Emergence of Interest Groups on Hazardous Waste Siting: How do They Form and Survive?

The disposal and siting of hazardous and radioactive wastes has created numerous problems for decision-makers in the field of waste management. The social/political problems have proven to be some of the most difficult to solve. Public knowledge of the presence of hazardous and radioactive waste sites has grown considerably in recent years. Over the same period, the process of choosing new disposal sites has attracted a great deal of publicity. In many cases, when existing sites are discovered or when a community is being considered for a new disposal site, organized groups emerge in the community to support or oppose the proposed actions and the decision-makers responsible. As indicated by Wood (1982:211), "Local opposition groups form abroad base of antinuclear activity. " Sweeney (1979:1-32) states, "Every major nuclear facility in the U.S. has a consensus organization of some kind around it working to stop it. " It has been the experience of most practitioners in the field of waste management that groups inevitably emerge in relation to radioactive waste issues. These groups share characteristics with other citizens' opposition groups and other so-called "emergent " groups. Emergent groups are a form of organized collective action in response to a particular situation or event, such as the siting or discovery of a hazardous waste disposal site. Sociological methods and theory can provide insight on the patterns common to these groups, their emergence, and their survival or decline. The questions addressed in this paper are: what are the variables that lead to the formation of such groups, and what conditions or group actions contribute to their growth and survival?