Re: [CPEO-MEF] Response to Air Force's Marilyn Null

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

>From Marilyn Null  <NullM@pentagon.af.mil>


In response to Joel Feigenbaum:

Those who know me know that I have a great deal of respect for community
activists and the part they play in getting and keeping the government's
attention on issues affecting their communities.  The activists at MMR,
indeed, have played a large role in keeping the community-based decision
making process alive and well at the installation.

I said that the process being used in the Installation Restoration
Program at MMR is a model for community-based decision making because I
believe it is true.  I didn't say it was easy and without controversy,
or that we always agree.  The point is that community-based decision
making requires opportunities for discussion and debate on the issues
from all viewpoints. This is the process that the Air Force, EPA, DEP,
and the citizens of Cape Cod have built for the cleanup program at MMR
over the past few years, allowing the cleanup to proceed and involving
stakeholders every step of the way.  The process has emerged through
hard work and dedicated efforts of the activists and other citizens of
Cape Cod, local officials, staff and management in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, EPA Region 1, and, yes, the Air Force and the Department
of Defense.     

Joel has clearly outlined the events leading up to the "gridlock"
situation resulting from the failure of the 60% design. As one Air Force
officer pointed out during those tumultuous times, the 60% design failed
because it did not take into consideration all of the criteria necessary
to provide a balanced solution to the problem.     

The Decision Criteria Matrix (DCM) tool I mentioned, and that is posted
on the MMR web site, was developed in the 1996-97 timeframe, after the
failure of the 60% design.  Using this tool, the Air Force, EPA, DEP,
the Joint Process Action Team (which included members of the Plume
Containment Team), local officials, and the community-at-large developed
and refined solutions that included input from as many stakeholders as
we could engage.  This is the essence of a community-based process.  

The stakeholder involvement process at MMR allows us to collectively
reach decisions and move the cleanup program forward, meeting
enforceable milestones with the regulators, and getting systems in place
to meet the expectations of the community.  It hasn't always been easy,
it hasn't always been without controversy, and it hasn't always
satisfied every stakeholder in the process.  That's how democracy works
and I, for one, embrace it! 

mn          
Marilyn Null
Deputy for Community-Based Programs
SAF/MIQ
1660 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, DC  20330-1660
703-693-7705, DSN 223
FAX:  703-614-2884

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