Controversies surrounding the Landfill project based around the Kettleman City area can be clarified through research and GIS techniques. Various topics ranging from safe work practices, polluting materials, proximity of the site to the city and origins of the birth defects within town, illustrate how complicated an issue like this can become. The facility is currently located there but is looking to make a major expansion and local citizens are not comfortable with this prospect without the proper research and testing being completed to ensure the safety of their towns. GIS is a valuable tool in deciphering what are safe and fair decisions for the questions surrounding topics such as these.
One of the foundational complaints about the expansion is the lack of investigation that has taken place. Kettleman City residents have been demanding a proper investigation into the diseases and birth defects surrounding the community. Some believe that the disease and birth defects around the city could be considered no higher than average. Other citizens believe this is ludicrous. Additional research and support from the State of California would help greatly in informing the public nearby the facility.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case. The research that has been conducted by the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program has not been fully accepted by the citizens of the towns nearby. People do not trust the foundations of the research and, in turn, do not trust the decisions of the legislators. This breakdown in trust comes from a lack of transparency within the scientific and political process. With clearer data indicating the potential causes of the health problems, contributing health problems to the landfill or otherwise, the more the public would be willing to accept the decisions of the political shot callers. This is when we see the true value of GIS.
GIS, with the assistance of quality data, can help to inform the public or legislators about what is happening within a given area based on many factors. In conjunction with quality research from other organizations, such as the EPA or the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, GIS can tie together correlations between different phenomena allowing for greater understanding. Also, the techniques in our tutorial can help to present clear and concise findings to the public to help to earn the trust of the families suffering within the community.
The traditional methods of collecting, processing, and presenting data should be reconsidered in situations dealing with the public. Newer methods used within a GIS can help greatly in bridging the gap of trust and understanding in the process of governing. NIMBY is often a term used to derogatorily refer to people who, often selfishly, over critique the decisions made by community planners in order to sustain the status quo. Yet, in this circumstance, the community has good reason to be alarmed based on changes taking place in their community and has every right to demand answers from our community leaders. Hopefully, researchers are utilizing GIS to better inform these individuals on up-to-date and accurate research on the status of all scientific findings around their area.
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