Communicating about environmental risk: An examination of a Minnesota county's communication on incineration

Abstract

The process and product of communication on risks of a proposed incinerator in Winona County, Minnesota, were examined. The county's risk communication process involved constituting a citizen advisory committee, holding open meetings, and giving frequent speeches. The process allowed the public to play a role as a legitimate partner in decision‐making. However, the risk communication product was less than optimal due to its reactive, not pro‐active, treatment of the risk issue; its indirect focus on risk; and its use of a least preferred characterization of risk, which compared incineration with unrelated risks, rather than comparing the risks of alternatives under consideration.