PERCEIVED RISK AND THE SITING OF A CONTROVERSIAL ...

for Proposal) through open records requests, looking at statistics, carefully reading
environmental impact studies, and meeting with concerned citizens who had formed a
grassroots organization opposing the plant. Three months after I began collecting data, I
had a conversation with a member of the Lorena Chamber of Commerce. After 15
minutes of going over numbers and contracts which I thought clearly indicated that plant
would be a negative financial investment for Lorena, she calmly looked at me and asked,
“Why do you hate us?” I realized then there was an unknown element to the problem I
was unaware of beyond a financial analysis, planning for future needs or trying to
resolve an environmental problem. I then began to search for the unknown factor from
an academic perspective. What unrecognized factors were present, how were they
influencing the developing policy issue, what theoretical fundamentals were applicable
and were there similar cases in the literature?
5.3. Case History and Background
This case examined the successful acquisition of a permit to dispose of municipal
wastewater outside the city limits of the producing communities by a public water
utility, despite the protests of the citizens of the receiving area. These two cities, Lorena
and Hewitt, had experienced rapid growth (see Appendix E) as people moved to the area
seeking good schools, low crime rates, affordable housing, new construction, open
spaces, family-oriented neighborhoods, and close proximity to the City of Waco. Both
cities, in an effort to conserve valuable developable land, exploit economies of scale,
reduce costs, outsource management, and expand their treatment capacity joined a
wastewater consortium established by the City of Waco, the Waco Metropolitan Area
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