions . Columnist Grysko's first opinion — "Woodchip Plant Monster.11 _________________ Bion Jacobs, Hersey mayor, requests that proponents hold hearing in Hersey. Public meeting convened in Hersey. 200 attend, most hostile to the proposal. State Sen. Engler attends. March Morbark drops out of venture. CRUF counters Daverman feasibility study with a position paper, debates proponents on TV, and holds public meeting to solicit more members. Osceola County Commission passes a resolution in fayor of the project. 1979 January m \D TABLE 7 (CONT.) Month Promoters' Activities Citizens' Activities Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory Activities__________ April "Pro: Money's a Key," slant on WFPP in OCH. "Con: Use is Inefficient," slant on WFPP in OCH. CRUF presents position paper and petitions to NRC. Sen. Engler does not show for presentation. DNR asked to produce better evidence. NRC monthly meeting. May DNR's Webster and Rose visit Burlington, VT with U. of M. soil scientist Boyle. Letter writing, data collection, press releases to establish contacts, build membership for CRUF. June Proponents lobby NRC for wood supply commitment. CRUF rep. attends wood fuel symposium at Central MI U. CRUF attends NRC meeting. "Demoralized" by prospects. Directors of CRUF decide on waste issue as alternative strategy. NRC monthly meeting. CRUF rep. attends NRC meeting in Ludington. Decision deferred on allocation. Local logger Doyle presents on side of opponents. NRC monthly meeting. July TABLE 7 (CONT.) Month Promoters' Activities Citizens' Activities Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory Activities__________ July (cont.) Environmental lawyer Olsen of Traverse City retained to draft waste ordinance. August CRUF rep. attends NRC meeting. CRUF becomes a MI non-profit corporation. DNR memo recommends sale of wood from State land. NRC monthly meeting. Commissioners vow no decision pending full EIS. September CRUF rep. attends NRC public hearing on wood supply commitment. NRC public hearing on wood supply commitment. October CRUF news conference re-affirming its stance despite NRC decision. CRUF reps, interviewed on TV 9/10 Cadillac, "Eye on Michigan" show. Waste ordinance petition drive. NRC decides to auction wood from State land Instead of direct sale to utilities. Hersey Township Board meeting. 330 signatures on petition presented by CRUF favoring waste ordinance. Ordinance unanimously adopted. CRUF rep. attends MI Forest Assn. meeting on wood energy. CRUF lobbes to save waste ordinance. Burlington, VT WFPP shelved. Hersey Township Board reaffirms its support of WFPP. November Utilities threaten withdrawal, urge Township to reconsider ordinance. Enter discussion of amending ordinance. TABLE 7 (CONT.) Month Promoters* Activities Citizens' Activities Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory A c t i vities_________ November (cont.) Letters and press releases against waste ordinance. CRUF rep. interviewed on WBRN radio. CRUF appeals to Osceola County Commission to oppose WFPP. Osceola County Commission proposes hearing on WFPP. December Consumers, Wolverine announce new Hersey project manager. Utility rep. attends Osceola County Commission meeting. CRUF rep. and Hersey residents attend Osceola County Commission meeting. Request assurance for wood only in WFPP. CRUF excluded from panel, mounts dissent from audience. CRUF continues fight to preserve ordinance. RDF burning issue discussed at Osceola County Commission meeting. Commissioners urge legal document precluding use of RDF in WFPP. Attorneys for utilities, CRUF, and Township meet in Traverse City to amend ordinance. 1980 January March Hersey Township Board amends toxic and hazardous waste ordinance to require a permit for burning RDF. Consumers presents contract for RDF test burn to Hersey Township Board pursuant to amended ordinance. CRUF rep. attends meetings at MI State U. "Farmers Week." CRUF persuades Township Board to hold special meeting on compliance contract issue. Hersey Township Board considers utilities' bid for RDF burn permit; postpones decision until April. Schedules a special meeting to vote on compliance contract. TABLE 7 (CONT.) Month Promoters' Activities Citizens' Activities Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory Activities__________ April Utilities announce decision to re-evaluate Hersey site pursuant to Hersey Township Board vote on referendum. Proponents make presentation at special Township Board meeting. CRUF excluded from panel at special Township Board meeting. Protests from audience. CRUF proposes referendum on contract issue at monthly meeting of. Hersey Township Board. Special meeting of Township Board to discuss compliance contract. Decision deferred. State Rep. Ostling grilled on WFPP at his town meeting in Evart. Hersey Township Board votes unanimously at regular meeting for referendum on RDF burn permit. May Position statement by utilities published in OCH. "Hersey Nixed as Wood Plant Site" OCH headline. Consumers Project Manager Konchar attacks CRUF's credibility in series of letters in OCH. CRUF replies to each attack by promoters in OCH. Hersey Township Board votes to withdraw referendum based on withdrawal of project by utilities. Resolves to reinstate referendum automatically should utilities return. June Consumers announces receipt of unsolicited offers from ten communities desiring the WFPP. Consumers makes presentation in Evart at request of Chamber of Commerce but declines invitation to present at Farwell meeting. CRUF excluded from panel at Evart meeting, presents in Farwell on panel with DNR rep. and Boyle from U. of M. Evart meeting convened by Chamber of Commerce. Farwell meeting sponsored by local environmental groups. TABLE 7 (CONT.) Month Promoters' Activities August DNR Director Tanner defends the WFPP concept at meeting in Bellaire. September Wolverine Electric withdraws from venture, citing financing problems. Consumers announces a 2-3 year delay because of its financial situation and the withdrawal by Wolverine. November Citizens' Activities Relevant Hearings, Meetings and Regulatory Activities Meeting in Bellaire to discuss Ellsworth si,te for WFPP. WFPP opponent Bion Jacobs unseats incumbent Township Supervisor Forest Benzing with active support from former CRUF members; two of four Township Board members get elected with similar help. Former CRUF member narrowly defeated in race for Osceola County Commission seat despite carrying Hersey Township by a wide margin. forum, s o li c i t i n g an environmental lawyer in Traverse City in Ju ly 1979 fo r th e purpose of d ra ftin g a waste ordinance fo r Hersey township. At the same time CRUF a c tiv e ly sought out other forums f o r opposing th e WFPP, e. g . , the wood energy conference sponsored by the Michigan F orest A ssociation held in Lansing November 2-3, 1979. CRUF argued a g a in st committing wood from public lands a t the meeting of the NRC on September 6 , 1979 a t Higgins Lake. At f i r s t i t appeared th a t the d ec isio n would have to await a p ro tra c te d environmental assessm ent (OCH, 9-13-79), but on October 12, 1979, a " s lig h tly h e s ita n t" NRC agreed to au ctio n o ff enough excess s ta te grown tim ber to fu e l th e p lan t during the next ten y ears (OCH, 1018-79). CRUF held a p ress conference a t the Hersey Township Hall on October 17, 1979. Although unhappy with the NRC d ecisio n the group did not concede d e fe a t. CRUF re p re s e n ta tiv e s s ta te d th a t they recognized who they were up a g a in st — "the DNR and Consumers Power, two of the most powerful u n its in the s t a t e , " but th a t they n e v erth eless put th e i r chances o f d efeatin g the p ro je c t a t 50-75 p ercen t. CRUF le a d e rs complained th a t d e sp ite the te c h n ic a l data they had presented th e NRC had f a ile d to g ran t them the reco g n itio n [leg itim acy ] they deserved (OCH, 10-25-79). Although the NRC apparently took a sk e p tic a l view of CRUF, the township of Hersey had alread y formed a d if f e r e n t opinion. The f r u s tr a tin g experience in d ealin g w ith S ta te agencies was a c a ta ly s t fo r ensuing p o lit ic a l a c tio n in the lo c a l community. before th e NRC d ec isio n . CRUF was moving i n th is arena w ell One of the ex p erts fo r the opposition group put the tr a n s itio n i n s tra te g y t h i s way: 65 We urge a l l lo c a l, township, and county o f f i c i a l s to consider adopting s im ila r ordinances [to H ersey's S olid Waste and Toxic and Hazardous Substances Disposal Ordinance] to p ro te c t themselves from imported environmental degradation. Experience has shown th a t the most e ffe c tiv e , responsive form of government i s a t the lo c a l le v e l. We in r u ra l Michigan w ill do whatever i s necessary to stren g h ten our hand a g a in st Lansing, which has c le a rly thrown us to the wolves (OCH, 11-29-79). The focus o f in te r e s t, then, quickly s h ifte d from f o re s t im pacts — the domain of s ta t e re g u la tio n — to lo c a l environmental e f fe c ts — a domain fo r lo c a l re g u la tio n . fro n t and c e n te r. focus o f debate. The w aste issu e moved Toxic as w ell as municipal waste would now be the A p e titio n expressing concern about the prospect o f garbage being burned in the p la n t was presented to the Hersey Township Board on October 16, 1979. I t contained 330 s ig n a tu re s, an in d ic a tio n of widespread o pposition in the Hersey community. The p o s s ib ility th a t th e p lan t might u ltim a te ly be ra te d a t 50-MW and the sp ecter o f 500 tons of refu se d eriv e fu e l (RDF) per day coming up from Grand Rapids prompted colum nist Gryso to p re d ic t th a t the WFPP ". . . could even conceivably make Osceola County the s ta t e tra s h d isp o sal area or the s ta te dump" (OCH, 10-18-79; see also Daverman and A ssociates, 1979, Section 3 ). The p e titio n c a lle d fo r the adoption of an ordinance to p ro h ib it the burning of s o lid w astes in th e p la n t. The s ta te d plan of the promoters was fo r a 90-day te s t burn of RDF. The p e titio n e r s feared th a t t h i s would only be the beginning. Walt Grysko and John Keen of Wolverine E le c tr ic exchanged barbs in th e next sev eral issu e s of the OCH. Grysko questioned the claim s about jo b s, re c a p itu la te d th e RDF is s u e , and brought up the m atter 66 o f lo c a l f is c a l c o sts a sso ciated w ith such a development. He urged county commissioners to r e s t r i c t the burning o f RDF in the county. Keen denied Grysko1s e a r l ie r claim th a t the p lan t might eventually be ra te d a t 50-MW. He adm itted th a t RDF would be used i n the WFPP, but only on an experim ental b a sis and fo r no longer than 90 days. Keen a sse rte d th a t the t e s t was req u ired to determ ine the e f fe c t of RDF on p la n t equipment. He even suggested th a t . . perhaps Mr. Grysko would . . consent to l e t t i n g use u t i l i z e some of the tr ip e th a t he served up in h is October 18 a r t i c l e as a p o rtio n of the RDF" (OCH, 11-8-79). Claiming th a t the opposition bad o v er-reacted and trumped up charges ag ain st the p la n t, proponent Keen in v ite d OCH read ers "who would lik e to fin d out 'f a c t u a l ' information'* about the WFPP to contact him. The luck o f the promoters took a tu rn fo r the worse a f t e r the NRC d ecisio n in t h e i r favor. On November 13, 1979» the Hersey Township Board unanimously adopted the S olid Waste and Toxic or Hazardous Substances Disposal Ordinance. The new ordinance empowered the township to re g u la te tra n s p o rta tio n , b u ria l, or burning o f wastes w ith in i t s ju r is d ic tio n . The tempo o f the controversy increased a f te r t h i s d ecisio n . The e n tir e concept was a t th is point c a lle d in to q u estio n when, on November 15, 1979, the OCH gave fro n t page b i llin g to the news th a t B urlington, Vermont had shelved plans to build a 50-MW WFPP and th a t in ste a d i t would buy power from O ntario Hydro. CRUF continued to oppose the power p lan t a t every opportunity. At a December 10, 1979 meeting of the Osceola County Board of Commissioners, they considered seeking a le g a l document assu rin g 67 th a t wood chips would be the primary source of fu e l in the WFPP. The th ree-h o u r sessio n was w ell attended and included re p re s e n ta tiv e s from the two u t i l i t i e s , the DNR, and Hersey re sid e n ts and o f f i c i a l s . I t i s worthwhile to diverge momentarily to c i t e a concise d e sc rip tio n o f the a c to rs in the controversy as evidenced in th i s m eeting. Grysko, the columnist firm ly entrenched with the o pposition by t h i s time, observed the follow ing: . . . looking over the group, an im p a rtia l observer could not help but notice th a t the opponents to the Hersey plant were w ith one exception a l l young people, who would gain very l i t t l e , i f anything, f in a n c ia lly from the new p la n t's c o n stru ctio n . These people seemed to worry about the eco lo g ical e f fe c t th is venture would leave on the area and i t ' s h e alth e f fe c t on the Hersey township re s id e n ts . Many of them have stu d ied th e 'F e a s ib ility Study' [Daverman and A ssociates, 1979] which mentions a few of the u n c e rta in tie s and some of the h ealth hazards with which they are concerned. On th e oth er hand a l l of the outspoken proponents were old er people, who seemed to think th a t t h i s p la n t was a fin a n c ia l cornucopia; th a t i t would help th e area ta x wise, would provide new jobs, and would help them s e ll t h e i r wood products a t a g re a te r p r o fit (OCH, 12-27-79). The controversy was now down to ju s t one issu e — the burning o f RDF in th e WFPP. Pursuant to the ex h o rtatio n s o f the township lawyer and a challenge by o f f i c i a l s from Consumers Power to rescin d or amend the ordinance, the township acted in a c o n c ilia to ry manner. On December 20, 1979» Hersey Township endorsed the p lan t and c a lle d fo r an amendment to the ordinance adopted a month e a r l i e r . Those atten d in g th e meeting c a lle d fo r a referendum on the question of whether or not the c itiz e n s of Hersey township a lso endorsed the WFPP, Several atten d in g th a t meeting took the opposite stance, holding th a t the Hersey Township Board should rescin d the ordinance. 68 However, th is was c le a rly a m inority p o sitio n . The proposed p la n t was ranked as the th ird most im portant sto ry in the county during 1979 by the OCH in i t s f i r s t issu e of 1980 (1 -3 -8 0 ). The climax was y e t to come. A p u b lic meeting was held on January 10, 1980, to deal with what were described by Bion Jacobs as scare ta c tic s by Consumers Power. The ordinance had been drawn up by the "best environmental lawyer in the s t a t e . ” had d ra fte d . I t was th e s ix th such ordinance the atto rn ey Opponents of the WFPP were th e re fo re sk e p tic a l of the c r itic is m s le v ele d ag a in st the ordinance by the p ro je c t promoters. Moreover, because the s ta te Hazardous Waste Management Act went in to e f f e c t on January 1, 1980, any lo c a l ordinance on the books before th a t d ate stood a much b e tte r chance of holding up in court. D iscussion a t the meeting consequently revolved around amending r a th e r than rescin d in g the ordinance. A c o n c ilia to ry meeting o f the atto rn e y s fo r a l l p a r tie s concerned th a t took place several weeks e a r li e r in Traverse City produced a compromise amendment. The Hersey Township Board voted to amend the ordinance, exempting c e r ta in c a teg o rie s of o p erations from having to comply with the otherw ise s t r i c t law. The amendment also allowed the u t i l i t i e s to apply to the board fo r a perm it to burn RDF fo r a sh o rt period of time. All seemed w ell u n til Consumers Power unexpectedly applied fo r a perm it in March 1980, f u lly fiv e years before the te s t burn was to take place. Hersey township o f f i c i a l s postponed a d ecisio n on the a p p lic a tio n a t a meeting on March 18, 1980, notw ithstanding the claim of the township atto rn e y th a t Consumers Power might back out 69 i f the co n tra ct were not signed immediately. A public hearin g on th e m atter was scheduled fo r April 10, 1980. The death k n e ll fo r the VFPP was sounded a t th a t hearing. Recognizing th e growth of p u b lic disenchantment with the p ro je c t, the Hersey Township Board voted unanimously to put the q u estio n of signing th e compliance co n tract to a vote of the people. "Tempers f la re d a b i t on both sid es" a t the meeting, to quote the OCH account. RDF. One opponent to te d a bag of what he believed might be in Consumers Power o f f i c i a l s had th e i r own sample to pass around fo r in sp e c tio n . D isturbances ensued when the p o s s ib ility of burning PBB-contaminated carcasses in the WFPP was mentioned. Township Supervisor F o rest Benzing th reaten ed several tim es to end the meeting i f the d istu rb an ces p e rs is te d . When Consumers Power atto rn e y Jack Shumate said the s i t e would be re -ev alu ated i f the t e s t burn perm it was not approved, applause erupted. in te r je c te d : One re s id e n t ". . . what you want to do i s n ' t the only th in g th a t needs to be done. We need to liv e " (OCH, 4-17-80). Having f a ile d in th e ir bid to budge Hersey township on the compliance co n tra c t referendum, the u t i l i t i e s announced they would indeed re -e v a lu a te the s i t e (OCH, 4-24-80). Some in the media viewed t h i s r e s u l t d iff e r e n tly , as suggested by the headline in the D e tro it News (1980) - - "Tiny Town Beats Power P lan t Bid by Two U tilitie s ." The d ecisio n of the u t i l i t i e