The Beginning of a Long Conversation: Insights into Hanford Advisory Board Members Opinions on Diversity, Language Services, and Community Engagement

Abstract

The Hanford Nuclear Site is an important part of Washington state’s past, present and future. Onsite cleanup of hazardous radioactive waste has been underway for more than 30 years and will most likely continue for another 70+ years. The Tri-Party Agencies and interested stakeholders saw the importance in community involvement in cleanup efforts when they established the Hanford Advisory Board, giving a voice to the community. This capstone research project focuses on how board members feel about community engagement, inclusion, and representation using mixed methodology for collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data. Findings are summarized reflecting the sample group’s feelings and understandings of topics focusing on site specific boundaries, diversity, language services for people with limited english proficiency, and community engagement. This case study is the beginning of a long conversation in understanding how community advisory boards give agency to underrepresented community groups.