NCJ Number
97326
Date Published
1983
Length
107 pages
Annotation
These six case studies describe site-specific environmental disputes in which the parties negotiated a resolution of the dispute with the assistance of a mediator. In some cases, the parties were already involved in litigation; in others they were headed for court action when the mediation process began.
Abstract
In the first case, the settlement concluded a 17-year legal battle -- involving three environmental groups, four public agencies, and five electric utilities -- over the use of the Hudson River for power production. In the second case, the dispute over the extension of Interstate 90 across Lake Washington and into Seattle, environmental and neighborhood groups were battling the State highway department; five local jurisdictions disagreed over how, where, and whether the interstate should be built. The third case involved a dispute between a small-scale hydroelectric developer, who wanted to tap the lake water in Swanville, Me. and the town of Swanville, which wanted to use the water for other purposes. In the fourth dispute, the Whatcom County Park Board (Washington State), which owned Portage Island, negotiated with the Lummi Indian tribe, which controlled road access to the island over a sandbar that was exposed at low tide. In the fifth case, the city of Eau Claire, Wis., was embroiled in a dispute with the town of Seymour, which Eau Claire had chosen as a dumpsite. In the sixth case, a mediator helped the residents of Port Townsend, Wash., agree on a new location for a ferry terminal. Issues and participants in each dispute are identified, and the mediators' success in resolving the disputes is described.