s was re p o rte d ly based on t h e i r need fo r "an orderly planning process aimed a t minimizing delays and u n c e r ta in tie s ." The referendum was the obvious straw th a t had broken th e cam el's back. In t h i s atmosphere of m istru st between th e Hersey community and th e u t i l i t i e s , and in view of the 70 very successful p e titio n d riv e c a llin g fo r the ordinance in the f i r s t place, u t i l i t y o f f i c ia l s apparently found l i t t l e cause to hope fo r approval of the c o n tra c t. In May the Hersey Township Board voted to withdraw th e referendum, but resolved to r e in s ta te i t autom atically i f the u t i l i t y companies should decide to to go ahead with the venture. Doug M iller of CRUF con fid en tly a sse rte d th a t the WFPP would never be s ite d a t Hersey, but not because of the ordinance. Rather, he believed th a t both the community and the u t i l i t i e s now knew th a t the wood supply would not be adequate for the p lan t. D espite i t s waste ordinance stra te g y , CRUF thus continued to hammer a t the fo re s t resource issu e . Another suspicion was forming in the public mind regarding the use of the WFPP, th a t the d e sire of the Michigan DNR to have a f a c i l i t y for disposing of the s t a t e 's to x ic wastes was l e f t unstated (CRUF, 1980c). For the next several months th e OCH served as a forum for a pleth o ra of recrim in atio n s by both sid es in the controversy ( re f e r to Appendix I ) . In th e m idst of th is exchange the Hersey s i t e was ru le d out a lto g e th e r by th e u t i l i t i e s during the second week of May 1980. The fa s c in a tin g aspect of the belated give and take was the thoughtful p rese n tatio n of the tech n ical issu es in the controversy. Once again u t i l i t y re p re se n ta tiv e s harped on the " fa c ts" in support of the WFPP. ex p erts. They harangued th a t th e irs were the only le g itim a te With the ex p erts to e s ta b lis h the f a c ts , the promoters wondered how the Hersey community could reasonably oppose the p ro je c t. To quote the p ro ject manager: . . . I f the re -e v a lu a tio n process i s an extended one and i f Hersey Township v o ters eventually face the RDF issu e a t the b a llo t box, I can only hope th a t they LOOK CLOSELY AT 71 BOTH SIDES OP THE ISSUE - - the fa c tu a l side presented by Wolverine and Consumer Power Company versus th e imaginedemotional sid e presented by th e Committee fo r the R ational Use of Our F o rests — before oastin g t h e i r vote (OCH, 424-80). In the same a r t i c l e he a s sa ile d the o p p o sitio n as undemocratic, accusing i t of "d isru p tin g an o rd erly dem ocratic process designed to exchange fa c tu a l inform ation upon which reasoned and i n t e l l i g e n t d ecisio n making should be based." With the e x p e rtise a t th e ir d isp o sal u t i l i t y o f f i c i a l s assumed in these exchanges th a t they had cornered the market on f a c ts , and th a t f a c ts were what th e controversy was r e a lly a l l about. The response to such remarks was p re d ic ta b le . Yet even the opponents focused presum ptively on the " f a c ts ." I t s tr ik e s me as almost comical th a t Consumers Power's Mr. Konchar accuses CRUF of not p resen tin g FACTS in our f ig h t ag ain st the wood-chip p lan t . . Members of CRUF spent s ix months in te n s iv e ly researching th e concepts of w hole-tree chipping and w ood-fired e l e c t r i c i t y . We published the r e s u lts of th i s research in a 22 -page impact statem ent e n title d "Wood Energy in Michigan: An A nalysis of Impacts and A lte rn a tiv e s to the Proposed G enerating P lan t a t Hersey, Michigan" (CRUF, 1979a]. Both Consumers Power and the DNR have tr ie d to r e fu te th e f a c ts presented in th is paper, and have been forced to r e s o r t to p o litic a l manuvering in Lanang ana "arm -tw isting" of lo c a l o f f i c i a l s to accomplish th e ir ends. Consumers Power has refused to consider the f a c ts presented in th is paper (OCH, 5 -8-80). This statem ent p o in ts up the e ffe c tiv e use of e x p e rtise by the o p p o sitio n group in responding to the te c h n ic a l challenge of the prom oters' f e a s i b i l i t y study. The legitim acy they were accorded by the Hersey community i s re fle c te d in th is l e t t e r by one re s id e n t who jumped to the defense of CRUF (OCH, 6 -5-80): ". . . were i t not fo r the research e f f o r t s of CRUF, th is p ro je c t would have s a ile d in to Hersey on empty promises based on m isleading in fo rm a tio n ." 72 The controversy from the viewpoint of the opponents was summed up by Marco Menezes in an interview with the OCH (7-31-80): 'T h e ir [p ro je c t promoters] a ttitu d e was extrem ely condescending, l ik e , "w e're the ex p erts, and we know w h at's best fo r you," and th a t j u s t d id n 't s i t w ell. F in a lly , a group of us decided to put our heads to g eth er and get some answers of our own.' To provide the mounting opposition with a cohesive medium, many of the Hersey re s id e n ts banded to g eth er and formed the Committee fo r the R ational Use of Our F o rests. Suspecting th a t th e im p a rtia lity of f o re s te rs , b io lo g is ts , and oth er s p e c ia lis ts connected w ith the venture p a rtn e rs, CRUF members embarked on an extensive research p ro je c t of t h e ir own. ' I t d id n 't take long fo r CRUF to develop i t s own panel of ex p erts . . with c re d e n tia ls every b it as im pressive as those of the proponent s p e c ia lis ts . Our people found g la rin g in c o n sis te n c ie s in th e ir f e a s i b i l i t y study . . and, fo r the most p a rt, professed d ia m e tric a lly opposite conclusions to those of the p ro je ct e x p e rts. These d iffe re n c e s w e re n 't ju s t on minor issu e s e ith e r — we w e re n 't in te re s te d in s p litt in g h a irs or debating fin e p o in ts — and th e in c o n siste n c ie s seemed to a r is e on f a r more than an in freq u en t b a s i s .' This re tro s p e c tiv e reads almost lik e a guide to opposing la rg e -s c a le energy p ro je c ts . I t i s apparent th a t the s tra te g y of the opponents to counter the e x p e rtise of the p ro je ct promoters proved f a r more e f fe c tiv e than th e corresponding attem pt of the proponents to d e p o litic iz e the so c ia l and p o litic a l issu e s w ith th e a ssista n c e of e x p e rts. The n ature and method of the opposition e x p erts i s e x p lic it in t h i s statem ent. The outcome dem onstrates th a t c re d e n tia ls alone are not the path to leg itim acy . A number of communities tr ie d to leap in to the breech a f te r the Hersey s i t e was dropped (Grand Rapids P ress, 1980a). On June 16, 1980, Consumers Power announced th a t i t had received u n s o lic ite d o f fe r s from 10 communities in te re s te d in becoming th e s i t e fo r the dem onstrations! WFPP (OCH, 6-19-80). 73 At the same time CRUF ad v ertized i t s w illin g n ess to a s s is t communities in s c ru tin iz in g th e WFPP (CRUF, 1980c). One of the communities was E vart, a town not more than 15 m iles from Hersey. A meeting was held a t Farw ell, another community not too d is ta n t, to consider the proposal. C itize n s Against Chemical Contamination sponsored th e meeting, in v itin g re p re s e n ta tiv e s from CRUF, Consumers Power, and Wolverine E le c tr ic Cooperative. The u t i l i t i e s did not p a r tic ip a te . The county commissioners of Ogemaw County endorsed th e idea of s itin g th e WFPP in t h e i r ju r is d ic tio n . However, i t was evident in the wording o f th e ir endorsement th a t the issu e s in th e Hersey d isp u te had not escaped th e i r n o tice (Grand Rapids P ress. 1980b). The WFPP was debated again a t B e lla ire in August 1980 in connection with p o ssib le s itin g a t Ellsw orth in Antrim County. The d ire c to r of the Michigan Department of N atural Resources (DNR), Howard Tanner, was ca lle d upon to defend the idea a t th is meeting. Consumers Power revealed a t th a t meeting th a t the l i s t of p o ssib le s i t e s would soon be narrowed from 12 to 3 ( Grand Rapids P ress. 1980 c ) . C itin g lack of c a p ita l due to th e economic recessio n , Wolverine withdrew from the venture in September 1980. Almost sim ultaneously Consumers Power announced th a t i t would put o ff fu rth e r co n sid eratio n of the p ro je c t fo r two to th re e years (Grand Rapids P re ss, 1980d). The Evart c ity manager expressed disappointm ent with th a t d ec isio n , but expressed optimism th a t Evart would be the prime s i t e when the p ro je c t i s revived (OCH, 9-18-80). The e f fe c t on p o litic s in Hersey extended w ell beyond the d eclin e of the proposal. The November 1980 e le c tio n produced a 74 TABLE 8 STAGES COMMON TO LOCAL DISPUTES 18 I. II. III. IV. I n i t i a l plans to introduce the Innovation. Proponents submit a proposal to ap p ro p riate governmental a u th o ritie s fo r approval; th e f i r s t opposition appears. The o pposition gains broad public support; a c tiv e c iv ic group forms; p u blic meeting, dem onstrations, and e le c tio n ­ lik e campaigns, c h a ra c te riz e the c o n f lic t; the media become a tte n tiv e ; disagreem ent occurs among ex p erts. A c ru c ia l d ec isio n i s reached by some governmental a u th o rity , or else the proposal i s withdrawn. However, th e issu e i s not n e c e ssa rily s e ttle d . The defeated p arty may appeal ag ain st the d ecisio n or r a is e the issue again l a t e r on. SOURCE: Mazur (1975: 41), who r e l i e s in p a rt on Jopling (see Table 9 ). 75 watershed of changes in the lead ersh ip of Hersey township. Of the four candidates ele c te d to the Township Board, two got th e re w ith a c tiv e campaign help from area re s id e n ts who had p a rtic ip a te d in CRUF. A very s ig n if ic a n t change was replacem ent of Township Supervisor F orest Benzing, who had been perceived as a proponent of th the WFPP, by Bion Jacobs in a very close vote. Bion Jacobs, form erly the P resid en t of Hersey v illa g e , was known as a staunch opponent of the WFPP. He was one of th e candidates who received campaign help from former CRUF members. In a race fo r the Osceola County Commission, a former CRUF member was narrowly defeated d e sp ite carry in g Hersey township by a wide margin. The Stages and S ty le of the Technical Debate The Hersey controversy i s g en erally congruent w ith the p a tte rn observed fo r lo c a l d isp u te s (Table 8 ), nuclear power p lan t s itin g d isp u tes (Table 9 ), and the p a tte rn of tech n ical debate observed fo r c o n tro v e rsia l technologies of speed and power (N elkin, 1975)-19 The f i t with the Nelkin cases i s almost uncanny, fo r example: . . . The developers . . contracted fo r d e ta ile d plans of the c o n stru ctio n of th e ir proposed f a c i l i t y . As they ap p lied fo r the necessary perm its, a ffe c te d groups tr ie d to in flu en c e the d ec isio n . The developer in each case argued th a t p lan s, based on t h e i r c o n s u lta n ts ' p re d ic itio n s o f fu tu re demands and te ch n ical im peratives concerning th e lo c a tio n and design of the f a c i l i t y , were d e f in itiv e , except perhaps to meet fe d e ra l standards. (N elkin, 1975: 42). The Daverman and A ssociates f e a s i b i l i t y study was, in th is co n tex t, the c r i t i c a l take o ff stage of the Hersey d isp u te , j u s t as 76 TABLE 9 JOPLING MODEL FOR STAGES OF RESISTANCE TO NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SITING STAGE 1 DESCRIPTION Public Disclosure Expert Inquiry Months Days TIME SOURCE: Jopling, et al. 2 (1973). 3 Information Distribution Months 4 5 Citizen Organize Technical Disagreements Month or two Months 6 Uncompromising Conflict Year or more 7 Legal Confrontation Unlimited the five-volum e te c h n ic a l re p o rt had been in th e Lake Cayuga controversy, and th e environmental impact statem ent in the Boston a ir p o rt controversy (N elkin, 1975). Inform ational m eetings, in each case r i f e with d is s e n t, played an im portant ro le in th e l a t t e r as w ell as the Hersey case. Furthermore, in the Hersey and Lake Cayuga d isp u tes a c r itiq u e of th e c o n s u lta n ts ' te ch n ical re p o rt contributed to the p o la riz a tio n of community views. In g en e ra l, the Hersey controversy f i t s th e models in Tables 8 and 9. The stag e s of disagreem ent among e x p erts (Table 8 , stage I I I ; Table 9 , stage 5) marks the tu rn in g point in tech n ical c o n tro v e rsie s. What might be termed the advocates stage (Table 8 , stag e IV; Table 9, stag e 7) — the period of a ju d ic a tio n — in the Hersey case involved th e passage and amendment of a lo c a l to x ic and hazardous waste ordinance. The environmental lawyer reta in e d by CRUF to d r a f t the ordinance, th e Hersey Township a tto rn e y , and le g a l counsel for Consumers Power a l l were involved in the compromise amendment. This le g a l co n fro n tatio n in th e period preceeding the climax o f the controversy (December 1979 - February 1980; r e f e r to Table 7) was a s h o rt-liv e d s o lu tio n to th e c o n f lic t. Entrenched community m istru st of the in te n tio n s of p ro je c t promoters soon p r e c ip ita te d o u trig h t withdrawal of the proposal (Table 8 , stage IV; Table 9, stag e 7 ). The s ty le of the te c h n ical debate in the Hersey controversy is very s im ila r to th a t in the cases observed by Nelkin (1975), i . e . , ". . . co n sid erab le r h e to ric a l lic e n s e , w ith many in sin u a tio n s concerning th e competence and biases of the [e x p e rts] involved." Some of the r h e to ric was used fo r the purposes of i l l u s t r a t i o n in 78 the previous s e c tio n . Two e s p e c ia lly poignant exchanges in the OCH took place during and a f t e r the c o n flic t over the a p p lic a tio n fo r a perm it to experim entally burn RDF in th e WFPP. The debate between colum nist Grysko and Wolverine E le c tr ic p resid en t John Keen beginning in November 1979 was q u ite v itu p e ra tiv e , verging on personal a tta c k . The exchanges between CRUF members along w ith some Hersey area re s id e n ts and th e p ro je c t managers from the u t i l i t i e s were more low keyed and tie d to th e Issu e s. forum fo r t h i s debate. The OCH served as the Of the 17 l e t t e r s to the e d ito r of th e OCH regarding the WFPP, 12 were published during th is post-mortem phase of the d isp u te. 20 The media debate concentrated on who had th e f a c ts . The divergence of opinion on th e f a c ts of the m atter squares w ith N e lk in 's fin d in g th a t each p arty in th e d isp u tes used d iff e r e n t c r i t e r i a to c o lle c t and in te p r e t te ch n ical d a ta . (N elkin, 1975: Her conclusion 48) on the s ty le of te ch n ical debates i s ap p ro p riate h e re : . . . Both d isp u te s [Lake Cayuga, Boston a ir p o rt] n e c e ssa rily d e a lt w ith a g re a t number of genuine u n c e rta in tie s th a t allowed div erg en t p re d ic tio n s from a v a ila b le d ata. The opposing e x p e rts emphasized these u n c e r ta in tie s ; but in any case, the substance of the te c h n ic a l arguments had l i t t l e to do w ith th e subsequent p o l i t i c a l a c tiv ity . The c r i t e r i a applied to in te p r e ta tio n of tech n ic a l inform ation hinge on the values of the beholder. The in te rp la y of values and f a c ts in the controversy in th e su b jec t to which th is study now tu rn s. 79 CHAPTER 5 VALDES AND FACTS IN THE CONTROVERSY In tro d u c tio n Although te ch n ic a l d isp u tes fre q u e n tly revolve around m atters o f f a c t, in the end they e n ta il p o l itic a l choices among competing s o c ia l values. C o n flict predicated upon values i s th e sin e qua non of te ch n ical c o n tro v e rsie s. Obvious as th is may seem, so c ia l s c ie n ti s t s have paid l i t t l e a tte n tio n to th e in te rp la y of f a c ts and values in c o n tro v e rsie s. This chapter d e ta ils one attem pt to analyze the dynamics of f a c ts and v alu es in a tech n ical controversy. To t h i s end the fa c t-v a lu e p ro p o sitio n s introduced in Chapter 1 w ill be repeated and em bellished in th is s e c tio n . Relevant l i t e r a t u r e is also reviewed. The follow ing p ro p o sitio n s r e s t on th e d is tin c tio n between m atters o f value and m atters of f a c t. Values are n. . . those conceptions of d e sira b le s ta t e s of a f f a i r s th a t are u tiliz e d in s e le c tiv e conduct as c r i t e r i a fo r preference or choice or as j u s t i f i c a t i o n s fo r proposed or ac tu a l behavior " (W illiam s, 1970). Facts are conceptions th a t can be o b je c tiv e ly v e r ifie d . to "what is " , whereas values concern "what ought to be." They r e fe r D ecisions such as the one in th is case study have normative as w ell as fa c tu a l 80 co n ten t. Indeed, the d is tin c tio n between f a c ts and v alues i s the b a sis fo r the lin e commonly drawn between questions of policy and q u estio n s of a d m in istratio n (Simon, 1961). Values and f a c ts are f ir s t- o r d e r concepts, thus b e tte r i l l u s t r a t e d than vaguely defined. In many s itin g d isp u te s the prospect of a d d itio n a l jobs becomes a bone of contention. The number of jobs created and t h e i r nature (e. g ., whether lo c a ls or o u tsid e rs w ill g e t them) are m atters of f a c t. C onflict may occur over whether one or another fo re c a s t i s accu rate, or th e ex ten t to which u n sk ille d lo c a l workers can be hired - - th a t i s , over the f a c ts — but in most cases values are p a rt and parcel of the debate about jo b s. For example, th e good of a d d