Citizen Discourse on Contaminated Water, Superfund Cleanups, and ...

seemed at risk. At the time of the interviews, most of these residents had resigned themselves to being casual observers or occasional participants in the official public processes, but more than a few had been actively engaged in public processes in earlier years. Some were interviewed as married couples because they were most comfortable having their spouses help explain their point of view. Indeed, some were so well practiced as tandem conversationalists that they would rather seamlessly finish one another's sentences. Virtually every one of these long-term residents was linked to the industries associated with the mill, perhaps as millwrights, salesmen, or as crewmembers responsible for maintenance of the powerhouse generators. If they had not been involved personally, they had direct connections to these industries by virtue of the involvement of immediate family members. Comments from these residents, either as couples or as individuals, have been treated as a coherent whole and presented variously as four composite characters: Irene and Jacob Baker, Hal Smith, and Edna Pierre.

As a second composite, we grouped together the personal profiles of residents who lived in the hamlets and who remained engaged as local partners or activists. Prior to the discovery of the contamination, their active involvement had been in traditional small town venues, such as service on the school board, the historic preservation committee, or the volunteer fire district. However, in the years following discovery of the contamination, it became obvious that concerns of the immediate communities (Bonner, East Riverside, Milltown, Piltzville, and perhaps East Missoula) might not be well represented in the ongoing deliberations and negotiations if the “most local” residents were not engaged. As a result, a few dozen people became regular and active participants in the numerous venues for public participation. Although few of these individuals would consider themselves environmentalists, they expended a great deal of energy in order to understand contamination, remediation, and restoration.

Initial efforts to organize individuals in the hamlets took shape as the “Friends of 2 Rivers” group. Over time, this group splintered, but the remaining “friends” and supporters maintained that the