IsSzl West Lake Update
prqIV^	December 5,2014
Future Community Engagement at the
West Lake Landfill Superfund Site
EPA Region 7 recently
reviewed its engagement
strategy for the West
Lake Landfill Superfund
Site. EPA's goal is to en-
gage as many interested
people as possible within
our given resources. In
addition to identifying
new community stake-
holders with whom Region 7 should communicate, EPA
has reevaluated the level of effort it devotes to participation
in regular Community Advisory Group (CAG) meetings.
Over the past year, EPA Region 7 has actively engaged
the CAG and its members by attending every CAG meet-
ing, making multiple presentations, arranging for partner
agencies to make presentations, and responding to oral
and written questions. Audiences at CAG meetings have
changed over time but typically include people living and
working around the site and others not from the immedi-
ately affected community, but who are interested in envi-
ronmental and radiation issues.
Concluding the review, EPA Region 7 has determined
that our new engagement strategy will expand to include
new community groups, businesses, and leaders. In most
cases, these are individuals who have never or rarely at-
tended the CAG meetings.
EPA Region 7 believes that this more diverse engagement
strategy will increase overall public understanding of the
agency's efforts. Therefore, EPA will reduce its direct par-
ticipation in the CAG meetings and instead allow the Tech-
nical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC) contrac-
tors to fulfill their intended role by providing independent
analysis, review, and technical assistance to the community.
Terrie Boguski is the lead TASC support contractor for the
West Lake site, and her profile is featured in this edition of
West Lake Update.
The community can expect to see TASC representatives
take a larger role in CAG meetings by providing presenta-
tions, answering questions, and providing general technical
assistance. EPA Region 7 will not send any representa-
tives to the December 8 CAG meeting. Instead, a team
of Region 7 personnel conducted meetings with various
community groups in early December to engage a broader
audience directly. This included meetings with CAG lead-
ership, local environmental organizations, businesses, and
community members—some of whom attend, and some
who do not attend—CAG meetings.
EPA Region 7's new community engagement strategy
affirms the agency's commitment to fulfill its obligations
to the community by providing comprehensive and ro-
bust community engagement across a broader spectrum
of stakeholders, in order to ensure that all members of the
community have the opportunity to involve themselves in
the Superfund process.
Meet Terrie Boguski
Terrie Boguski is a Senior
Technical Analyst for Skeo
Solutions, the environmental
contractor providing inde-
pendent technical assistance
to communities on behalf of
EPA. Terrie provides techni-
cal assistance to communities
with hazardous waste issues,
particularly for communities
with Superfund sites. Terries
services include presenta-
tions about the Superfund
process, review of technical
documents, presentations and
environmental site assessment
technologies.
Terrie works with communities to understand their
concerns and needs for education surrounding hazardous
waste cleanups. She reviews technical documents and pre-
pares summaries and fact sheets in easy-to-read language
for community audiences, and verbally explains complicat-
ed information in an understandable way, so that commu-
nity members can better participate in conversations about
the cleanup and voice their opinions.
Terrie has 17 years of experience assisting communities
in understanding site cleanups. In addition to the West
Lake Landfill Site, Terrie has provided TASC services to the
affected communities of the Midnite Mine Superfund Site
near Spokane, Washington; the Homestake Mining Su-
perfund Site near Milan, New Mexico; the Gratiot County
Landfill Superfund Site in Gratiot County, Michigan; the
Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site in Sayreville County, New
Jersey; and the Chemical Commodities, Inc., Site in Olathe,
Kan.
Upcoming Site Milestones
EPA Region 7 continues to work towards the long-term
site remedy and the proposed isolation barrier.
EPA also expects to complete within the next 30 days its
first summary of the analytical data collected by the five
off-site air monitoring stations, located in areas around the
landfill. EPA Region 7 intends to make the data summary
available on its website.
Community Inquiries
Ben Washburn
913-551-7364
Washburn.Ben@epa.gov
Find Us On
www.facebook.com/eparegion7
www.twitter.com/eparegion7
www.scribd.com/eparegion7
www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/west_lake_landfill
other written materials about
techniques and cleanup

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