Department of Environmental Engineering, Montana Technological University, 1300 W. Park Street, Butte, MT, 59701, USA.
Department of Safety, Health and Industrial Hygiene, Montana Technological University, 1300 W. Park Street, Butte, MT, 59701, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2020 May 1;261:110151. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110151. Epub 2020 Mar 2.
A disconnect between community perceptions and officially documented Superfund remedial actions and health outcomes may hinder the essential community engagement at Superfund sites. This study evaluates the extent of one such potential disconnect in Butte, Montana, which is part of the largest U.S. Superfund site in the U.S. Since the 1860s, when mining began in Butte, mine waste disposal practices in Butte and surrounding areas have left behind massive deposits that have contaminated the area's soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water with arsenic and heavy metals. Over the last four decades, a substantial amount of remediation work has been completed along with requisite community engagement and health studies at this Superfund site. The potential disconnect was evaluated using a new survey instrument that covered: (a) general environmental health perceptions, (b) mine-waste specific environmental health perceptions, (c) effectiveness of community engagement, (d) knowledge of health outcomes, and (e) demographics. The survey results demonstrated a disconnect in many instances where objective remedial improvements may not have resulted in improved environmental health perceptions in the community. The disconnect was most pronounced in the case of drinking water protection from mine waste and knowledge of health outcomes (cancer incidence rates and children's blood levels). The use of similar environmental health perception measurements may aid responsible agencies in monitoring for and addressing environmental health perception disconnects through better community engagement for the benefit of the impacted communities.
社区对超级基金补救行动和健康结果的看法与官方记录之间的脱节，可能会阻碍超级基金场址的必要社区参与。本研究评估了蒙大拿州比尤特（Butte）地区的这种潜在脱节程度，该地区是美国最大的超级基金场址的一部分。自 19 世纪 60 年代开始采矿以来，比尤特及其周边地区的矿山废物处理方式在该地区留下了大量的矿渣，这些矿渣污染了该地区的土壤、沉积物、地下水和地表水，其中含有砷和重金属。在过去的四十年中，该超级基金场址已经完成了大量的修复工作，同时还进行了必要的社区参与和健康研究。利用一种新的调查工具评估了潜在的脱节现象，该工具涵盖了：（a）一般环境健康感知；（b）矿山废物特定环境健康感知；（c）社区参与的有效性；（d）健康结果的知识；以及（e）人口统计学。调查结果表明，在许多情况下，客观的补救改善可能并未导致社区环境健康感知的改善。这种脱节在饮用水免受矿山废物污染和对健康结果（癌症发病率和儿童血液水平）的认识方面最为明显。使用类似的环境健康感知测量方法可能有助于责任机构通过更好的社区参与来监测和解决环境健康感知脱节问题，从而使受影响的社区受益。