itio n a l jobs r e la tiv e to o th er value concerns may be questioned. However, few would deny th a t a d d itio n a l jobs re p resen t a p o sitiv e value, u n less th e jobs go prim arily to o u tsid e rs o r to tra n s ie n ts who depart a f t e r a s o c ia lly d isru p tiv e c o n stru ctio n phase. In p ra c tic e the value of the p rospective jobs to th e community i s weighed ag ain st th e so c ia l and environmental co sts of th e proposed f a c i l i t y . Risks and b e n e fits may also e n te r th e debate as f a c ts , but these concepts as w ell are in c re a sin g ly gauged in terms of s o c ia l and p o litic a l v alues (Ravetz, 1978). E valuations about what i s d e s ira b le or what th e community should do are not su b je c t to th e methods th a t e s ta b lis h the f a c ts . Experts may help bring f o rth the f a c ts , but they are not p a r tic u la rly usefu l in a scrib in g v alu es. Indeed, ex p erts g en erally claim th e i r only concern i s th e f a c ts and nothing but th e f a c ts . The review of s c h o la rly work on e x p erts in Chapter 2 suggests th a t t h i s i s a myth. P ro jec t promoters very d e lib e ra te ly make use of 81 e x p e rtise to le g itim iz e th e ir plans. They employ ex p erts and r e ly on command of te ch n ica l knowledge fo r th e purpose of ju s tif y in g t h e i r (th e p ro je c t promoters) autonomy. Important value-ladden d ecisio n s are in e f fe c t defined as p a rt of the job to be accomplished by ex p e rts. In response counterexperts a re o ften s o lic ite d to d isp u te th e establishm ent ex p erts. Technical knowlege thus becomes a to o l ex p lo ited by divergent i n te r e s ts to rein fo rc e th e ir re sp e c tiv e claim s. The hypotheses tre a te d in th i s d is s e r ta tio n are designed to illu m in a te the e x p e r t's ro le in terms of fa c t-v a lu e in te ra c tio n s . A summary of each p ro p o sitio n follow s. PROPOSITION I : Technical co n tro v ersies g en erally focus on fa c tu a l claims even though the underlying concerns are p o litic a l or id eo lo g ic a l values. P ro p o sitio n I makes e x p lic it the arena in which the d isp u te takes place. Experts and co u n terex p erts haggle over the f a c ts on the presumption th a t they are the "data" f o r c ru c ia l d ecisio n s. Beneath t h i s veneer are the value concerns th a t gave r is e to the controversy, the prime f a c to r in th e decision-m aking process about co n tro v e rsia l proposals. PROPOSITION I I : The impact of tec h n ic a l e x p e rtise in a controversy depends le s s on i t s v a lid ity or the competence of the ex p erts involved than on th e ex ten t to which they re in fo rc e e x is itin g v alues. P ro p o sitio n I I u n v eils th e in c ip ie n t hypocrisy ju s t alluded to by o ffe rin g a prelim inary d e s c rip tio n of how, in f a c t, e x p erts and expert knowledge a f fe c t th e controversy. In te ch n ical d isp u te s the te s t fo r the e ffic a c y of e x p e rtise i s e n tir e ly d if f e r e n t than th a t fo r " tru th " v ia the s c ie n ti f i c method. 82 The sieve through which expertise must pass is political and social. PROPOSITION I I I : Although i t can serve to c la r if y te c h n ic a l iss u e s , te ch n ical e x p e rtise in e f fe c t stim u lates c o n f lic t predicated upon e x is tin g v alu es. The id e a l outcome fo r p ro je c t promoters i s acceptance of th e ir ex p erts as le g itim a te , t h e ir expert claim s as tru e , and, accordingly, u n q u a lified acceptance of th e proposed p ro je c t. H is to ric a lly th is has been th e p a tte rn , but i t became exceptional during th e l a s t decade. Use of ex p erts to c la r if y tech n ic a l issu e s only s t i r s the pot because, as im plied in P ropositions I and I I , the f a c ts a re not th e essence of tech n ic a l controversy. Regardless of how straig h tfo rw ard th e f a c ts a re , fa c tu a l arguments in e v ita b ly educe value concerns. The rev erse a lso i s evident in c o n tro v ersies. P ro p o sitio n I I I form ally s ta te s th a t th e very existence of tech n ical ex p e rtise i s a p o te n tia l challenge to group v alu es. However w ell the ex p erts la y out th e f a c ts , th e a c t of doing so f o r a p a r tic u la r i n t e r e s t s e ts th e stage f o r controversy. PROPOSITION IV: N otw ithstanding a general focus on fa c tu a l m atters, a r is e in controversy tends to s h i f t the focus of the d isp u te from tec h n ic a l to value is s u e s . The d isp u te evolves, according to th is p ro p o sitio n . The p ro je c t i s proposed and ex p erts m arshalled to re in fo rc e the id ea. Based upon v alu e-co n tin g en t concerns th e opp o sitio n asks co u n terex p ertise to examine the f a c ts , d isp u te them, and reach a d iff e r e n t conclusion. Over time la te n t value is s u e s on e ith e r sid e of the controversy become m an ifest. The f a c ts continue to be contested as described by P ro p o sitio n I but v alu es become in c re a sin g ly evident. 83 T hreats to community autonomy, p rospective degradation of the environment, lo s s to the tax base i f the p ro je c t i s r e je c te d , and the lik e emerge during te ch n ic a l d isp u te s, more or le s s d isp lacin g an ev alu atio n of the f a c ts per se. A re tu rn to the l i t e r a t u r e a t th i s point i s required fo r two reaso n s. F ir s t, a look a t so c io lo g ic a l research on values in general i s necessary to put th is e f f o r t in to p ersp ectiv e. Second of a l l , i t i s im portant to draw f u rth e r from the l i t e r a t u r e reviewed in Chapter 2 in order to rein fo rc e the observations j u s t made. S o cio lo g ical a tte n tio n to v alu es has not been an area of major or p e r s is te n t enquiry fo r the d is c ip lin e (S pates, 1981). Rural valu es, a s ig n if ic a n t i n te r e s t in th is d is s e r ta tio n , seem to have been of l i t t l e in t e r e s t to ru ra l s o c io lo g is ts (C hristenson, 1981; B ealer, 1981). The rec en t ferment about values in ru ra l sociology produced id eas re le v a n t to th e p resen t study. Much of the so c io lo g ic a l research on " ru ra l" values i s lim ite d to survey data th a t look c ro s s -s e c tio n a lly a t dynamic s o c ia l systems, n eg lectin g in p a r tic u la r values in th e everyday liv e s of people (B ealer, 1981). As a remedy B ealer c a l l s fo r a re tu rn to examining human communities and so c ia l o rg an izatio n s as whole e n t i t i e s . C hristenson (1981) puts the problem d if f e r e n tly , pointing out th a t what we need i s . .a combination of o n -s ite in ductive e x p lo ratio n w ith s e n s itiv ity to e x is tin g deductive frameworks." i s j u s t such an e x p lo ra tio n . The content a n a ly s is attem pted here Moreover, th is technique i s w ell su ite d to studying a community as a whole r a th e r than as a sum of i t s p a rts (Motz, 1977). The technique may be uniquely su ite d to the ta sk , given the n atu re of th e problem, i . e . , th a t change in a 84 growing r u ra l community i s q u a lita tiv e as w ell as q u a n tita tiv e and th a t i t d eriv es la rg e ly from increased dependence upon o u tsid e u n its (C ortese, 1979). Two f a c e ts o f values are of i n t e r e s t in th is study — f i r s t , the ru ra l-u rb a n value continuum and, second, th e in te ra c tio n of v alues and e x p e rtise in te ch n ical c o n tro v e rsie s. The ru ra l-u rb a n value continuum i s re le v a n t to the p o liti c a l impact of the population m igration turnaround. The unexpressed v alu es of ex p erts in v a ria b ly e n te r in to t h e i r ro le as such. This review concludes with a look a t each fa c e t. There i s l i t t l e q u estio n th a t urban v alu es are impinging upon r u ra l communities these days. The e f f e c ts have been w ell documented (A ldrich and Mack, 1979a, 1979c; C hristenson, 1981; Sokolow, 1981; Caine, 1979). I t i s a lso tru e th a t r u ra l areas contain valued am enities fo r in -m ig ran ts. The turnaround m igration i s p rim arily o rie n te d to q u a lity of l i f e (Ploch, 1978). The r e la tiv e ly young and w ell-educated m igrants c h a r a c te r is tic of th e turnaround seek to r e a liz e c e r ta in v alu es, in p a r tic u la r environmental values, and they are not shy about p a r tic ip a tin g in c iv ic a f f a i r s i f these values are th reaten ed (Sokolow, 1981). This phenomenon i s somewhat unexpected in view of the tr a d itio n s of conformity and acceptance in sm all towns. At the same time newcomer-oldtimer r e la tio n s in growing r u ra l towns are not as d ir e c tly in c o n f lic t as th e a p p lic a tio n of the suburbanization id ea suggests. They fre q u e n tly jo in to g e th e r to achieve common goals (see Lassey, 1977). The newcomers in these c o a litio n s freq u e n tly serve to stim u la te the awareness and a c tiv ity of o th ers (Sokolow, 1981). This was p re c ise ly the experience a t 85 Hersey. Newcomers and o ldtim ers shared an image of the countryside th a t was c le a rly threatened by the proposed HFPP (see Aldrich and Mack, 1979a, 1979c; C lu ett e t a l . , 1979). Rural values thus in c re a sin g ly c o ex ist w ith the u rb an ite values o f in-m igrants in remote nonnetropolitan areas as a r e s u lt of the turnaround (C hristenson, 1981). Whether or not th e a n a ly sis of these values i s th e key to reco n cep tu alizin g r u r a l i t y , as C hristenson proposes, th e turnaround provides a lab o rato ry fo r studying the place of values in so c ia l change. The Hersey controversy p o in ts up th e values of lo c a l re s id e n ts , both oldtim ers and newcomers, and of th e outside i n t e r e s t s promoting the p ro je c t. The referen ce to a ru ra l-u rb a n value continuum re q u ire s a b rie f d ig re ssio n . C learly , the sharp dichotom ization of urban and r u ra l i s an approach th a t ceases to be usefu l in so cio lo g ic a l research . The dynamic interdependence of urban and ru ra l areas has long since made the concept o b so lete . th e q u estio n of v alu es. In no in stan ce i s th is more evident than This study p o in ts up th e shared values th a t bring newcomers and old tim ers in ru ra l communities to g e th e r. The so cio lo g ic a l study of resource development in h in te rla n d areas of in d u s tr ia l s o c ie tie s has emphasized s im p lis tic n in eteen th century p o la r itie s of tr a d itio n a l versus modern, mechanical versus organic, s ta tu s versus c o n tra c t, and gem einschaft versus g e s e lls c h a ft (Giddens, 1956). The p u rsu it of v a lid ity d ic ta te s th a t such s tu d ie s should move beyond th ese p o la r itie s . Of course values a re a pervasive s o c ia l f a c t. The a n a ly sis of cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s in th e next chapter a lso has an im portant value component. The i n t e r e s t in th i s chapter i s the 86 study of values and f a c ts th a t to g eth er c o n s titu te the Hersey controversy. Central in th is Inquiry i s th e use of tech n ical e x p e rtise . The four p ro p o sitio n s summarize the cu rren t s ta te of understanding about th e ro le and impact of e x p e rtise . They show th a t d e sp ite claims to o b je c tiv ity by ex p erts, unexpressed values very o ften m otivate them (Consumption, Location, and Occupational P a tte rn s Resources Group Synthesis Panel, 1960). When ex p erts holding d iff e r e n t v alu es counter establishm ent e x p erts, value q u estio n s begin to o verride q u estio n s of tech n ical a lte r n a tiv e s (King and Melanson, 1972). Fallows (1979) example of th e d efeat of ra d io a c tiv e waste s it i n g proposals i s perhaps th e best i l l u s t r a t i o n o f th is p rin c ip le . The use of knowledge in th e c o n flic t consequently m irrors th e contending p o s itio n s r a th e r than transcending the values a t stake (N elkin, 1975; King and Melanson, 1972). C o n flict between ex p erts s h if t s a tte n tio n to nontechnical and p o l i t i c a l assumptions - - th a t i s to say, to values. (Nelkin, 1975). In ten sely held values lead to a reduced ro le fo r "knowledge as an im p a rtia l a r b ite r" (King and Melanson, 1972). By the same token, tec h n ical e x p e rtise i s now widely recognized as the only way to challenge co n tro v e rsia l d ecisio n s, whatever the m otivating p o l i t i c a l or moral values (N elkin, 1979c; Primack and Von Hippel, 1974). N ichols (1979: 38) a p tly s ta te s the essence of f a c ts and values in te ch n ic a l co n tro v ersies: . . . By seeking to m aintain a s t r i c t se p aratio n between f a c ts and v alu es, e s p e c ia lly on is s u e s of g re a t public controversy, government has f a c i l it a t e d th e task of 87 te ch n ical ex p erts, but often a t the expense of i t s own c r e d ib ility . This i s because, r ig h tly or wrongly, the p u b lic i s u su ally le s s in te re s te d in the f a c ts of a given controversy — e s p e c ia lly when th e f a c ts c o n f lic t — than i t i s with the choice between d if f e r e n t p o litic a l and so c ia l valu es. C learly , choices i n te c h n ical co n tro v ersies are not j u s t between te c h n ic a l a lte r n a tiv e s , but between competing s e ts of values. N evertheless, the presumption i s strong th a t the ex p e rts must im p a rtia lly render d ecisio n s on th e b asis of th e " f a c ts ." But as ju s t discussed the ex p erts are not n e u tra l; t h e i r values in flu en ce th e ir assessment of th e f a c ts . That the ro le of ex p ert p e r s is ts a t t e s t s to the high premium our so c ie ty places on e ffic ie n c y . Experts define p o litic a l problems as tech n ic a l problems (N elkin, 1979a). The s itin g o f power p la n ts epitom izes y e t another aspect of f a c ts and values in tec h n ic a l c o n tro v ersies. Advocates of such p ro je c ts o ften contend th a t " i f th e people le a rn th e f a c ts " more public support fo r the proposal w ill follow (Tichenour e t a l . , 1980). Take, fo r example, S e lls (1979) claim about WFPP development in g en eral, i . e . , ". . . we need to g e t th e f a c ts to th e people who make the p o lic ie s and co n tro l the money." P a re n th e tic a lly , S e lls headed th e branch of Morbark In d u s trie s promoting WFPP's. His high p r o f ile in the Hersey d isp u te dem onstrates th a t th is a s s e rtio n i s dubious. More i s a t stake than f a c ts . The acrimonious debate a t the end of the controversy demonstrated a sim ila r penchant fo r the fa c ts " when in r e a l i t y v alues were the uppermost concern. Hence, the claim th a t g e ttin g out th e f a c ts w ill in crease public support does not stand up to s c ru tin y . In c o n tro v e rsie s being highly 88 informed means an in creased awareness of th e v arious p o s itio n s in th e c o n flic t (Tichenour e t a l . , 1980), a con d itio n which arouses u n c e rta in ty and enhances co n sid e ratio n of th e value is s u e s th a t inexorably supercede th e fa c tu a l iss u e s . The ensuing study of th e Hersey controversy w ill, as Nelkin (1977) sug g ests, atten d to the in te ra c tio n s of f a c t and value in policy d ecisio n s in a " c o n su lta tiv e commonwealth" in which p ro fessio n al e x p e rtise plays th e lead r o le . Sources of Data and Inform ation The Osceola County Herald (OCH) ~ a weekly newspaper published a t Reed C ity, the county s e a t — quickly became the lig h te n in g rod fo r the Hersey WFPP controversy. The media ty p ic a lly assume th is ro le in c o n tro v ersies (e. g . , th e case of the Santa Barbara o i l s p i l l as documented by Molotch, 1970). Using th is kind of data perm its study of a controversy as a whole. The f u l l range of f a c ts , v alues, and o rie n ta tio n s th a t influenced public debate a re , in p rin c ip le , a c c e ssib le in re le v a n t media accounts. a wealth of d ata fo r th is purpose. The OCH contains A to t a l of 78 fe a tu re a r t i c l e s , columns, and l e t t e r s to th e e d ito r about th e WFPP appeared in th e OCH w ith in the span of th e controversy, beginning in September 1978 and concluding in September 1980. Other newspapers published a r t i c l e s on th e controversy but th e i r coverage was le s s freq u en t and le s s d e ta ile d . This o b servation i s c o n s is te n t w ith the fin d in g of Molotch (1970) th a t the q u a lity o f coverage goes down w ith in c re a sin g d ista n c e from the 89 a ffe c te d community. Accounts of th e Hersey controversy appeared in th e Evart Review (a weekly newspaper published in a small town J u s t to the n o rth e a st of H ersey), the Big Rapids Pioneer (th e newspaper fo r the n e arest town of any s iz e , located j u s t to th e south in ad jacen t Mecosta county), the Grand Rapids P ress (a reg io n al newspaper serving West M ichigan), th e Lansing S ta te Journal (published in the c a p ito l c ity of M ichigan), and th e two newspapers from the la r g e s t m etro p o litan area in th e s ta t e —- the D e tro it Hews and the D e tro it Free P ress. Table 10 shows th e e x ten t of coverage in each, an apparent fu n ctio n of d ista n c e . Relevant a r t i c l e s from these newspapers were not analyzed but have been used to check on the v a lid ity of fin d in g s from the a n a ly s is of the OCH accounts. S im ilar use was made of a r t i c l e s in two Michigan magazines, namely Michigan N atural Resources (a bimonthly, glossy magazine published by the Michigan DNR) and Michigan Out-of-Doors (a monthly magazine of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, a lso published in L ansing). Another d ata and inform ation source th a t cap tu res the range of concerns about the Hersey p ro je c t i s th e s e t of public hearings held p rio r to s e le c tio n of the Hersey s i t e . T ra n sc rip ts of each are appended to the f e a s i b i l i t y study (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979: Appendix I , 130 p . ) . This i s a p a r tic u la r ly in te re s tin g source because of the way the hearings were scheduled. An i n i t i a l hearing s p e c if ic a lly intended to f e r r e t out environmental concerns was held a t Big Rapids on September 25, 1978. Hearings q uickly followed a t or near each of the th re e prime s i t e s . 