Public Perceptions of the Proposed Repository

Abstract

The analyses in Chapter 5 identified a set of factors that determine whether or not an individual opposes or tolerates a proposed facility: the extent of risk that the facility appears to impose on the health of nearby residents, anticipated impacts to the physical environment and the local economy, the degree to which building the facility appears appropriate from a social welfare standpoint, and the perceived fairness of the siting process. In order to gain public tolerance for a facility, the developer needs to elicit favorable perceptions along each of these dimensions.