In 1932, Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts purchased an adjacent parcel of land known as Paint Shop Pond to maintain open space and prevent development near the college. In the mid 1970s, high levels of certain chemicals were discovered on the Paint Shop Pond parcel of land. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) became involved in efforts to clean up the contamination on what was eventually designated as a Tier 1 (priority) Massachusetts State Superfund site. In 1983, the College - as the responsible party - began investigation and cleanup activities. Over time, the College and DEP had a series of conflicts over past investigative work and the need for additional analysis and remediation. While both sides were expending significant resources, the site investigation and cleanup process became enmeshed in a series of legal maneuvers that resulted in an atmosphere of distrust and a standstill of cleanup efforts.
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The Results
Dr. Santos' facilitation skills and unique understanding of the technical issues, allowed the parties to successfully negotiate detailed scopes of work for completion of the site investigation, human health and ecological risk assessments, and feasibility study.
Both parties credited Dr. Santos' facilitation expertise with establishing an open exchange of information and a climate of trust. Her facilitation assistance changed an uncooperative and distrustful environment to an atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation that resulted in a successful site cleanup.
"Dr. Santos is the reason this process has been successful. She is an outstanding facilitator who has kept us focused on the important issues and helped us communicate effectively with each other. We are making substantial progress in resolving disputes, clarifying and understanding each other's position and working toward mutually agreeable remedial options. Barry Monahan, Wellesley College
FOCUS GROUP’s community relations’ efforts successfully established the College as a good neighbor by fostering an atmosphere of trust and open communications as demonstrated by stakeholder feedback from students, faculty, staff and community members. College officials placed a high value on the timely completion of the clean up efforts and attributed achieving this goal in part, to the lack of any public, student, faculty or staff concerns. At the athletic field’s dedication, created on the now reclaimed area, – the college and DEP both thanked – and credited FOCUS GROUP for their community relations and facilitation support. In 2004 the clean up effort won an award as a model project under the Build Massachusetts Awards Program sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts.
“We hired Susan Santos/FOCUS GROUP to manage communication issues concerning the site. Undoubtedly one of my best decisions. Susan worked with the College’s team to develop a plan of action and a set of principles that would guide our public information process… Their ethics are our ethics… openness, honesty and proactive communication. They did a terrific job for Wellesley College!” Barry Monahan, Wellesley College
THE FOCUS GROUP APPROACH
Facilitation:
MADEP and the college jointly hired Dr. Santos as a neutral facilitator, to identify the technical and process issues impeding site cleanup. She effectively worked with both sides to reach a consensus on the outstanding technical issues and a plan to address them. Participants were so pleased and unanimously supportive of this facilitation process that they continued facilitation for several years until site investigation was complete and clean up commenced.
Community Relations:
Facilitation work identified communication as a critical issue. FOCUS GROUP, with the support of the DEP, assisted Wellesley College in its efforts to develop a comprehensive Community Relations strategy to compliment the cleanup efforts. FOCUS GROUP worked with the College and their consultants to develop outreach materials to communicate to stakeholders the history, ongoing cleanup efforts, and future steps concerning the site. Specific products included:
- Developed numerous fact sheets and brochures, on the site investigation process, results, and clean up efforts.
- Prepared materials to support remedial design and implementation.
- Developed materials to help communicate the results of an "Imminent Hazard Evaluation" to town officials and other key stakeholders and results of the Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments.
- Developed a series of tabletop displays, for use at multiple campus and Community Information Sessions and facilitated these highly interactive sessions.
- Provided all meeting coordination and logistical support, including conducting dry runs for College staff, the consultants and DEP representatives.
- Developed a Website to provide ongoing information during the 18-month period of construction, which began in May 2001 and was completed in 2002.
- Created simple instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of the public meetings and other outreach efforts and gauge public understanding of the College’s cleanup plans.