21 The l a s t hearing was held a t Reed C ity to d iscu ss th e Hersey s i t e . 90 Each of the p rio r hearings TABLE 10 HERSEY WFPP ACCOUNTS IN SELECTED MICHIGAN NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES B rief D escrip tio n N Approximate D istance from Hersey (m iles) NEWSPAPERS Osceola County Herald (Reed C ity) 77 county weekly 5 Big Rapids Pioneer 45 n ea re st siz e a b le c ity 14 Grand Rapids Press 13 la r g e s t c ity in West Michigan 75 Lansing S ta te Journal 7 s ta t e c a p ito l 121 D e tro it News 3 la r g e s t c ir c u la tio n newspaper in the s ta t e , based i n i t s la r g e s t c ity 203 Michigan Out-of-Doors 6 monthly magazine, published by Michigan United C onservation Clubs a t Lansing 121 Michigan N atural Resources 2 bi-m onthly, glossy format magazine published by Michigan DNR a t Lansing 121 MAGAZINES 91 TABLE 11 FEASIBILITY STUDY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT PRIME SITE HEARINGS A. The environment must be p ro tected . Concern was expressed not only fo r a i r and w ater q u a lity , a e s th e tic s , and the impact of trucking a t the proposed p la n t s i t e , but also th e p o ssib le e f f e c ts of wood h arv estin g on the f o r e s ts and w ild life th e re in . B. The concept of wood as a source of e le c tr ic energy was g en erally acceptable although th e re were o b je c tiv e s. C. The supplemental burning of refu se-d eriv ed fu e l (RDF) was g en erally opposed. With only one or two exceptions, general oppo sitio n was expressed to th e burning of RDF a t a l l but the W hitehall s i t e . The panel members were q u ite candid in th e ir responses to the audiences. I t was th e general opinion of the panel th a t a p lan t burning RDF from outside the area would meet s u b ta n tia l op p osition. However, a t th e W hitehall meeting th e re appeared to be no major o b jectio n to burning RDF re g a rd le ss o f the source. D. The method o f f o re s t h arv estin g was a concern. D iffe re n t in d iv id u a ls were concerned over in d isc rim in a te f o re s t c le a rin g and expressed a d e s ire fo r some type of resp o n sib le f o re s t management. E. The a d d itio n a l income to the community th a t would r e s u lt from employment asso ciated w ith the p lan t and from wood h arv estin g was ap p reciated . discussed in th is Report. F. There were c o n flic tin g opinions r e la tiv e to the a e s th e tic e f f e c ts and fu tu re growth in managed f o r e s ts using th e types of wood h arv estin g discussed in th is Report. G. Apprehension was expressed regarding th e e f fe c t s e le c tiv e h a rv estin g fo r a wood p la n t might have on DNR perm itted removal of fu e l woods from s ta te f o r e s ts . SOURCE: Daverman and A ssociates (1979). 92 had been ex ten siv ely rep o rted in th e OCH. As a consequence, c itiz e n s who a tte n te d th e Reed City hearing were in a p o s itio n to know about concerns expressed a t e a r l i e r h earings. An organized response by oppo sitio n le a d e rs was already developing a t the time of th is f in a l hearing. That in te r e s t was waxing i s evident in th e len g th of the Reed City hearing tra n s c r ip t (44 p .) , s ig n if ic a n tly longer than the hearings a t Harlan (27 P.)» W hitehall (26 p .) , and the environmental hearing a t Big Rapids (30 p .) . Many of the issu e s th a t cropped up during th e controversy, including n early a l l of the major is s u e s , were expressed a t th e Reed C ity hearing. jo The soon- to-be ex p erts fo r CRUF dominated input fra n the lo c a l community. This source c o n s titu te s a usefu l b aselin e fo r the main content a n a ly s is of the OCH. Accordingly, i t i s used f o r th is purpose. The hearings a lso served as an inform ation source fo r helping to in su re the v a lid ity of the primary a n a ly sis. In a d d itio n to using th e above supplementary sources, the v e ra c ity ( i . e . , accuracy of re p o rtin g ) of the OCH accounts was checked by referen ce to th e f e a s i b i l i t y study (Daverman and A ssociates, 1979), and th e CRUF p o s itio n paper (1979a) and o th er documents (1979b, 1980a, 1980b, 1980c).These documents also served as a source of examples to complement is s u e s found in the case h is to ry . Conclusions reached on th e b asis of the content an aly sis were enhanced by th e knowledgeable use of these inform ation sources. Post-hoc in terv iew s with sele cted proponents, opponents, and newspaper re p o rte rs were conducted la rg e ly fo r the purpose of fle sh in g out the case h is to r y . However, th is inform ation was s e le c tiv e ly used to carry out and v a lid a te the a n a ly s is . 93 The interview s employed open-ended questions adm inistered by telephone. Questions were ra ise d about th e e f fe c t of the Hersey controversy on the lo c a l community and i t s p o litic s , th e basic is s u e s and how they changed or evolved, the te ch n ical arguments ra ise d fo r and a g a in st th e WFPP and the i n t e r e s t s of those who proposed them, the e f f e c t of these tec h n ica l arguments in th e d isp u te, changes in public opinion during th e controversy, the community perception of the te ch n ical ex p erts and th e i r im pact, th e lesso n s contained in th e controversy, and how the PBB contam ination may have influenced the d isp u te. Fact-Value Content A nalysis "Content a n a ly s is , in i t s broadest sense, r e f e r s to any in te p re ta tio n of the co n ten ts of w ritte n m a te ria ls . Social s c ie n ti s t s use the term to mean o b jectiv e and system atic . a n a ly sis o f the symbols embodied in communications" (Motz, 1977)* S o cio lo g ists have f r u i t f u l l y used content a n a ly tic techniques to study so c ia l behavior (e . g . , B anfield and Wilson, 1963; Molotch, 1970). A ppropriately, much of the so c io lo g ic a l study of v alues has employed content a n a ly sis (e. g . , W illiams, 1970; Spates, 1976). Content a n a ly s is may involve e ith e r of two basic approaches. F ir s t i s th e development and enumeration of c a te g o rie s which is o la te s p e c ific words, phrases, or sentences. used in th is study ~ A second approach — the one i s to categ o rize id eas or themes in a way th a t perm its th e ir q u a n tific a tio n . Most e s s e n tia l in th is regard a re the c r i t e r i a fo r id e n tify in g id eas or p a tte rn s of meaning. Content a n a ly sis by t h i s approach can be both q u a lita tiv e and q u a n tita tiv e . 94 The content a n a ly sis of f a c ts and values in th e Hersey controversy i s based on two basic u n its --in d iv id u a l arguments and tim e. Each of the 721 arguments ra ise d in the accounts analyzed was coded and scored according to th e typology in Table 12. The u n it of measure i s th e " s tr in g of the argum ent," which can range from a few words to sev eral paragraphs. A code was assigned to in d ic a te whether an argument was advanced by a proponent or opponent or by an ex p ert or nonexpert. Time u n its are two month in te r v a ls , a to ta l of 12 fo r the controversy. In most of the ta b le s th a t follow th e time in te r v a ls were condensed in to two phases. 1-5 and Phase I I in te r v a ls 6-12. Phase I covers in te r v a ls This b ifu rc a tio n takes advantage of a n a tu ra l break in th e controversy a t in te rv a l 5. The re la tio n s h ip s a re more obvious when th e data are summarized in th is fash io n . For purposes of th is research study, argument types in Table 12 are o p eratio n aliz ed as a sc a le , a fa c t-v a lu e continuum i f you w ill. Arguments were ev alu tated using th e sc a le , and sco res were derived from t h e i r sum. Scores should be in te p re te d as follow s. fa c tu a l argument would r a te a 1 on th e sc a le . s t r i c t l y normative argument, would r a te a 4. A s tr ic tly I t s p o lar opposite, a The median value of the sc a le i s 2 .5 . This fig u re would not be " n e u tra l" in terms of f a c ts and v alu es. The median score i s assumed to be value-ladden in o p eratio n because even highly te c h n ic a l arguments g en erally r e f le c t values in such terms as e ffic ie n c y , e ffe c tiv e n e s s , economy, w elfare, e tc . Hence the sc a le i s designed to accomodate the apparent d is tr ib u tio n of arguments. In any event, the sc a le i s r e la tiv e and perm its a t e s t of th e p ro p o sitio n s ra ise d in th is study. 95 TABLE 12 FACT/VALUE ARGUMENT TYPOLOGY 1. STRICTLY FACTUAL. argument. Technical argument w ith no apparent value 2. FACTUAL, NORMATIVE IMPLIED. value argument. Technical argument w ith an a sc rlo a b le 3. FACTUAL, NORMATIVE APPARENT. value argument. Technical argument conjoined w ith a 4. STRICTLY NORMATIVE. Value argument w ithout a corresponding te c h n ic a l argument. 96 Appendix I I gives an example of how an account was coded using the fa c t-v a lu e typology. Examples of each type of argument in connection with a sin g le issu e should f u rth e r serve to in d ic a te the range of arguments in terms of the s c a le . e ffic ie n c y /e q u ity o f the WFPP. The issu e sele c te d i s the "The WFPP w ill be 25$ e f f ic ie n t in converting biomass (chemical energy) in to e le c tr ic a l energy" i s a Type 1 argument. I t i s a simple statem ent of fa c t w ithout comparison, ev alu atio n , or value a s s e rtio n . "The WFPP i s in e f f ic ie n t compared to r e s id e n tia l woodburning — 25$ versus 70$ fo r an a i r t i g h t wood stove" i s a Type 2 argument. Although a statem ent of fa c t regarding e ffic ie n c y , i t im plies th a t the higher e ffic ie n c y of r e s id e n tia l woodburning makes th is technology p re fe ra b le to the WFPP. The value concern i s im p lic it. A Type 3 argument on th is issu e might be "The WFPP i s the le a s t we can get fo r th i s wood; firewood and lo c a l logging are a b e tte r use of the re so u rc e ." F actual in a s s e rtin g a lte r n a tiv e s , th is argument e x p lic itly comes down on the side of lo c a l, sm all-sca le use. " I t 's wrong to take firewood from poor people so the u t i l i t i e s can make a p r o f it" i s a Type 4 argument. I t c le a rly s ta te s a value p reference. The Reed C ity hearin g of October 24, 1978 and the 78 accounts io the OCH are the complete data s e t fo r the content a n a ly s is . The fo u r fa c t-v a lu e p ro p o sitio n s are o p eratio n aliz ed as follow s. P ro p o sitio n I p re d ic ts th a t th e m ajo rity of the arguments ra is e d i n the controversy w ill be skewed toward the low end of the fa c t-v a lu e sc a le . The controversy as a whole — th a t i s , th e sum of a l l arguments in th e d isp u te — i s expected to o ste n sib ly favor m atte rs o f fa c t even though value concerns may be ev id en t. 97 A measure of le s s than 2 .5 , the median value on the sc a le , w ill be taken as evidence fo r P roposition 1. To assess P ro p o sitio n I I , expert arguments are analyzed r e l a t iv e to th e ir asso ciated value-based claim s or im p lic it concerns. Support fo r th is p ro p o sitio n w ill obtain i f the use of e x p e rtise g en e ra lly shows a temporal s h i f t toward Type 4 arguments on th e fa c t-v a lu e sc a le . P ro p o sitio n I I I p o s tu la te s th a t the in je c tio n of e x p e rtise by opponents and proponents a lik e generates a r is e in controversy, 1. e . , in the voxume of debate. I t p re d ic ts th a t the use of e x p e rtise w ill in crease p a r tic ip a tio n by nonexperts. I f the a c tiv ity of nonexperts in c re a se s r e la tiv e to th a t of ex p erts during the controversy, t h i s w ill be counted as evidence in support of th is p ro p o sitio n . P ro p o sitio n IV p re d ic ts th a t during th e controversy as a whole th e re i s a s h if t toward Type 4 (norm ative) arguments. Observance of such a s h i f t w ill be seen as affirm ing th is p ro p o sitio n . F acts, Values, and E xpertise The fin d in g s presented here fo r the an aly sis of f a c ts and values in th e Hersey WFPP controversy la rg e ly r e ly on th e d e riv a tiv e s e t of ta b le s and fig u re s . Some apparent asp ects of the use of e x p e rtise w ill be alluded to in in te p re tin g these d ata. This a n a ly s is of th e October 24, 1978 hearing a t Reed C ity on the Hersey s i t e i s summarized in Table 13. As a sin g le event in time the hearing i s but a c ro ss -s e c tio n of a dynamic so c ia l process. 98 TABLE 13 FACT-VALUE CHARACTERISTICS OF ARGUMENTS IN THE HERSEY WFPP SITE HEARING OF OCTOBER 24, 1978 Arguments by Experts n sum of ratings Arguments by Nonexperts score n sum of ratings score Total n sum of ratings score Proponents 44 51 1.16 72 158 2.19 116 209 1.80 Opponents 40 95 2,38 24 46 1.92 64 141 2.20 26 41 1.58 26 41 1.58 122 245 2.01 206 391 1.90 vO Uncommitted Totals 0 84 146 1.74 I t th e re fo re does not o ffe r the opportunity to evaluate the p ro p o sitio n s (II-IV ) th a t deal w ith the controversy as a whole. Support i s apparent fo r P roposition I inasmuch as the d is tr ib u tio n o f fa c t-v a lu e scores f a l l s nearer the low end of the fa c t-v a lu e sc a le . As w ill s h o rtly become c le a r, th e hearing i s more supportive o f th i s propositon than the OCH d a ta . during th e controversy. Values became more im portant This suggests th a t the hearing i s a sp ecial case not capable of being generalized to th e controversy as a whole. I t i s , however, a b aselin e in d ic a tio n fo r many of the fa c to rs in the OCH a n a ly s is . Consider as w ell th a t opponent nonexpert scores are much lower in the hearing than in th e controversy proper. N evertheless, the re la tio n s h ip between proponent and opponent ex p erts seems to hold tru e fo r both the hearing and the o v e ra ll controversy. In each case proponent ex p erts have a very low score (skewed toward " fa c ts " ) and opponent ex p erts have a s u b s ta n tia lly higher score (skewed toward "v alu es"). A cau tio n i s in order here th a t a p p lie s to th e e n tir e a n a ly sis. F act-value scores should not be in te p re te d as value judgements about the worth of the p a r tic u la r approach taken or the s p e c ific iss u e s debated. Indeed, ju s t because something was debated in the arena of " fa c ts " did not mean i t was f a c tu a l. Many in accu racies and deceptions were bandied about with the la b e l 'f a c t ' during the controversy. In sh o rt, " fa c t" does not imply good and "value" bad, and v ice v ersa. Uncommitted p a r tic ip a n ts were very much in evidence a t the Hersey s i t e hearing (n = 26 argum ents). The uncommitted played such a small p a rt in th e OCH d ata ( n = 12 arguments) th a t, fo r p ra c tic a l 100 and m ethodological reasons, the d ecisio n was made to d e le te them from the primary a n a ly s is . Of th ese 12 arguments, 5 were reported in the i n i t i a l OCH account and were made by an e x p lic itly n e u tra l re p re s e n ta tiv e of th e Michigan United Conservation Clubs. None of the issu e s ra ise d by uncommitted p a r tie s were u n an ticip ated or unrecognized by the proponents and opponents. Tables 14-16 broadly o u tlin e th e controversy. discussed in tu rn below. Table 14 shows th e temporal d is tr ib u tio n of accounts and arguments. revealed by these d a ta . Each i s Three peaks in th e debate a re c le a rly The f i r s t and g r e a te s t peak i s in the January-February 1979 in te rv a l when c o n f lic t enveloped the announcement th a t Hersey had been sele c te d over Harlan and W hitehall as the s i t e fo r th e WFPP. The f lu r r y of a c tiv ity on both s id e s a t t h i s time e sta b lish e d th e watershed fo r the controversy. The number of arguments ra ise d in th is in te rv a l i s more than double th a t of o th er in the d isp u te. The second peak occurred a t th e end of 1979* I t corresponds to th e period of in te n se c itiz e n concern about the p o s s ib ility th a t s o lid o r to x ic waste would be burned in th e p la n t. The th ird peak appeared in th e May-June 1980 in te rv a l when the u t i l i t i e s withdrew from th e venture a f t e r f a ilin g to g e t a speedy response to th e ir req u est fo r a perm it from Hersey township to experim entally burn RDF. Table 15 d isp la y s the o v e ra ll volume of the debate. I t tu rn s out th a t proponents and opponents a re reasonably close in number of arguments but, as th e tren d in Table 16 shows, proponents dominated th e debate e a rly while th e opponents gained th e upper hand during th e r e s t o f the controversy. Also evident in Table 15 i s the 101 TABLE 14 TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF HERSEY WFPP ACCOUNTS AND ARGUMENTS IN THE OSCEOLA COUNTY HERALD, SEPTEMBER 1978 - SEPTEMBER 1980* 1978 Accounts Arguments Percent of All Arguments 1979 1980 4 5_ 13 5 0 29 201 77 0 4 28 10 0 _1 2 3 3 52 7 — 7 8 9 10 11 12 8 12 7 8 14 3 78 6 57 99 33 58 78 31 721 1 8 14 4 8 11 4 100 6 1 Totals ain this and subsequent tables and figures the 12 intervals are consecutive bimonthly periods beginning with September-October 1978 and concluding with July-August 1980. Note