Community Mobilization for Environmental Problems: How a Grassro ...

felt that voicing their concerns for the public record might formally legitimize their claims.

Following public testimony that evening, the members of the Common Council assured residents that more public hearings would follow and that the problem would remain on the council’s priority list. With resolutions passed, the Common Council could present the information to the mayor’s office and ask that he support the relocation of Hickory Woods residents. However, resolutions have only the power of suggestion. Until the mayor agreed, the suggestions posed by the resolutions simply sat inactive.

In addition to communicating with the City of Buffalo, by spring 2000 the HWCHA had begun to work side by side with the Buffalo chapter of the statewide environmental group Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC). The CEC became involved in the issue by providing members of the HWCHA with documentation and supporting information about the potential risks associated with PAH contamination. At the request of the CEC and community association members, Lois Gibbs visited the site in March 2000. A renowned environmental activist, Lois Gibbs publicly announced her support for the relocation of the people of Hickory Woods. Her presence became even more important as a strategic action on behalf of the homeowners’ association because of her record of achieving relocation for residents of the nearby Love Canal community.⁴

The Environment and Society Institute (ESI) of the University at Buffalo also became involved with the Hickory Woods community at that time.⁵ A coalition of professors, graduate students, and researchers, the ESI is committed to studying environmental problems from an interdisciplinary approach. Members of the ESI offered their services as consultants to the homeowners’ association. Specifically, a chemistry professor with experience in community toxics offered to complete soil and air sampling with students. Because many residents were not versed in the science with which they had become involved (Corburn, 2005),