Consider the scenario below.
A toxic waste dump company wants to build a facility within a small, low-income community. The city council has to approve the placement for all new companies. The approval of the addition of this particular company will bring very little economic benefit to the community. None of the residents of the community attended the city council meeting when this company made its proposal, and the community residents were unaware of the proposal. Since no one in the community attended the city council meetings, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the toxic waste dump company says approval from the city council should be the only approval needed to move forward with building this facility.
Do you agree or disagree with the CEO? Consider the roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local health departments in public health practice. What is one recommendation for what should have been done prior to the council meeting to ensure that the decision was fair and valid?
REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS or MORE)
CLASSMATE’S POST
The chief executive officer of this company is completely miss informed of what he believes the outcome of the situation may or may not be. Part of electing officials to sit in office is you put people in places to have your best interest when you are unavailable to communicate. Although the citizens of the community have little knowledge of the new business proposal. Companies dealing in toxic waste have at least six different steps they must take before they are considered to open a plant. Unfortunately for the CEO and the company notifying the citizens of a community is only the first step. The second step is they must put in an application with the EPA. This will ask questions like how the facility will be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to be protective of public health and the environment. How potential emergencies and spills will be handled. How the facility will clean up and finance any potential environmental contamination. How the facility will close and clean up once it is no longer operating. Then for the next step the permitting agency must then place a copy of the application in a public area for review. Simultaneously, the permitting agency begins to review the application to make sure it contains all the information required by the regulations. The permitting agency announces its decision by sending a letter to everyone on the mailing list, placing a notice in a local paper and broadcasting it over the radio. Though not required to do so, the permitting agency may use the internet to communicate its decision. It also issues a fact sheet to explain the decision. Once the notice is issued, the public has 45 days to comment on the decision. Citizens can also request a public hearing by contacting the permitting agency. The permitting agency can also hold a hearing at its own discretion. The agency must give 30-day public notice before the hearing.