the two major peaks, the first at interval 3 and the other at interval 8. Advantage of the natural break at interval 5 was taken to divide the controversy into Phases I and II for purposes of summarizing the data in the remaining tables. TABLE 15 QUANTITY AND SOURCE OF ARGUMENTS Total By Experts By Nonexperts Proponents 198 57% 148 43% 100% = 346 Opponents 183 49% 192 51% 100% = 375 Totals 381 53% 340 47% 100% = 721 103 TABLE 16 TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF ARGUMENTS Phase I Experts Phase II Total 224 58% 159 42% 100% = 383 164 82% 36 18% 100% 60 33% 123 67% 100% = 183 135 40% 203 60% 100% = 338 Proponents 63 43% 83 57% 100% = 146 Opponents 72 38% 120 63% 100% = 192 Proponents Opponents Nonexperts 104 = 200 r e la tiv e ly la rg e r load th a t ex p erts c a rrie d fo r the proponents. The ta b le shows opponent c o n trib u tio n s to be evenly divided between ex p erts and nonexperts. Table 16 b e tte r re v e a ls an im portant fe a tu re of the controversy, th a t e x p e rts fo r the proponents seem to hold sway a t the beginning o f the controversy while e x p erts fo r the opponents move on top as th e d isp u te develops. For both proponents and opponents, nonexperts g radually increased in importance during the controversy. Nonexperts began to carry more of the debate fo r both in the l a t e r sta g e s. P ro position I i s only weakly supported by th is a n a ly sis as shown in Table 17. The p o stu lated o v e ra ll emphasis on f a c ts i s im plied by a fa c t-v a lu e score of 2.38. Table 17 i l l u s t r a t e s th a t, as might be expected, e x p erts a re more " fa c t" o rie n te d than are nonexperts. I t also suggests th a t proponents are more o rien ted to the " fa c ts " and opponents to "v alu es." Non-expert opponents score reasonably close to th e ir proponent c o u n terp arts. In general proponents' arguments more o fte n f a l l toward the " fa c t" side of the led g er and opponents' arguments toward th e "values" sid e in the controversy. P ro p o sitio n I I i s supported by the marked tendency fo r expert c o n trib u tio n s to the debate to s h if t toward th e v alues end of the sc a le (Tables 18 and 19). s h if t. Experts of both s tr ip e s experienced th is In f a c t th e debate as a whole follow s th is tre n d . Consider as w ell th a t the s h i f t occurs fo r opponent ex p erts even though they s t a r t from a much higher base than proponent ex p erts. Proponent ex p erts seem to wind up where the opponent ex p erts began, r e la tiv e 105 TABLE 17 CHARACTERISTICS OF ARGUMENTS RATED ON THE FACT-VALUE SCALE By Experts n sum of ratings By Nonexperts score n sum of ratings Total score n sum of ratings score Proponents 198 368 1.86 148 366 2.47 346 734 2.12 Opponents 183 471 2.57 192 508 2.65 375 979 2.61 Totals 381 839 2.20 340 847 2.57 721 1713 2.38 TABLE 18 FACT-VALUE SCORES FOR EXPERTS AND NONEXPERTS Phase I Experts Phase II Total 1.83 2.70 2.19 Proponents 1.74 2.27 1.84 Opponents 2.05 2.83 2.57 2.51 2.63 2.59 Proponents 2.51 2.51 2.51 Opponents 2.51 2.73 2.65 Nonexperts 107 TABLE 19 QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF ARGUMENTS BY EXPERTS Phase I Experts Arguments Percent of Arguments in Time Period Sum of Fact-Value Ratings for Experts Phase II Total/Mean 224 159 383 62 31 53 409 430 839 1.83 2.70 2.19 Fact-Value Scores for Experts 108 to the sc a le . Support fo r P ro p o sitio n I I i s enhanced i f i t is assumed th a t e x p erts recognize and respond to the demand fo r deference to m atters of value as the controversy progresses. Experts are , p ro p o rtio n a te ly , a much more s ig n if ic a n t p a rt of the controversy a t i t s beginning. Table 19 suggests th a t they tend to s tic k c lo se r to m atters of f a c t a t th is stag e . Note once again in Table 19 th e tendency fo r values to become p a rt of the re p e to ire of e x p e rts. The r is e in t h e ir fa c t-v a lu e scores p la in ly supports P ro p o sitio n I I . Support fo r P ro p o sition I I I can a lso be found in th e data summarized in Table 19. I t shows a d isp ro p o rtio n a te r is e in a l l arguments r e la tiv e to those by e x p e rts. i l l u s t r a t e d by Figure 3 . This r e la tio n s h ip i s b e tte r The growth of p a r tic ip a tio n by nonexperts r e la tiv e to ex p erts i s p a r tic u la r ly evident in the l a t e r phase of the d isp u te . These d ata can be in te p re te d to mean th a t in je c tio n of e x p e rtise with d ivergent view points in to a controversy w ill stim u la te f u rth e r debate. Turning to the q u a lity of the debate, Figure 4 shows th a t e x p e rts ' fa c t-v a lu e sco res, although g en erally lower, do not seem to be out of ste p w ith a l l sco res. E xperts may be follow ing th e trend toward normative iss u e s r a th e r leading i t . The fig u re shows the in crease in expert debate about values (in support of P roposition I I ) and the general tendency fo r in creasin g debate about m atters of value ( in support of P ro p o sitio n IV). F in a lly , comparison of fa c t-v a lu e scores fo r proponent and opponent ex p erts (F igure 5) shows them to be f a i r l y clo se, with opponent ex p erts apparently being much more w illin g to in co rp o rate 109 200 190 180 170 160 150 MO 130 120 110 110 100 1 2 3 'I 5 6 Experts --------Total - - - - Fig. 3 Quantity of expert arguments relative to total 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 Ill 2 1 1 2 3 *1 5 6 7 8 Experts Fact-Value Scores Total Fact-Value Scores Fig. 4. Quality of arguments by experts relative to total 9 10 II 12 3 112 2 1 Proponent Experts Opponent Experts Fig. 5. a --------- - - - - Fact-value scores for arguments by experts q u estio n s of value in to tb e ir a rse n a l. This Im plies th a t vigorous a tte n tio n to v alues i s an advantage in teohnical c o n tro v e rsie s. The success o f the opponents may stem from th e ir w illin g n ess to embrace value iss u e s . 113 CHAPTER 6 LOCAL AND COSMOPOLITAN ORIENTATIONS IN THE CONTROVERSY In tro d u ctio n This case study i s e s p e c ia lly in te re s tin g from a so c io lo g ic a l persp ectiv e because i t involves a remote nom etropolitan community. P ro te st ag ain st such f a c i l i t i e s u su ally a r is e s in an urban community. As pointed out in th e l a s t chapter, valued am enities surrounding Hersey a ttra c te d newcomers to th e are a . Along w ith these m igrants have come new values and o rie n ta tio n s , s ig n if ic a n tly in cre asin g plu ralism in lo c a l p o litic s . This change i s r e fle c te d in the c h aracter of th e Hersey p la n t opposition — i . e . , young, w ell educated, and re c e n tly introduced to th e area from urban areas to th e south. They showed a commitment to preserving th e values th a t had a ttr a c te d them to Hersey. On the face of i t , o rie n ta tio n to cosmopolitan ("save our f o re s ts " ) r a th e r than lo c a l concerns sparked th e controversy, e f fe c tiv e ly matching th e cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n ("America needs the energy") o f the WFPP promoters. a c tu a lly much more complex. However, the s itu a tio n i s Local as w ell as cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n s are evident in arguments made on both s id e s . 114 The o p p o sitio n became reg io n al in scope. I t was e x p lic itly in tune with the su p ra -n a tio n al movement a g a in st la rg e -s c a le technologies. CRUF sought to p ro te c t th e f o r e s ts of Michigan in th e public i n te r e s t, arguing th a t rep lac in g lab o r in te n siv e technology with energy and c a p ita l in te n siv e technology would c u r ta il sm a ll-sca le logging and firewood use (CRUF, 1980b). By means of such arguments i t was able to m obilize lo c a l in t e r e s t s , not the l e a s t of which was th e th re a t to lo c a l firewood su p p lie s. P lant promoters, on th e o th er hand, touted th e i n t e r e s t of the s ta te in meeting fu tu re energy needs from indigenous sources. The lo c a l community would be c a lle d upon to serve the la rg e r community. N evertheless, they argued, lo cal in te r e s ts could be w ell served by the a d d itio n a l tax base and employment o p p o rtu n itie s created by the dem onstrational WFPP. A d e ta ile d ev a lu atio n of o rie n ta tio n s in th e controversy i s s e t out in t h i s chapter. Two underlying fe a tu re s of cosm opolitan-local o rie n ta tio n in te c h n ic a l c o n tro v e rsie s are prominent in the Hersey case. R esistance to tec h n ic a l change im p lic it in s itin g d isp u te s a r is e s a t le a s t in p a rt from o rie n ta tio n to lo c a l autonomy ( in response to the pow erlessness in h ere n t in th e pervasive influence of e x p e rtis e ), as w ell as from an o r ie n ta tio n to cosmopolitan in t e r e s t s (a re a c tio n to the abrogation o f v alu es epitomized by reductionism in scien ce)(N elk in , 1979c). Science and technology seem to be taking over, thereby th re a te n in g cherished v alues lik e a b i l i t y to p a r tic ip a te in dem ocratic d ecisio n making in the community. Local o r ie n ta tio n in s it i n g d isp u tes r e s ts on th e paramount concern th a t the lo c a l community may be calle d upon to bear the so c ia l co sts of a 115 p ro je c t th a t w ill b en e fit a much broader co nstituency. Both f a c e ts o f t h i s re s is ta n c e to change are obvious in th e Hersey controversy. Two p ro p o sitio n s are put to th e t e s t in th is phase of the study. Each i s presented and b r ie fly discussed next. PROPOSITION V: In te c h n ic a l co n tro v e rsie s p ro je c t promoters ignore lo c a l in t e r e s ts and, based upon a perceived cosmopolitan mandate, seek to define d ecisio n s as te c h n ic a l and to impose these d ecisio n s on the lo c a l community. Caldwell e t a l . (1976) provide a cogent d iscu ssio n of the source of t h i s tendency. They are w ell worth quoting a t len g th here: . . . When a ctin g w ith s ta tu to ry or corporate a u th o rity , [p u b lic and co rp o rate] o f f i c i a l s c h a r a c te r is tic a lly assume a r o le of r e c titu d e . Thus they tend to view the in te rp o s itio n of so -c a lle d public i n te r e s t groups (e. g . , on behalf of environmental p ro te c tio n ) as o b s tr u c tio n is t meddling. The acrimony c h a ra c te riz in g many environmental d isp u tes r e f l e c t s moral in d ig n atio n f e l t on both sid e s of the controversy. The environm entally concerned c itiz e n sees the p u b lic or business o f f i c i a l as s a c r if ic in g or betray in g th e i n t e r e s t of s o c ie ty a t la rg e fo r some sp ec ial economic or p o l itic a l purpose th a t i s su b sta n tiv e ly or m orally wrong whatever i t s le g a lity . The o f f i c i a l s see the p ro te s te rs as self-ap p o in ted troublem akers in te r f e r in g w ith the o rd e rly , law ful, and e f f i c i e n t processes of government and business. By what r ig h t, they ask, does t h i s s e lf - in te r e s te d m inority burden and delay the conduct of p u b lic business fo r which s o c ie ty , in i t s wisdom, made them and not th e p ro te s te rs resp o n sib le? ( x iii- x iv ) Apparent in t h i s statem ent i s th e s tra te g y of c itiz e n opposition groups. M otivated by cosmopolitan concerns, they m obilize lo c a l resources to d e fe a t p ro je c ts they regard as serving s p e c ia l in t e r e s t s . This s tra te g y can be s ta te d in the guise of a p ro p o sitio n : 116 PROPOSITION VI: In tech n ic a l co n tro v ersies lo c a l oppo sitio n groups advooating a cosmoplltan o r ie n ta tio n u t i l i z e lo c a l I n te r e s ts to r e s i s t the plans of p ro je c t promoters. A b r ie f foray in to the l i t e r a t u r e rounds out th is in tro d u c tio n . Some c o n sid e ratio n i s given general fin d in g s on cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s In r u ra l communities. S p ecific observations about the r e la tiv e importance of cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s in te c h n ic a l co n tro v e rsie s are a lso brought in to the review. A number of the works c ite d in the In tro d u ctio n allude to cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s . Often th is d is tin c tio n i s posed in terms of urban versus r u ra l o rie n ta tio n (e. g . , Caine, 1979; Tichenour e t a l . , 1980). Much of what was said in th e l a s t chapter about urban and ru ra l d iffe re n c e s in v alues also a p p lie s to o rie n ta tio n s . O rien tatio n s are the a c tio n s tr a te g ie s by which v alues a re achieved. As a r e s u l t , value d iffe re n c e s w ill o fte n tu rn up as d iffe re n c e s in o r ie n ta tio n . Seme correspondence is to be expected between u rb an -ru ra l d iffe re n c e s in o rie n ta tio n s as w ell as v alu es. S a lie n t o rie n ta tio n issu e s of l i f e s t y l e , lo cal autonomy, economic development, and th e lik e r e f l e c t basic v alu es. Accordingly, as was tru e in the case of fa c ts -v a lu e s , th e re i s no sharp cleavage between urban and r u ra l communities in m atters of o rie n ta tio n . R ather, th e re i s , as C hristenson (1981) and Caine (1979) imply, an u rb an -ru ra l continuum in the range of so c ia l c h a r a c te r is tic s . D ivergent o rie n ta tio n s , lik e divergent values, in c re a sin g ly co ex ist in sp arsely populated r u ra l areas th a t have re c e n tly experienced in -m ig ratio n . A ldrich and Mack (1979a, 1979b, 1979c), C lu e tt e t a l . (1979), Cortese (1979), and Sokolow (1978, 117 1981) address the q u a lita tiv e changes engendered by the turnaround i n these terms. In c o n tra st to th is so c ia l flu x , i t i s w ell worth remembering th a t tr a d itio n a l ru ra l communities tend to be in fle x iD le regarding change (C lu e tt e t a l . f 1979). While ig n oring th e turnaround Tichenour e t a l . (1980) and Caine (1979) look a t urban and r u ra l d iffe re n c e s as they might r e la te to c o n flic t in r u r a l s itu a tio n s . Caine fin d s th a t th e general ru le which holds th a t urban communities are p l u r a l i s t i c and r u ra l communities homogeneous ceases to be tru e pursuant to changes engendered by the turnaround. Tichenour e t a l . m aintain the d is tin c tio n fo r purposes of th e ir a n aly sis of the impact of the media in ru ra l-b a se d d isp u tes. However, the oases they study, in p a r tic u la r p ro te s ts a g ain st pow er-line s itin g , dem onstrate the emerging p luralism in nonm etropolitan areas. This d is s e r ta tio n i s le s s concerned w ith examining the changing mix o f values and o rie n ta tio n s in a ru ra l community than i t i s with fin d in g out how they in te r a c t w ith e x p e rtise in tech n ical c o n tro v ersies, A review of the l i t e r a t u r e on th is to p ic re in fo rc e s the approach taken in th i s study. In g en eral, technology is d isru p tiv e of o ld er norms (Horowitz, 1964). P ro te st groups f ig h t to preserve values l o s t in the course of technological progress (N elkin, 1979a). One's response depends on h is or her o rie n ta tio n . Long-time re s id e n ts and r u ra l in-m igrants g re a tly esteem the physical and s o c ia l am enities of the ru ra l l i f e - s t y l e . Both lo c a l and cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n s among Hersey WFPP opponents r e f le c t t h i s v alu e. P art and parcel of th is esteem are environmental v alues, a to p ic which o fte n fin d s newcomers and oldtim ers in 118 agreement (A ldrich and Mack, 1979a, 1979c)* Local o rie n ta tio n to environmental problems i s g re a tly influenced by b e lie f about la rg e r issu e s (cosmopolitan o r ie n ta tio n ) . Mazur (1975), Aldrich and Mack (1979c), and Caine (1979) fin d th a t opposition lead ers are impelled by concerns with la r g e r n atio n al problems. In th e Hersey case d e c e n tra liz a tio n of technology (see H arris, 19781 and i t s s o c io p o litic a l concom itants was an issu e used even by p ro je c t promoters to make th e i r case (see S e lls , 1979)* The tendency for d ecisio n s a ffe c tin g r u ra l communities to be made by o u tsid e i n t e r e s t s i s gaining ground in lo c a l a f f a ir s (C lu ett e t a l . , 1979; C ortese, 1979; Nelkin, 1979a; Tichenour e t a l . , 1980). P ro je c t promoters appear to embody such in t e r e s t s . Increasing dependence on o u tsid e in te r e s ts and corresponding lo s s of lo cal autonomy i s , perhaps, the most s ig n if ic a n t fa c to r in lo cal o rie n ta tio n to s itin g d isp u te s. Promoters u su ally take a fin a n c ia l in te r e s t in a p ro je c t, a fa c t r e fle c te d in th e i r o rie n ta tio n . They proceed w ith a view of economic r a t io n a lity presumed to b e n e fit so c ie ty as a whole (Molotch, 1970; Consumption, Location, and Occupational P atte rn s Resources Group Synthesis Panel, 1980). Their stro n g e st argument in favor of a f a c i l i t y u su a lly i s th e b en e fit of the p ro je ct to the lo c a l economy (N elkin, 1979b). Very o fte n they acquire th e support and a ssista n c e of lo c a l businessmen whose economic o rie n ta tio n is toward the la rg e urban cen ters of c a p ita l and o rg an izatio n al control (A ldrich and Mack, 1979b). I f pressed they may g et in to d iscu ssio n o f environmental tra d e o ffs versus economic b e n e fits (A ldrich and Mack, 1979a). Yet, p ro je c t promoters g en erally try to avoid the 119 d ire c t approach, employing e x p e rtise in ste a d to mask p o lit ic a l choices. This use of e x p e rtise f i t s w ith the tendency of s c ie n t i s t s and engineers to in te r p r e t and define problems as though they were s c ie n tif ic /te c h n ic a l, and then to t r e a t those asp ects as though they are the whole problem (Hoos, 1978). S uffice i t to say here, e x p e rtise i s th e b asic to o l of p ro je c t prom oters. By th i s means they have sought to co n tro l d ecisio n s th a t are c ru c ia l fo r lo cal communities. The mix o f o rie n ta tio n s m irrors th e in creasin g complexity of te c h n ic a l c o n tro v e rsie s. Complexity in tech n ic a l debates i s confusng to the p ublic and foments a d d itio n a l controversy. The r e s u l t , as Nelkin (1979a) p o in ts out, i s th a t ". . . even in the v ario u s s itin g co n tro v e rsie s no amount of d ata [can] reso lv e [th e ] d iffe re n c e s . Each side [uses] te ch n ical inform ation mainly to le g itim a te a p o s itio n based on e x is tin g p r i o r i t i e s . 