Doctoral Dissertation: Socio-Political Causes and Effects on Emerging Contaminants

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project will study how public officials, regulatory scientists, and concerned publics understand the safety of drinking water supplies over time. This case study will identify insights within knowledge conflicts involving experts, regulators, citizens and scientists about emerging contaminants. It will provide useful lessons for more effective governance of emerging contaminants. The findings of this study will be of interest to policy makers, local and regional governments, community members and scientists. The research will examine the case of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination of drinking water. The research will involve interviews, participant observation, and analysis of policy documents. These sources will be used document a history of New York State drinking water policy, to examine how regulators and elected officials have addressed the unknowns about PFOA, and to analyze how affected residents have worked to engage and critique the production of knowledge (and ignorance) by regulatory authorities. This study contributes to a body of social research that illuminates variation in national and regional approaches to chemical regulation. This case study makes a novel contribution by showing how state level policies interact with federal regulatory systems, on one hand, and local-level crises, on the other. Furthermore, the research will attend to theoretical questions about the maintenance of authority in the context of social crisis and scientific unknowns.