THE CASE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIATION

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LOOKING AT THE LIMITATIONS

Although mediation has resulted in the resolution of a goodly number of environmental battles, it is by no means a panacea. In fact, an experienced negotiator named Howard Bellman estimates that as few as 10% of all environmental conflicts actually lend themselves to mediation. Bellman feels (and he's not alone) that the technique becomes useful only when a dispute matures to the point where the issues at question are clearly defined . . and when the parties acknowledge that they're facing a standoff They recognize each other's power and realize that no solution will be possible without some negotiation. This "perfect conflict", of course, is quite common with clear-cut labor/management disputes, but the structure of environmental controversies is generally a good bit more complex. There are typically more than two parties and opinions involved, for example, and the issues are often not based so much upon dollars and cents as upon conflicting notions about how basic decisions affecting the use of natural resources should be made!

And unfortunately, some such disputes simply cannot ever be mediated. The establishment of a nuclear power plant or offshore drilling rig, for example, will likely be opposed by groups that are fighting on ideological grounds and have no interest in compromise.

FUTURE TALK

Environmental mediation-which is still in its infancy-has thus far been treated as an experimental technique and has survived through the support of such groups as the Ford, Rockefeller, Atlantic Richfield, Hewlett, and Mellon foundations. Funds from these sources are being withdrawn, however, now that the "experiment" has been completed . . . so it's time for mediation to become self-supporting.

Fortunately, the problem-solving method isn't terribly expensive. The actual mediation costs for the cases I've described ranged from $3,000 to about $30,000 (either of which would seem like a bargain compared with the expense of lengthy litigation). Whether, in the future, negotiators will charge clients for their services or rely on governmental support-or both-remains to be seen.

What is clear, though, is that, under the right circumstances and conditions, the process works.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Allan R. Talbot's book on this topic-Settling Things: Six Case Studies in Environmental Mediation -is available for $8.50 plus $2.00 shipping and handling from the Conservation Foundation, Dept. TMEN, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue N. W., Washington, D. C. 20036.

Two of the most prominent national groups in this field are the Institute for Environmental Mediation, Dept. TMEN, 3318 Queen Anne Avenue, North Seattle, Washington 36109 . . . and the New England Environmental Mediation Center, Dept. TMEN, 190 High Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110.

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