11 This study attem pts to t e s t th is hypothesis by measuring th e lo c a l and cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n s in the Hersey controversy. Sources of data and information for the a n a ly sis of cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s are in d e n tic a l to those described in th e foregoing ch ap ter. d e ta ils . The reader should r e f e r to th a t s e c tio n fo r The next order of business, then, i s th e method of a n a ly s is . Content A nalysis of Cosmopolitan/Local O rien tatio n s The r a tio n a le fo r and a d e s c rip tio n of content a n a ly sis are provided i n the corresponding s e c tio n of Chapter 5. 120 The type of TABLE 20 COSMOPOLITAN/LOCAL ORIENTATIONS TYPOLOGY 1. COSMOPOLITAN, IN FAVOR. 2. COSMOPOLITAN, AGAINST. 3. LOCAL, IN FAVOR. 4. LOCAL, AGAINST. 5. NOT APPLICABLE OR UNDETERMINABLE. 12 1 TABLE 21 COSMOPOLITAN AND LOCAL ORIENTATION CHARACTERISTICS OF ARGUMENTS IN THE HERSEY WFPP SITE HEARING OF OCTOBER 24, 1978 Cosmopolitan Arguments Local Arguments Total Proponents 65% 35% 100% = 78 Experts 72% 28% 100% = 25 Nonexperts 62% 38% 100% = 53 61% 39% 100% = 49 Experts 79% 21% 100% = 33 Nonexperts 25% 75% 100% = 16 80% 20% 100% = 5 80% 20% 100% = 5 Opponents Uncommitted Experts Nonexperts 122 content a n a ly sis i s the same as th a t fo r the fa c t-v a lu e a n a ly sis. The basic u n its of the a n aly sis are in d iv id u al arguments and bimonthly time in te r v a ls . The Heed C ity hearing on th e Hersey s i t e , held October 24, 1978, and th e 78 accounts th a t appeared in the Osceola County Herald (OCH) are again th e d ata s e t. The c ateg o ries fo r the a n a ly sis are the four types of co sm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s and a re sid u a l category s e t out in Table 20. O rie n ta tio n r e fe r s to a ttitu d e s or b e lie f s th a t can be c h ara cte riz e d as inwardly (lo c a l) or outwardly (cosm opolitan) d ire c te d r e l a t iv e to the community under study. In p ra c tic e the d is tin c tio n r e s t s on the i n te r e s ts served, e ith e r those of the lo c a l community per se or so c ia l u n its outside the community. O rien tatio n bears a r e la tio n s h ip to values s im ila r to th a t of means to ends. Values may m otivate p a rtic u la r o rie n ta tio n s but do not encompass them. O rien ta tio n s re p resen t a c tio n s tr a te g ie s fo r re a liz in g v alu es. An example should serve to show how the typology i s in te p re te d . The DNR promoted th e WFPP because of an abiding i n te r e s t in improving the p ro d u ctiv ity of M ichigan's f o r e s ts . The thinning of f o r e s ts i s a s p in -o ff of the p lan t th a t the DNH a c tiv e ly sought. This i s a cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n to the WFPP. On th e other hand, re s id e n ts o f the Hersey area were concerned about the e f fe c t of the chipping o p eratio n on th e a e s th e tic s of th e ir community. This concern derived from th e ir o rie n ta tio n to the lo c a l community. In each case o rie n ta tio n s proceed from but are an e x te n tio n of values. The nexus of each i s in doing. The two csom opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s p ro p o sitio n s are 123 o p eratio n aliz ed as follow s. P ro p o sitio n V p o stu la te s th a t o rie n ta tio n arguments expressed by p ro je c t proponents are g en erally cosmopolitan and score toward th e low end of the fa c t-v a lu e sc a le . The p ro p o sitio n w ill be viewed as rein fo rced i f th e a n a ly sis shows th ese tendencies. P ro p o sitio n VI p o stu la te s th a t o rie n ta tio n arguments expressed by p ro je c t opponents are g en erally lo c a l, and th e ir arguments, in general score toward th e high end of the fa c t-v a lu e sc a le . Findings in the expected d ire c tio n w ill be taken as evidence in support of the p ro p o sitio n . Cosmopolitan O rien tatio n , Local O rien tatio n , and E xpertise The a n a ly s is of the Kersey s i t e hearing summarized in Table 21 provides b aselin e inform ation on o rie n ta tio n s in the c o n f lic t. Once again, caution should be exercised in g en eralizin g to dynamic so c ia l processes from cro ss-sectioneil d a ta . Analysis of the hearing re v e a ls an emphasis on cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n by proponents, a fin d in g th a t supports P roposition V. fo r the o v e ra ll controversy. This accords w ith the r e s u lt By c o n tra s t, the general tendency fo r opponents to argue from a cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n a t the hearing does not square w ith what was observed in the main a n a ly s is . L it t l e support fo r P ro p o sitio n VI can be found in the hearing d a ta . The fa c t-v a lu e scores fo r the hearing (Table 13) show the r e la tio n s h ip a n tic ip a te d , with proponents being more " fa c t" o rie n te d and opponents more "value" o rie n te d . However, these scores are fa r le s s compelling than those fo r the main a n a ly s is . 124 The in s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e between cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n arguments by ex p erts of both camps in th e hearing i s c o n siste n t what happened in the controversy as a whole. Nonexpert proponents couched th e i r arguments much more freq u en tly in cosmopolitan terms and made m arginally g re a te r use of lo c a lly o rie n te d arguments in th e hearing as compared w ith the controversy. The re la tio n s h ip s enumerated in Tables 22-24 and i l l u s t r a t e d in Figures 6-8 summarize the r e s u lts of the main a n a ly s is . o ffe r support fo r P rop o sitions V and VI. These data Proponents more o ften argue from a cosmopolitan o r ie n ta tio n (Table 22) and opponents from a lo c a l o rie n ta tio n (Table 23). E xperts are on the vanguard of the former tendency, whereas nonexperts tend to lead the way in the l a t t e r case. Comparison of Tables 22 and 23 also re v e a ls a tendency fo r opponents to more re a d ily employ cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n arguments e a rly in the controversy and to s h if t to lo c a lly o riented arguments l a t e r on. There i s very l i t t l e apparent d ifferen ce between proponent and opponent nonexperts in terms of q u a n tity of arguments from a cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n . The fa c t-v a lu e scores in Table 24 — o v e ra ll 2.12 fo r proponents and 2.64 fo r opponents — complete the p ic tu re , showing the expected re la tio n s h ip s . Opponents' scores tend to stay in the 2 .5 -3 .0 range and to s h if t toward th e higher score during the controversy. Proponents' scores s h if t d ram atically toward the value end of the sc a le during the controversy, a trend p a rtly due to th e ir "narrow" in te r e s t in th e f a c ts a t the beginning. In a d d itio n to supporting P ro p o sitio n VI, the re la tio n s h ip s in Figure 6 seem to suggest th a t opponent nonexperts g et busy with 125 TABLE 22 TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF COSMOPOLITAN ORIENTATION ARGUMENTS Phase I Phase II Total Proponents 157 80% 39 20% Experts 119 93% 9 7% 38 56% 30 44% 100% = 62 47% 69 53% 100 % 131 Experts 45 49% 47 51% 100% 92 Nonexperts 17 44% 22 56% 100% 39 219 67% 108 33% 100% = 327 Nonexperts Opponents Total 126 100% = 96 100% = 128 68 TABLE 23 TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF LOCAL ORIENTATION ARGUMENTS Phase I Phase II Total Proponents 46 48% 50 52% 100% = 96 Experts 27 55% 22 45% 100% = 49 Nonexperts 19 40% 28 60% 100% = 47 52 25% 159 75% 100% = 211 Experts 14 23% 46 77% 100% = Nonexperts 38 25% 113 75% 100% = 151 98 32% 209 68% 100% = 307 Opponents Total 127 60 TABLE 24 FACT-VALUE SCORES FOR PROPONENTS AND OPPONENTS Phase I Phase II Total Proponents 1.96 2.44 2.12 Opponents 2.30 2.78 2.61 Mean Scores 2.08 2.67 2.38 128 1 Proponent Nonexperts Opponent Nonexperts Fig. 6. 2 3 * 4 5 6 7 8 9 ---------_ _ _ _ _ Quantity of non-expert arguments from a local orientation 10 11 12 80 70 60 50 130 30 20 10 1 Proponent Experts Opponent Experts Fig. 7. 2 3 *» 5 6 7 8 9 --------- - - - - Quantity of expert arguments from a cosmopolitan orientation 10 11 12 30 20 10 ~ 'V Proponent Experts Opponent Experts Fig. 8. Quantity of expert arguments from a local orientation lo c a l concerns and is s u e s as th e controversy r o l l s to a conclusion. Figure 7 i s le s s supportive of P roposition V because of the p rec ip ito u s f a l l in cosmopolitan o r ie n ta tio n by proponent ex p erts a f t e r the i n i t i a l round. Opponent ex p erts appear to be r e la tiv e ly more w illin g to r a is e cosm opolitar^oriented arguments in the l a t e r stag e s of the controversy, even though they tu rn p rim arily to lo cal o rie n ta tio n a t th is time (see Figure 8 ). Although lo c a l o rie n ta tio n c le a rly becomes more s ig n if ic a n t fo r opponent e x p erts l a t e in the controversy, i t s adoption i s e s p e c ia lly pronounced fo r opponent nonexperts (see Figure 6 ). 132 CHAPTER 7 THE ISSUES IN THE CONTROVERSY In tro d u ctio n The development of iss u e s in th e Hersey controversy provides a d d itio n a l evidence re le v a n t to th e p ro p o sitio n s evaluated in th e l a s t two ch a p ters. For th is reason th e content of arguments was f u rth e r analyzed to determ ine the c a te g o rie s of iss u e s and t h e ir dynamics in th e d isp u te . The r e s u lts a re summarized in th i s chapter and lead beyond the hypotheses to o th er im portant q u estio n s. Links between the p rin c ip le s already supported and th e changing m atrix of is s u e s are emphasized in th is treatm ent. The issu e s o f sca le and c e n tr a liz a tio n in energy development and s it i n g d isp u tes are re le v a n t to th i s a n a ly s is . To r e c ip itu la te b r ie fly , environmental q u a lity l i e s a t th e h e a rt of the so -c a lle d two paths debate. The choice in th e Hersey case i s between sm all- sc a le development of th e resource fo r r e s id e n tia l wood burning ( in a d d itio n to continued sm a ll-sc a le logging) versus w hole-tree h arv e stin g on a la rg e -s c a le to supply fu el fo r th e WFPP. In s itin g d isp u te s a community i s o fte n c a lle d upon to bear th e c o s ts of a p ro je c t th a t w ill b e n e fit o th er a re a s. D isputes over power-plant s it i n g are the epitome of th is kind of o p p o sitio n . 133 At Hersey the community refused to s a c r if ic e lo c a l autonomy to th e s t a t e 's need fo r indigenously produced energy. Issu es of environmental q u a lity and p o l i t i c a l autonomy are a t th e fo re fro n t of th is case. Content A nalysis o f the Issu e s The a n a ly s is o f issu e s r e lie d on th e same d ata sources and b asic u n its as th e foregoing an aly ses. The c a te g o rie sis su e s were not prejudged, save f o r the broad c a te g o rie s — economic, environm ental, and s o c i a l / p o l i t i c a l . Rather, as arguments were coded, a s e t of s p e c ific is s u e s was generated. issu e c ate g o ries " f e l l out" of the a n a ly s is . In th is fash io n th e I te r a tio n insured th a t an adequate and complete s e t of c a te g o rie s was generated. These are presented w ith codes in Table 25. The Hersey s i t e hearing i s once again the harbinger of things to come. Table 26 shows th a t th e sc a le of development, s o lid waste burning, im pacts on th e lo c a l environment, and eco lo g ical impact on th e f o re s ts were already conoerns a t the o u ts e t. Of th ese , the waste issu e occupied a s im ila r prominence in th e debate as a whole. The energy problem in g e n eral, economic b e n e fits/d e trim e n ts to th e area, and adequacy of wood supply fo r th e WFPP were of m arginally lower concern in th e h earin g . Although prominent in both the hearing and the OCH debate, most of these is s u e s would d eclin e in r e la tiv e im portance. However, adequacy of wood supply and b e n e fits/d e trim e n ts to th e area economy, along w ith th e o v errid in g issu e of waste burning, remained high p r i o r i t i e s throughout the controversy. 134 TABLE 2 5 ISSUES IN THE HERSEY CONTROVERSY Code Issue A lo c a l autonomy, p ro te c tio n of way of l i f e AD adequacy of wood supply fo r th e WFPP B economic b e n e fits or detrim ents to the area C abuses of corporate power EC e c o lo g ic al impact, e s p e c ia lly on f o r e s t s o ils and w ild life EF e n e rg e tic e ffic ie n c y of the WFPP EG energy problem in general EQ eq u ity in a llo c a tio n of wood fo r area loggers and home woodburning F decim ation or enhancement of th e f o re s t resource LE im pacts on th e lo c a l environment 0 waste ordinance adopted by Hersey Township in October 1979 R wood as a renewable resource S sc a le and c e n tr a liz a tio n in energy resource development T prospective use fo r and health/environm ental e f f e c ts of burning to x ic wastes W prospective use fo r and health/environm ental e f f e c ts of burning s o lid waste WR u t i l i z a t i o n of unmerchantable wood, a resource argued to be otherw ise wasted 135 TABLE T A B lifc 26 to ISSUE ANALYSIS OF THE HERSEY SITE HEARING OF OCTOBER 24, 1978 Proponents Opponents W 14 6 20 1 S 9 11 20 1 EC 8 6 14 2 LE 8 6 14 2 11 0 11 3 EG 6 5 11 3 AD 5 5 10 4 A 3 5 8 5 EQ 4 4 8 5 F 4 4 8 5 WR 7 0 7 6 C 0 5 5 7 EF 1 1 2 8 R 2 0 2 8 0 0 0 0 - T 0 0 0 - 82 57 139 — B Totals 136 Total Rank Code The s a lie n t Issu es and a strong in d ic a tio n of t h e ir dynamics i s shown in Table 27. The c o n flic t a t f i r s t focused on a rea economic im pact, e f fe c ts of w hole-tree harvesting on f o r e s ts , and adequacy of wood supply fo r th e p la n t. As th e controversy developed, the emphasis s h ifte d to th e burning of s o lid waste and to lo c a l autonomy. Area economic b e n e fits/d e trim e n ts and s o lid waste burning were p e r s is te n t concerns in th e controversy, th e l a t t e r in creasin g in r e la tiv e importance to become the sin g le most Im portant is s u e . The trend i s e s p e c ia lly pronounced i f the la te -b re a k in g is s u e s of to x ic waste and th e waste ordinance passed by Hersey township are lumped in . With resp ect to th e dram atic r is e in th e issu e of lo c a l autonomy, Marco Menezes, one of the opposition e x p erts, a p tly sums up the b a sis fo r th e c o n f lic t: I t ' s the to -h e ll-w ith Hersey a ttitu d e th a t bothers me. The p la n t, i f co n structed, w ill a ffe c t p eo p le 's l i f e s t y l e s . The people here know th a t the area i s depressed and jobs are hard to fin d . But people choose to liv e here anyway. The pace i s slow. The a i r and w ater are clean . We're not w illin g to take a r is k w ith th is woodburning p la n t. I'm of th e mind th a t in d iv id u a ls must a c t in order to p ro te c t t h e ir r ig h ts (M iller, 1979)* In general these d ata give a concrete in d ic a tio n of the g e n e ra liz a tio n s te ste d in connection w ith f a c ts /v a lu e s and o rie n ta tio n s . The r i s e of value iss u e s and th e growing emphasis on lo c a l o rie n ta tio n issu e s are apparent. Issu es were placed in to th re e major c a te g o rie s fo r purposes of th is a n a ly s is . categ o ries ~ The economic, environm ental, and s o c ia l/ p o lit ic a l — are defined in Table 28. The r a tio s o f economic, environm ental, and s o c ia l/p o li tic a l issu e s enumerated in Table 28 are very close to 3:2:1 fo r the 137 TABLE 27 RANKINGS OF ISSUES IN THE CONTROVERSY Total Rank Phase I Rank Phase 1 Rank 96 1 64 1 32 3 80 2 21 5 59 1 64 3 35 3 29 4 62 4 48 2 14 8 54 5 16 6 38 2 42 6 26 4 16 6 31 7 13 9 18 5 29 8 16 6 13 9 29 8 — - 29 4 21 9 14 8 7 12 20 10 7 10 13 9 20 10 14 8 6 12 18 11 15 7 3 13 15 12 0 - 15 7 12 13 3 11 9 10 11 14 3 11 8 11 604 __ 300 __ 304 138 TABLE 28 TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL/POLITICAL ISSUES Proponents Phase I Opponents Phase II Total Phase I Totals Phase II Total Phase I Phase II Total Economic 78 22 100 48 52 100 64 36 100 Environmental 36 64 100 30 70 100 33 67 100 Social/Political 69 31 100 22 78 100 33 67 100 Total 64 36 100 35 65 100 48 52 100 Explanation: The distributions for these categories are expressed in percentages. This table is based on issue categories which are defined as follows (refer to the issue codes in Table 25): Economic = A D + B + E F + E G + F + R + S + W R Environmental = E C + E F + L E + 0 + T + W Social/Political = A + C + E Q + S Note that N is greater here than for issue arguments coded in Table 25 because some issues are double counted for purposes of this classification. controversy as a whole. O verall th e opponents c a rrie d more of the debate In terms of th e major Iss u e s (327 to 277)• Except on economic Issu e s — where proponents have the edge by nearly 2 to 1 - the debate was f a i r l y even during Phase I . Opponents grabbed hold o f s o c ia l/ p o l i t i c a l issu e s in Phase I I , while proponents modestly s h ifte d toward environmental Issu e s. Not s u rp ris in g ly opponents were le s s prepared to mount a response during Phase I . r a t io of th re e to two. They were out-debated 180 to 120 or on a However, the opposition caught f i r e during Phase I I when the fig u re s turned around to 207 to 96, an edge of more than 2 to 1. I. Opponents emphasized th e economic is s u e s in Phase Environmental and s o c ia l/ p o lit ic a l iss u e s became almost twice as prominent in Phase I I . Economic is s u e s dropped o f f by nearly h a lf compared w ith Phase I . Proponents and opponents were even in terms o f arguments on environmental is s u e s o v e ra ll, but opponents moved sh arp ly up f ro n t on these is s u e s during Phase I I . The proponents attem pted to make t h e i r case on economic arguments a t the o u tse t but, oddly enough, th e i r economic arguments f e l l to a t r ic k le in Phase I I when the o p p o sitio n seemed to s te a l t h e i r thunder w ith s o c ia l/ p o l i t i c a l iss u e s . This r e s u lt i s c o n s is te n t w ith the general ob serv atio n of what happens in te c h n ic a l c o n tro v ersies. The d e s c rip tio n of is s u e s completes th e a n a ly sis and serv es to f u rth e r illu m in a te th e controversy in terms of th e foregoing p ro p o sitio n s. The Hersey case ty p ic a lly emphasizes environmental q u a lity and lo c a l autonomy. This d e s c rip tio n shows a p a tte rn g en e rally c o n s is te n t w ith the p o stu lated s h if t s in f a c ts /v a lu e s and o r ie n ta tio n s . 