Welcome and Introductions
David Bidwell of The Perspectives Group, facilitator for the Task Force, welcomed Task Force members to meeting. Members and other attendees introduced themselves. David announced that the Task Force Website (www.fermilabcommunity.org) now has an option for people to sign up for a list-serve group. He urged the members to tell neighbors and colleagues about the site, so they can join the group and get updates on the Task Force’s progress. Members of the group will get no more than two emails each month.

Community Experiences with SSC Process
David reviewed past discussions regarding the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) siting process that occurred in the 1980’s. Craig Jones distributed a packet of information that he had prepared to explain his experiences as an activist who opposed the accelerator being located in the Fermilab area. Craig showed the group a political cartoon from that time, which portrayed Fermilab in a negative light. Craig stated that the cartoon was unfair, because Fermilab was not responsible for the problems that arose during that process. His group opposed the actions of the State of Illinois. Because of this experience, Craig stressed the importance of the state and Department of Energy agreeing to the public participation recommendations of the Task Force.

The Task Force discussed the issues that Craig raised. Many felt that times have changed and a process like the SSC siting process would be unlikely to occur again. Others stated that an important lesson from Craig’s experience was that early public input is critical in a planning process.

Task Force members agreed that it is important that the State and federal agencies understand the importance of public participation in a project like the SSC, but they questioned the ability of the Task Force to influence organizations beyond Fermilab. Craig suggested that the group send a letter to the State of Illinois identifying their concerns about public participation in issues affecting Fermilab. Judy Jackson explained that an international effort, the Global Design Initiative, has begun to determine parameters for a linear accelerator. She suggested that the Task Force recommendations could influence this group to include public participation goals into planning guidelines for a future accelerator project.

List of Community Issues
David asked the group to review a list of potential types of Fermilab activities that would trigger interactions with the public. The list included possible impacts that would come from each activity. David explained that he had developed the list by reviewing past discussions of the Task Force.

1. Laboratory Planning

• Economic impacts (local or regional)
• Employment gains or losses
• Fermilab role/standing in physics community

• Open space/land-use
• Visual impacts
• Site access
• Human health and safety (e.g., air and water pollution)
• Electric supplies
• Water supplies

• Human health and safety (e.g., air and water pollution)
• Stormwater control
• Traffic
• Noise
• Subsurface/surface property rights
• Home/property values
• Visual impacts

• Human health and safety (e.g., air and water pollution)
• Stormwater control
• Traffic
• Noise
• Visual impacts

• Open-space/land-use
• Visual impacts
• Traffic
• Noise
• Economic impacts (local or regional)

David asked the group if there were other kinds of projects that should include participation of the public. Members of the group suggested that the public should have a role in determining how intellectual resources of the laboratory are used, including ideas developed at the lab and results of experiments. Members also suggested that the public should have a role in determining the kinds of outreach and education programs that are conducted by the laboratory. They stressed the need for the laboratory to institutionalize public support for its activities and the need to maintain positive relationships with the community. Judy suggested that public participation could become one of the criteria evaluated during the annual review of laboratory projects.

Brainstorm of Public Participation Principles
Following a short break, Judy Jackson reminded the group that Fermilab conducts a number of outreach and education programs. She reviewed the results of a survey conducted in the community several years ago. The majority of respondents were familiar or very familiar with Fermilab. Of those people, most trusted Fermilab to do the right thing environmentally. Judy also stated that the laboratory used to sponsor a very successful annual open house, but it was very expensive.

The lab now offers monthly tours for smaller groups that must register ahead of time. Demand for the tours is greater than the space available. She added that members of the Fermilab staff are very involved in the community. Judy stated that, overall, Fermilab has a good relationship with its neighbors and spends the greatest proportion of its budget on education and outreach of all the DOE laboratories.

Judy reminded the group that Fermilab formed the Task Force to help it determine the kinds of issues on which the public would like to have input and how they would like to provide that input. Then, she gave examples of issues and decisions on which Fermilab would need public input. One example was how the public should be involved when the lab receives a request from a local community to construct a public facility on the edge of Fermilab property. The other example related to the public role in decisions about wildlife management.

The Task Force discussed the need to develop principles that would guide public participation efforts at Fermilab, because the group cannot develop rules for every potential situation that might arise. These principles would need to be institutionalized at the laboratory, so they were applied to all projects and operations. Members also discussed the need to identify issues that would trigger public participation at the site.

David led the group in a brainstorming session to list possible concepts that would be important to include in public participation principles for Fermilab. As members offered ideas, David recorded them on a flip chart. The list from the flip charts is copied below:

• Open communication
• Accurate information
• Identify who is affected
• Early and often involvement
• Feedback—how was input used
• Personal/human involvement (contact person)
• Part of the entire process
• Engage affected person
• Declaration that Fermilab is part of the community
• Pro-active involvement
• Opportunities for community to define issues
• Identify real vs. perceived issues
• Identify issues
• Results oriented
• Include participation in budget (funding for participation)
• Factor into internal planning process
• Oversight and follow-up for participation process
• Employees are part of community and should part of process
• Actively seek/solicit involvement
• Publicize opportunities for input
• Process with defined roles in implementing participation
• Right people at table (those with skills in public participation)
• Provide non-technical information
• Plain English
• Be approachable/user-friendly
• Targeted pieces in organization/process
• Use local media
• Reach out to community/actively build and maintain ongoing relationship with community

Next Meetings
The next meeting of the Fermilab Task Force on Public Participation is Tuesday, August 24,
from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at Fermilab’s Wilson Hall.