[CPEO-BIF] Thesis on vapor intrusion migitation in Endicott, New York

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Anthropologist Peter Little recently completed his doctoral 
dissertation, "'Instead of Tumbleweed, we have Mitigation Systems': An 
Ethnography of Toxics Risk, Mitigation, and Advocacy in IBM's 
Deindustrialized Birthplace." Little draws upon interviews, surveys, and 
other field research in his hometown of Endicott, New York, site of one 
of the nation's largest vapor intrusion responses.

This is the first social science study of a "vapor intrusion" community, 
and among Little's key findings is that the residents who live above the 
TCE plume in Endicott do not FEEL mitigated, even though mitigation 
systems keep toxic TCE vapors out of their homes. In response he 
suggests "Community-Based Participatory Air Monitoring for 
Vapor-Intrusion-Mitigated Citizens."

While the entire thesis provides valuable insights to anyone involved at 
vapor intrusion sites, Little reports his field research in Chapters 5, 
6, and 7.



Abstract

This dissertation draws on ethnographic data and political ecological 
theory to analyze the experience of residents living in the IBM-Endicott 
Superfund site in Endicott, New York. Combining in-depth narratives and 
quantitative measures from a household survey, it highlights residents’ 
perceptions of 1) environmental health risk, 2) risk mitigation, 3) 
deindustrialization and community change, and 4) illustrates the 
experiences of local activists and their efforts to address community 
concerns and their negotiations with environmental justice politics. As 
an applied environmental anthropology project, the dissertation also 
makes policy recommendations for communities coping with an emerging 
environmental health risk known as vapor intrusion. Endicott is the 
largest site nationwide for the mitigation of vapor intrusion. This 
dissertation is the first social scientific research project to 
investigate and document community responses to and perspectives on the 
efficacy of a large-scale vapor intrusion mitigation effort.

To download the 306-page, 5.83-MB PDF, go to
http://hdl.handle.net/1957/16470


--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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