140 CHAPTER 8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Summary This research study has described a case in most re sp e c ts ty p ic a l of co n tro v e rsie s involving s itin g of power production fa c ilitie s . Yet in sane a sp ects i t i s unique. The technology and resource are innovative but th e public response to the proposed f a c i l i t y was not ex ce p tio n al. The use and impact of e x p e rtise foilow ea the p a tte rn e sta b lish e d by previous research , with sane nuances a ttr ib u ta b le to th e turnaround in m igration to ru ra l areas. A b r ie f summary o f the case follow s. Pursuant to an appeal fo r a dem onstrational WFPP by Michigan Governor William M illiken a t h is n atio n a l conference on wood energy development (H iser, 1978), Consumers Power Company, Morbark In d u s trie s , and Wolverine E le c tr ic Cooperative formed a p artn ersh ip to pursue the id e a. Daverman and A ssociates, consulting engineers, was h ire d to do a f e a s i b i l i t y study. C itizen s of Hersey expressed concern a t th i s meeting and subsequently began to explore a lte r n a tiv e view points on the p ro je c t. When Hersey was announced as the s i t e concurrently with the re le a se of the Daverman and A ssociates f e a s i b i l i t y study in February 1979, th e c o n flic t was w ell 141 e sta b lish e d . The Committee fo r the R ational Use of Our F o rests (CRUF) had formed l a t e in December 1978 out of a community study group. CRUF was mainly composed of r e la tiv e newcomers to the area. N evertheless, i t soon c u ltiv a te d a r is in g tid e of community o pposition to th e WFPP. Debate soon became in ten se on the pages of the Osceola County Herald. Feeding t h i s debate was CRUF's p o s itio n paper (1979a), the gro u p 's r e b u tta l to th e Daverman and A ssociates fe a s iD ility study. Promoters were behooved to respond a t length to the challenge. CRUF gained c r e d ib ility in th e exchange, a t le a s t among members of the Hersey community. The controversy ra ise d th e le v e l of public concern about the p o te n tia l adverse impacts of the WFPP. I n i t i a l l y , p o te n tia l harm to the f o r e s ts and the area surrounding th e s i t e fo r the WFPP occupied media accounts. During the f i r s t year of the c o n flic t CRUF sought to stop th e p lan t by lobbying th e Michigan N atural Resources Commission to veto th e plan to a llo c a te wood from s ta te f o re s t land requested by the promoters. When th i s approach f a ile d , CRUF honed in on the issu e of burning RDF in the WFPP. An environmental lawyer was re ta in e d to d r a ft a waste ordinance fo r the township p rio r to the d ecisio n on wood a llo c a tio n by the Michigan DNR. A p e titio n containing 330 sig n a tu re s was then presented to the Hersey Township Board c a llin g fo r adoption of an ordinance to p ro h ib it th e burning of s o lid waste in the p la n t. The s ta te d plan o f the promoters had been fo r a 90-day t e s t burn of s o lid w aste, but CRUF and the p e titio n e rs feared th is would be ju s t the beginning. The board unanimously adopted th e ordinance in November 1979* 142 At f i r s t the u t i l i t i e s countered by try in g to g et the Township Board to throw out th e ordinance. have i t amended. When th is f a ile d , they sought to Lawyers fo r a l l p a r tie s to the dispute met in December 1979 to consider amendments to th e ordinance. An agreement was reached and th e Board amended th e ordinance in January 1980, providing fo r a procedure whereby the u t i l i t i e s could apply fo r a perm it to burn RDF experim entally. The c o n flic t subsided u n til March 1980 when th e u t i l i t i e s ap p lied fo r a perm it fiv e years before the t e s t burn would take p lace. The concern in creased among opponents th a t s o lid or even to x ic waste might become re g u la r fa re fo r the WFPP. Rather than r is k a d ecisio n in the emotion-charged atmosphere th a t ensued, the Hersey Township Board unanimously voted fo r a referendum on the q u estio n of g ran tin g th e u t i l i t i e s a perm it. For the next sev eral months the Osceola County Herald served as a forum fo r numerous rec rim in atio n s by both sid e s in the controversy. The u t i l i t i e s , c itin g t h e i r need fo r "an orderly planning process aimed a t minimizing delays and u n c e r ta in tie s ." withdrew co n sid e ratio n of the Hersey s i t e in May 1980. They had apparently weighed th e s itu a tio n and found l i t t l e reason to hope th a t the community would approve the permit or eventually welcome the WFPP. A number of communities tr ie d to leap in to the breech a f te r the withdrawal was announced. Opposition began to form in many of these communities, in some cases w ith the a s sis ta n c e of CRUF. That the u t i l i t i e s considered th e u n so lic ite d o ffe rs from a dozen or so s ite s may have been a face saving measure a f t e r the Hersey experience. 143 The idea was placed on hold by Consumers Power in August 1980 a f te r Wolverine E le c tric Cooperative withdrew from the venture on grounds of fin an cin g problems. The Impact of Technical E xpertise in the Hersey Controversy This a n a ly sis o f the Hersey controversy re in fo rc e s previous research fin d in g s on th e ro le and impact of te ch n ical e x p e rtise in s itin g d isp u tes. By ca stin g a f in e r net w ith the help of a documentary a n a ly sis, i t adds to th is knowledge, g ra p h ic a lly showing how fa c ts/v a lu e s and cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s in te r a c t with e x p e rtis e . Values were found to be the nexus of c o n f lic t even though the debate appeared to cen ter on th e " f a c ts ." When ex p erts d isag ree they reduce th e impact of fa c tu a l inform ation and, re g a rd le ss of th e ir competence, a f fe c t the outcome by re in fo rc in g e x is tin g values. among e x p e rts. C onflict i s th e re fo re stim ulated by disagreem ents As a r e s u lt, a tr a n s itio n in basic emphasis occurs from te ch n ic a l issu e s to value is s u e s . This study also shows th a t the o p p o sition, although in sp ire d by cosmopolitan concerns, e f fe c tiv e ly used lo c a l o rie n ta tio n to th e controversy in achieving i t s g o a ls. Proponents proceeded from a cosmopolitan o rie n ta tio n , a tendency th a t tapered o ff along with the volume of th e ir argum entation as th e c o n flic t developed. F in a lly , the a n aly sis p o in ts y e t again to widespread public concern about environmental hazards in general and th e disposal of wastes in p a r tic u la r . A stro n g issu e throughout the controversy, waste proved to be c r i t i c a l to th e outcome. 144 The ex p erts fo r the proponents had a high p ro file from the o u tse t of the controversy. They were w e ll-tra in e d tech n ician s and s c ie n ti s t s on the s t a f f of the promoters or h ired as co n su lta n ts. In e ith e r case they were w ell paid and expeoted to do a jo b . The ex p erts fo r the opponents were unpaid v o lu n teers mostly from the lo c a l community. They possessed modest le v e ls of tech n ical tra in in g and experience by comparison w ith proponent e x p e rts. However, the ex p e rtise of the oppo sition group proved adequate in challenging the legitim acy of the ex p e rts employed by the WFPP promoters. As the foregoing general conclusion p o in ts out, disagreem ent among ex p erts overs te c h n ic a l m atters d ir e c ts p ublic a tte n tio n to so c ia l and p o l i t i c a l values. p re re q u is ite . In th a t domain tech n ical e x p e rtise i s not a The outcome of the Hersey controversy a p tly dem onstrates th a t, although fin a n c ia l and p o li tic a l resources can be used to h ire and le g itim a te e x p e rtise , th is i s no guarantee th a t lo c a l communities w ill stand mute when th e ir values are th reaten ed . Policy Im plications Policy im p licatio n s in terms of th re e to p ic s — sca le and c e n tr a liz a tio n in energy development, th e s itin g of la rg e -s c a le energy f a c i l i t i e s , and th e p o litic a l use of tech n ical e x p e rtise — m erit d iscu ssio n based on these r e s u lts . The s itu a tio n is o ste n sib ly more complex today than when Nelkin (1971) id e n tifie d the policy gap between the need fo r energy and fo r p ro te c tio n of the environment. Although the policy gap remains, c itiz e n a c tiv ity has continued to r e fin e th e terms of the debate. 145 Scale and c e n tr a liz a tio n have become the nexus of debate about the d ire c tio n energy policy should encourage. Energy development, in g en eral, and s it i n g o f la rg e -s c a le energy f a c i l i t i e s , in p a r tic u la r , should be of in cre asin g i n t e r e s t to p olicy makers as f o s s i l energy resources are d ep leted . The r o le of e x p erts has become more e g a lita r ia n ; co u n terex p ertise w ill continue to fin d a niche in te ch n ical co n tro v e rsie s. The r e s u lts of th is study are germane to th e p olicy debate about sc a le and c e n tr a liz a tio n in energy development. I t i s once again evident th a t p u b lic concern about environmental q u a lity and e s p e c ia lly th e hazards of power p la n ts continues unabated. This concern extends even to la rg e -s c a le renewable energy resource development in which th e environmental r is k s are presumed to be of a lower order of magnitude. In th is connection i t i s im portant to understand th a t s m a ll-sc a le , d e cen tralized technologies involve consumer choice in which the in d iv id u al consumer assumes h is own r is k s . The s o c ia l choice fo r la rg e -s c a le energy development i s q u a lita tiv e ly d if f e r e n t. This choice re q u ire s opponents to acquiesce to r is k s they do not wish to assume (see Holdren e t a l . , 1980). In t h i s case th e public did not ob ject to th e s n a ll- s c a le uses to which th e resource had been put. Indeed, th e th re a t to th ese uses was a f a c to r m otivating op p o sitio n to th e WFPP. By im p licatio n , energy p o licy th a t recognizes the growing in t e r e s t in sm a ll-sc a le energy tech n ologies would seem to be th e path of le a s t r e s is ta n c e . The h is to ry o f th is case suggests th a t coordination of re g u la to ry a c t i v i t i e s on th e lo c a l, s ta t e , and, by im p licatio n , 146 fe d e ra l le v e ls I s s t i l l needed in connection w ith energy f a c i l i t y s it i n g . S ta te agencies proceeded on th e nyopic assumption th a t the lo c a l community could not have the f in a l say. were wasted in th e process. Resources and time F art and parcel of cooperation on a l l le v e ls of government i s a c le a r understanding of energy policy in terms of fu tu re energy needs, environmental q u a lity , and sc a le and c e n tr a liz a tio n in energy resource development. Renewable reso u rces are by n atu re morelik e ly to be found in nonm etropolitan lo c a tio n s . This study shows th a t i t would be a m istake to take p u blic support fo r granted in such areas. Nonmetropolitan s it i n g of la rg e -s c a le energy f a c i l i t i e s i s le s s lik e ly to succeed today because of increased pluralism in r u ra l a re a s. The newcomers in the population m igration turnaround a re bringing w ith them v alu es, i n te r e s ts , and a b i l i t i e s to oppose c o n tro v e rs ia l developments. Policy as w ell as p ra c tic e by government agencies should pay heed to th is change. F in a lly , the use of e x p e rtise as a to o l to both support and oppose c o n tro v e rsia l p ro je c ts i s th e cu rre n t modus operandi. O pposition groups have learned to c u ltiv a te th e ir own e x p erts in order to e f fe c tiv e ly match those of p ro je c t promoters. At the same time choices in te c h n ic a l co n tro v e rsie s involve competing v alu es as w ell as te c h n ic a l a lte r n a tiv e s . The p u b lic, as N ichols (1979) lu c id ly argues, i s u su ally le s s in te re s te d in th e f a c ts , e s p e c ia lly when they c o n f lic t, than in the choice between d if f e r e n t p o litic a l and s o c ia l valu es. Given the ro le of e x p erts and the com plexities o f the energy problem, the gap between public acceptance of sm allsc a le and la rg e -s c a le energy technologies may not be narrowed by 147 continued r e s o r t to e x p e rtise . Whatever policy u ltim a te ly guides fu tu re energy development, th e p ra c tic e of try in g to d e p o litic iz e issu e s by h irin g e x p e rts w ill undoubtedly be re-ev alu ated as c itiz e n oppo sitio n groups continue to stymie la rg e -s c a le p ro je c ts . B e tte r methods of reso lv in g " te c h n ic a l" d isp u tes are required and v i l l lik e ly take the form of Increased public p a rtic ip a tio n in d ecisio n making. The q u estio n fo r th e p a r tie s to co n tro v ersial p ro je c ts to ponder i s the n a tu ral so c io lo g ic a l process versus how to g et things done. The n atu ral process need not be repeated w ithout in te rv e n tio n . I t i s w ith in the power of the so cia l u n its involved to pre-empt c o n flic t and r e s to r e e x p e rtise to th e c o n s u lta tiv e ro le i t id e a liz e s . Suggestions fo r Further Research The use of content a n aly sis to study public co n tro v ersies appears to be a f r u i t f u l technique. Refinement of the technique for t h i s purpose c a lls fo r ad d itio n a l a p p lic a tio n s. At th e same time the ex ten t to which these r e s u lts might be generalized aw aits f u rth e r a p p lic a tio n s to energy f a c i l i t y s itin g c o n tro v e rsie s. In th i s connection, study of an e x istin g p a r a lle l case i s d e s ira b le . The 50-MW WFPP proposed fo r B urlington, Vermont o ffe rs a unique case rip e fo r comparative study. In c o n tra st w ith Hersey, Burlington i n i t i a l l y embraced the id ea. I t overwhelmingly passed a bond iss u e to fund th e p ro je c t. However, opposition quickly developed th e re , lead in g to the d ecisio n in the F a ll of 1979 to buy 148 power from O ntario Hydro in ste a d of building th e WFPP. Because content a n a ly sis i s an unobtrusive measure ap p licab le to past cases, i t would be f e a s ib le to analyze newspaper accounts of th is controversy as w e ll. This and fu tu re cases of renewable energy development co n tro v e rsie s might b e n e fit from the c r i t i c a l use of the techniques and p ro p o sitio n s elaborated in th is d is s e r ta tio n . Survey research on fu tu re cases i s a lso recommended. A d iv e rs ity of research s tr a te g ie s should help r e fin e understanding of ex p erts and so c ia l change. The so c ia l movement described by such phrases as "voluntary sim p lic ity " and "b ack -to -th e-lan d " deserves f u rth e r a tte n tio n from so c ia l s c ie n ti s t s . Rural re tu rn m igrants with a cosmopolitan outlook seem to be e f fe c tiv e ly involving themselves in lo c a l p o l itic s . F ield and survey s tu d ie s of the movement, p a r tic u la rly in connection with te c h n ica l c o n tro v ersies, could enrich s tu d ie s s im ila r to the one j u s t rep o rted . 149 NOTES 1. Nelkin (1977) summarizes th e ro o ts and scope of the environmental movement in terms of the impact of technology on s o c ie ty . 2. Frankena (1980) suggests th a t a more h o l i s t i c approach i s emerging in th e understanding of energy, but th a t th is approach remains a small component of work in th e so c ia l scien ces. 3. See also Lovins (1978). A f u rth e r measure of the Importance of the debate i s th e outpouring of research and w ritin g on i t s v ario u s f a c e ts . See, fo r example, Messing e t a l . (1976) and the bibliography by Ohi e t a l . (1980). 4. 0. S. S e lec t Committee on Small Business and th e Committee on I n te r io r and In su la r A ffairs (1976). Appendicies in a sep arate volume under the same t i t l e to ta l 1553 pages. 