PERCEIVED RISK AND THE SITING OF A CONTROVERSIAL ...

and related intangible costs such as loss of momentum or key parties. Time is, literally,
money (Harder, 2002; Scott, 1993)
Opponents of the permit for the plant took different positions. Encouraged by
two prominent lawyers (Texas 10 th District Court of Appeals Justice Felipe Reyna and
his wife Cheryl), the leadership of the Alliance deliberately delayed negotiations
intentionally whenever possible to raise WMARSS costs. They consistently held their
public position there would be no compromise, which put additional temporal pressures
on WMARSS creating anxiety and increasing perceived risk. Privately, core members of
the Alliance discussed the disparity in resources with other opposition stakeholders, and
what they would be willing to compromise on when resources became scarce. When
resources dwindled, grass roots opponents “threw in the towel” because they couldn’t
continue the fight, a typical outcome in environmental conflicts (The Yale Law School,
2013).
The Levi water supply company and other individual stakeholders supported the
Alliance’s leadership position. Although the water company, Charlie Montgomery, Mr.
Dewey Jackson, and his mother, Mrs. Edna Hughes, were given standing at a procedural
hearing, they did not have the financial or emotional resources to maintain a separate
legal conflict with the City of Waco. As a result, all the stakeholders worked together to
obtain and employ the same legal firm and consultant. This proved to be an advantage
for the City of Waco, as they were able to direct their efforts at one primary opponent
and minimize the points of conflict.
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