5. The other major an a ly sis in th is study considers cosmopolitan and lo c a l o rie n ta tio n s in th e controversy and i s s im ila rly introduced in the ensuing s e c tio n on s itin g d isp u tes and tre a te d a t len g th in Chapter 6 . 6. See Mazur (1975) fo r a d iscu ssio n of th e connection between lo c a l d isp u tes and the r i s e and f a l l of in te r e s t in la rg e r v alu es of broad n a tio n a l sig n ific a n c e . P a r tic u la r ly re le v a n t to t h i s case study i s the anomaly he fin d s between r is e of the environmental movement and o p p o sitio n to nuclear power p la n ts but not to f o s s i l fu e l power p la n ts. Mazur c ite s evidence th a t f o s s i l fu el p la n ts p o llu te more. He suggests th a t novelty i s th e f a c to r causing g re a te r public concern about nuclear power p la n ts . I t may be th a t novelty was a f a c to r in th e Hersey controversy. Moreover, aside from the novelty of th e technology g re a te r re s is ta n c e to te ch n ic al innovations or change in general i s o fte n c h a r a c te r is tic of nonm etropolitan communities. 7. An extensive review of the s itin g l i t e r a t u r e i s beyond th e scope of th i s study. C lu e tt e t a l . (1979) provide a thorough review on community response to energy f a c i l i t y s itin g in a l l phases of the development process. An annotated bibliography i s appended to the review , reproduced w ith minor abridgement in C lu ett e t a l . (1980). 8. See note 6 . The Council on Environmental Q uality (1980) summarizes survey evidence on continued av ersio n to the s itin g of power p la n ts near the resp o n d en t's home. 9. Mazur (1975) documents th e ups and downs of of o pposition to n uclear power p la n ts. N elk in 's ground-breaking case study of the proposal to build a nuclear power p la n t on Lake Cayuga a t Ith a c a , New York l i s t s and summarizes e ig h t nuclear power p lan t s it i n g d isp u tes th a t occurred between 1958 and 1968 , th e f i r s t being Bodega Head, C a lifo rn ia (see Hudgepeth, 1965; Caldwell e t 150 a l . , 1976). 10. M olotoh's ( 1970 ) case study of an environmental accident documents the problem of one-sided e x p e rtis e . He found th a t most of the e x p erts were beholden to th e o i l com panies., a s itu a tio n th a t led to q u estio n in g of th e c r e d ib ility of these e x p e rts. Rozak, quoted in M arshall (1979, an a r t i c l e on adverse p u b lic opinion about toward science and technology), p o in ts out th a t people have learned e x p e rtise oan be bought and, as a r e s u lt, th e ex p erts used to le g itim a te government plans are lo sin g p u blic sympathy. 11. Caldwell e t a l . (1979) provides an e s p e c ia lly cogent d iscu ssio n . He p o in ts out th a t th e decision-m aking process must be opened to the p u b lic simply because government agencies and energy conglomerates do not have a l l th e e x p erts. Much of th e in te r e s t in p u blic p a r tic ip a tio n in te c h n ic a l d ecisio n s i s r e la te d to energy technology development (e . g*, Caldwell e t a l . , 1976; Hendricks, 1978; Ravetz, 1978). 12. This d iscu ssio n r e l i e s heav ily on Ravetz (1978). 13. All re fe re n ce s fo r c ita tio n s of the OCH can be found in Appendix I I . 14. See S u lliv an and M ullln (1980) fo r a bibliography of the l i t e r a t u r e on th is su b je c t. 15. PBB i s th e acronym fo r polybrominated biphenyl, a complex organic chemical used as a f i r e r e ta rd a n t. I t was f i r s t produced in the 1970's (Egginton, 1980). 16. See Coyer and Schwerin (1981) fo r a p o litic a l case study of d is s a tis f a c tio n among farm ers and th e response by reg u lato ry agencies. 17. PBB: An American Tragedy (Chen, 1979) and The Poisoning of Michigan (Egginton, 1980). 18. Tichenour e t a l . (1980) propose "phases of c o n f lic t" th a t are n early congruent w ith the Mazur scheme, but use d iff e r e n t terminology and focus more on th e ro le of communication. The stag e s id e n tif ie d a re ( 1) i n i t i a t i o n , ( 2 ) c o n f lic t d e fin itio n , (3) p u b lic phase, (4) one or more le g itim a tio n phases, and (5) o th er phases, depending upon th e natu re, e x te n t, and organized b asis fo r the c o n f lic t. The public phase re q u ire s reco g n itio n o f the issu e by d if f e r e n t segments of the community and g en erally involves secondary communication, e. g. v ia the newspaper. By t h i s c r ite r io n th e Hersey controversy reached th e public phase very q uickly. The c o n flic t d e f in itio n phase was almost in stan tan eo u s, a fu n ctio n perhaps of the barrage of public hearings in September/October 1978. 151 19. The read er i s urged to compare th e chronology In Table 7 with Tables 8 and 9, and to r e f e r to i t in d ig e stin g t h i s s e c tio n . 20. The fla v o r of th is debate can be gathered from th e cap tio n s fo r the l e t t e r s (see Appendix 1 ). 21. Hearings were held a t W hitehall on October 10, 1978; Mesick (re : the Harlan s it e ) on October 17, 1978; and Reed C ity ( re : th e Hersey s i t e ) on October 24, 1978. 22. Table 11 reproduces th e "general conclusions . . regarding th e a ttitu d e s p re v a ilin g a t a l l th re e [prime s i t e ] m eetings" from the Daverman and A ssociates f e a s i b i l i t y study. 152 APPENDIX I Osceola County Herald Accounts of th e Hersey WFPP Controversy L isted In chronological order a re th e 78 accounts r e la te d to th e Hersey controversy from the Osceola County Herald, September 1978 to September 1980. They a re l i s t e d by d ate, t i t l e , type of account (N = news item , L = l e t t e r to th e e d ito r, and C = column), and page number(s). (1) 9-28-78 "Hersey S ite Chosen fo r Chipping P lan t" (2) 10-19-78 "New P lant Could Provide Jobs" (3) 10-26-78 "Opinions S p lit on P lan t Near Hersey" (ll) 11- 3 0 -7 8 "Wood Chipping: The F u tu re 's Energy Source" (5) 12-14-78 "Hersey R esidents Plan Meeting" (6 ) 12-21-78 "Hersey R esidents Not Sold on P lant" (7 ) 1-4-79 "O pposition Mounting to Wood-Energy P lant" (8) 1-18-79 "Hersey S ite L ikely Choice fo r P ilo t P lant" (9) 1-25-79 "Hot Time in Hersey" (10) 1-25-79 "Young Explains Success of Vermont P lant" (11) 1-25-79 "Dense F o rests Tend to 'Over Crowd' Growth C onditions" (N): 7. (12) 1-31-79 "Wood Chip Executive Speaks Out: Hersey S t i l l Probable S ite " (N): 3 ,5 . (13) 1-31-79 "Wood chip P lan t Meeting Set February 8 " (14) 2-8-79 "Hersey S ite Selected f o r Wood P lant" (15) 2-8-79 "Wood Chip Energy P lan t: Area Wood Pulp C u tters, F o re ste rs Have Doubts" (N): 8 B. (16) 2-15-79 "200 Attend Hersey Wood Chip P lant Meeting" (17) 2-15-79 "Hersey Woodchip P lant Monster" (18) 2-28-79 "How and Why: Morbark Ventures R eplies to CRUF's 12 Questions Concerning Wood Chip P lant" (N): 1 ,5 ,8 . (19) 2-28-79 "Wood Chip P lant — Enter the Big Boys" 153 (N): 1. (N): 3 . (N): 1,3. (N): 3. (N): 1. (N): 1. (N): 1,2. (N): 1. (C): 4. (N): 7* (N): 3* (N): 1,3. (N): 1. (C): 4. (L): 4. (20) 3-15-79 "On th e Wood Chip P lant" (21) 3-22-79 "News from the Committee fo r R ational Use of Our F o rests" (N): 9. (22) 4-5-79 "Wood Fuel Could Solve Energy Problems: Says Oregon O ffio ia l" (N): 3. (23) 4-5-79 "Once Upon a Time" (24) 4-12-79 "The Wood Chip Controversy: Pro: Money'sA Key Con: Use i s I n e f f ic ie n t" (N): 3.8B. (25) 8-23-79 "Commitment fo r Waste Wood Sought" (26) 9-6-79 "D ecision of Waste Wood Commitment Expected" (27) 9-13-79 "CRUF Continues B a ttle Against Proposed P lant" (L): 2. (28) 9-13-79 "DNR Delays Wood D ecision" (29) 10-11-79 "Auctions May Fuel Hersey P lant" (30) 10-18-79 "Wood Chip P lant Fuel Supply Approved fo r 10 Years" (N): 1. (31) 10-18-79 "W hat's R eally Being Planned fo r th e Hersey Area?" (C): 4. (32) 10-25-79 "Wood Chip P lant Closing December 1" (33) 10-25-79 "CRUF Reaffirms Stand Opposing Hersey Wood Chip P lant" (N): 1. (34) 11-1-79 "T h ere's More Than One Way to Fight Back" (35) 11-8-79 "Wood Chip P lant Proponent R e ta lia te s " (36) 11-8-79 "Commissioners Urged to Reconsider" (37) 11-15-79 "Vermont Wood Chip P lant Shelved" (38) 11-15-79 "C o n tradictions A rise About Proposed Wood Chip P lant" (C): 2 . (39) 11-29-79 "Scrambling to the Need" (40) 12-13-79 "County Seeks Assurance from U t ilit y Firms" (N): 1. (41) 12-13-79 "W illson Appointed to Post a t Hersey P lant" (N): 3. 154 (C): 4. (C): 4. . . . (N): 1. (N): 1. (N): 3* (N): 3- (N): 1. (C): 4. (L): 4. (C): 4. (N): 1. (L ): 4. (42) 12-20-79 "Hersey Township Approves Proposed P lant" (43) 12-20-79 "Controversy Continues: S o lid Haste Ordinance Under F ire " (N): 1. (44) 12-27-79 "Amendments to be Presented a t January Township Meeting" (N): 1. (45) 12-27-79 "Board Commended" (46) 1-3-80 [Y ear's top s to r ie s in Osceola County; Hersey HFPP controversy ranked 3rd] (N): 1. (47) 1-3-80 "Ordinance Sparks Reaction" (48) 1-10-80 "C itizen s C all Meeting" (49) 1-10-80 " U tility Company Plans Outlined by Manager" (50) 1-24-80 "Hersey Township Amends Ordinance; T u es., Jan. 15 Meeting" (N): 1. (51) 1-31-80 "Wood H arvesting Becoming a Big Business" (52) 2-7-80 "An A ltern ativ e Look" (53) 3-13-80 "Controversy R esurfaces: Hersey Township" (54) 4-3-80 "Hearing on Proposed Hersey P lant on A pril 10" 1,6B. (55) 4-3-80 " Is Something Rotten in Hersey" (56) 4-3-80 "O stling D iscusses Hood P lant a t 'Town M eeting' in E vart" (N): 3.7B. (57) 4-17-80 "RDF Hot Issue in Hersey" (58) 4-17-80 "D on't Become S t a t e 's In c in e ra to r" (59) 4-24-80 " U t i l i t i e s to R e-evaluate S ite : Hood P lant S t i l l Hot Issu e" (N): 1. (60) 4-24-80 "Your Choice: Fact or F ictio n " (61) 5-1-80 "Consumers Power Asks, Answers Q uestions" (62) 5-1-80 "CRUF and R esidents Did What They Set Out to Do" (L): 4. (63) 5-1-80 "Somewhat D isto rted Reasoning" (64) 5-8-80 "Fight F acts Were Presented" 155 (N): 1. (C): 4. (L): 4. (N): 1. (L): 4. (N): 1. (N): 1. (N): 3• (N): (C): 2. (N): 1,4B. (L): 4. (L): 4. (L): 4. (L): 2. (N): 1. (65) 5-22-80 "Hersey Nixed as Wood P lant S ite " (66) 5-29-80 "More CRUF F ic tio n " (67) 5-29-80 "No Shred of Democracy L eft" (68) 6-5-80 "Cause of Accuracy Not Well Served" (69) 6-5-80 "Addresses Point" (70) 6-5-80 "Konchar Trying to Obscure What Took Place" (71) 6-5-80 "CRUF I s Not Short on F acts" (72) 6-12-80 "Here We Go Again" (73) 6-12-80 "Facts Support Wood P lant C onstruction" (74) 6-19-80 "Local Towns O ffer S ite s fo r P lant" (75) 6-19-80 "Farw ell to Host Wood P lant Meeting" (76) 7-31-80 "The Demise of the Hersey Woodburner - - Why and How?" (C): 5B. (77) 8-14-80 "Gas Line Posed Question a t Proposed Woodburning P lant" (C): 6 B. (78) 9-18-80 "CPC to Delay Wood P lant Study: M itchell Concerned Over Decision" (N): 1. 156 (N): 1. (L ): 4. (L): 4. (L): 2. (L): 2. (L): 2. (L): 2. (L ): 4. (L): 4. (N): 1. (N): 1, APPENDIX I I The follow ing i s an example of the way in which the fa c t/v a lu e typology was in te rp re te d in th e a n a ly s is . The account sele cted i s a column th a t appeared in th e OCH on 11-1-79 under the t i t l e "T here's More than One Hay to Fight Back." Numbers between slash marks in d ic a te the end of an argument. The assigned fa c t-v a lu e scores are l i s t e d a t the end of the s e le c tio n . " I f some in d iv id u a l was to cut down your tre e s , chip them, haul the chips in to your back yard, mix them w ith tra sh which was also hauled in to your back yard, then burn th e whole mess fo r h is very own p r o f it, and then make you pay fo r the whole o p eratio n , what would you do? You would ( I ' l l bet) balk lik e th e p roverbial "M issouri Mule." You would sc ra tc h and kick and b ite and b e lle r and sto p th e deal even i f you had to use a shot gun. But sin ce i t i s a big co rp o ratio n w ith plenty of money, and probably with some b ureaucrats and p o litic ia n s on th e ir "su b sc rip tio n " l i s t , and a l l of them s o f t soaping you w ith disguised h a lf tru th s and h a l f promises, you dear c itiz e n s are behaving lik e a tra in e d puppy dog. You s i t up, speak, r o l l over, or play dead on command. / 1/ Many people b eliev e the promise of 81 new jobs fo r th e area. I f the power companies were sin c e re in th a t promise they would d ec lare p u b licly th a t out of these 81 jobs a t le a s t 40 or 20 or maybe only 10 would be p o s itiv e ly earmarked fo r the lo c a l people. They would give us a premise th a t "x number" of jobs would be f i l l e d by YOUR k id s or grand k id s. But they w ill make no such promise. Three or four months ago Consumers, Morbark and Wolverine re p re s e n ta tiv e s made a p re se n ta tio n to the Osceola County Commissioners on the proposed p la n t. During the re c e ss these men were asked about the number of jobs scheduled to be f i l l e d by lo c a l people. Their answers were evasive, w ith referen ces to lab o r s k i l l s , tec h n ic a l requirem ents and sp e c ia l tra in in g . And when asked i f even one, "MINE YOU, IF EVEN ONE LOUSY LITTLE JOB," could be guaranteed to some lo c a l boy or g i r l , each one o f these th re e men suddenly remembered, th a t they had to catch some p a r tic u la r commissioner, and disappeared w ithout answering the q u estio n . They say th a t of these 81 jo b s, 31 w ill be in -p la n t jo b s. I t i s reasonable to expect th a t a t le a s t 20 of these jobs should be f i l l e d , not only a v a ila b le to , but " a c tu a lly f i l l e d " by lo c a l young men and women. The sh o rt term expense of tra in in g th ese people would repay the p la n t owners a hundred-fold in lo c a l good w ill and agreeable acceptance. 121 As a m atter of fa c t in stead of a job gain, th e re may be an eventual job lo s s in th e county because of the use of improved heavy machinery. I t was re c e n tly announced th a t because Morbark of Winn has outbid Buskirk E n te rp rise s of P a ris fo r the Menasha (Gaylord) chip c o n tra c t, the Buskirk p la n t w ill close Dec. 1. This means a 157 probable g ain o f two or th re e jobs fo r the c ity of Winn, but a lo s s o f 10 jobs in P a ris . / 3 / The tra sh problem has been very w ell covered in previous a r t i c l e s in t h i s paper, but up to the p resen t time no resp o n sib le person has made a p u b lic statem ent about i t . Now, Vernon J . E h lers, chairperson of the Kent County Board of Commissioners ( t h a t 's Grand Rapids) says th a t Consumers Power has "in fo rm ally 11 agreed to burn some of th is a r e a 's re fu se (500 tons a day the f e a s i b i l i t y study say; t h a t 's a l o t of "some") in th e woodburning power p lan t near Hersey. So now i t ' s o f f i c i a l . P re tty soon i t w ill be an accomplished f a c t . / V And i f we allow ourselves to be covered by the Grand Rapids and o th er big c ity tra sh we w ill c e r ta in ly deserve i t . / 5/ On top of a l l of th is they are going to add I n s u lt to in ju ry by making you pay fo r th e whole she-bang. Yes s i r I They are going to give you a rooking and make you pay fo r i t too, while they, the in v e sto rs, s i t back and enjoy a ta x exempt income of maybe 10 or 12 or maybe even 18 percent on t h e i r investm ent. While you w ill not gain one penny, tax-w ise. / 6 / In f a c t , as Mr. Don A lbosta s ta te d in a newspaper in terv iew , YOU w ill pay fo r a t le a s t one new road and one new ra ilro a d sid in g fo r the p la n t. But w ait a dog-gone m inute. Nobody has mentioned a new bridge fo r the new r a ilr o a d s id in g . They have already r e b u ilt the highway bridges acro ss the Muskegon River in Hersey and P a ris, w ith your ( S ta te ) money, but they w ill also need a bridge fo r the r a ilr o a d to cro ss the r iv e r . And as per Mr. A lbosta, WE w ill have to build i t fo r them. / 7 / I t may be th a t a l l of th is c r itic is m i s unwarranted, but before we allow t h i s p la n t to be forced on us, we should demand th a t our e le c te d o f f i c i a l s t e l l us th e whole tr u th . So l e t ' s a l l ( th is in clu d es Mecosta, Osceola and Lake co u n ties) c a ll or w rite our c ity , township, county, s ta t e and fe d e ra l elected o f f i c i a l s and demand th re e th in g s. One: th a t a t l e a s t 30 percent of a l l jobs generated by the p lan t be a llo c a te d to lo c a l people. / 8 / Two: th a t no rubbish from outside the lo c a l area (Mecosta, Osceola, Lake) be burned e ith e r on a t r i a l or permanent b a s is . /9 / Three: th a t no p ublic money be used to a s s i s t , in any way, the b u ild in g o f the p la n t, or fo r highway or r a ilro a d c o n stru c tio n to th e p la n t. That only conventional financing be allowed. No le a s e lev erag e fin a n cin g . / 10/ POST SCRIPT. J u s t received a phone c a ll from a CRUF member, th a t he has ju s t received some newspaper clip p in g s from a frie n d in Vermont. These clip p in g s show th a t the Vermont p la n t, s im ila r to the one proposed in Hersey, i s to be shut down, because of high o p eratin g c o s t. I t i s cheapter to buy th e ir power from Canada." / 1 1/ 158 1. Type 3: f a c tu a l, normative apparent, 2. Type 3: f a c tu a l, normative apparent, 3. Type 2 : fa c tu a l, normative Im plied, 4. Type 2 : f a c tu a l, normative im plied, 5. Type 4: s t r i c t l y normative, 6. Type 3: f a c tu a l, normative apparent, 7. Type 3: f a c tu a l, normative apparent, 8. Type 3: f a c tu a l, normative apparent, 9. Type 3: f a c tu a l, normative apparent, 1 0 . Type 3: fa c tu a l, normative apparent, 1 1 . Type 3: f a c u ta l, normative apparent The colum nist was a nonexpert in th e controversy and was coded accordingly. P a re n th e tic a lly , a l l of the arguments in th is column were viewed as Type 4: Local, Against fo r purposes of the a n a ly sis o f cosm opolitan/local o rie n ta tio n s . 159 DEFERENCES A lbrecht, S. 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