PFAS Q&A: Effective Community Engagement and Outreach
PFAS projects often involve more than technical investigations and regulatory requirements; they also require clear, timely communication with stakeholders who may have questions about potential impacts, ongoing investigations, or response actions. Thoughtful community outreach can help organizations provide context, address concerns, and build trust throughout a project.
Key Takeaways
- Timely, fact-based communication helps build trust and reduce confusion among stakeholders.
- Community outreach should identify key audiences early and tailor messaging to their needs.
- Successful communication explains what is known, what actions are being taken, and what stakeholders can expect.
- Consistency, transparency, and regular updates are critical throughout a PFAS project.
Why is community engagement and outreach important during a PFAS project?
Communication plays a critical role in how employees, neighbors, community leaders, and local officials understand PFAS-related activities. Timely outreach can provide context for ongoing investigations and response activities, helping stakeholders understand what is happening and why, while delayed communication or a lack of information can create uncertainty and misperception.
What should PFAS communications include?
Effective PFAS communication strategies are factual, consistent across communication channels, and focused on actions being taken. Messaging should explain to stakeholders why action is being taken, whether PFAS presence has been confirmed or if the investigation is still ongoing, and how regulatory requirements are influencing project decisions. Developing a team that includes leadership, communications professionals, environmental consultants, legal advisors, and operational staff can promote messaging that is accurate, consistent, and coordinated.
Who should receive PFAS communications?
Stakeholders who receive PFAS communications may include employees, local officials, community leaders, neighboring property owners, and residents within a potentially affected area, each with their own questions, concerns, and information needs. Employees may want to understand what project activities mean for their workplace, while neighboring residents may have questions about sampling, potential property impacts, or planned response actions.
When should PFAS community outreach begin?
Organizations should begin communicating with the community as soon as possible. Community outreach is often an ongoing process that evolves as additional information becomes available. Providing regular updates helps maintain transparency and credibility throughout the project, while delays can create information gaps that are difficult to overcome later.
How should PFAS information be shared with the community?
The most effective communication methods depend on the audience and project circumstances. Common outreach tools include fact sheets, mailings, dedicated websites, public meetings, public hotlines, regulatory notifications, and traditional media. Using multiple channels can help provide stakeholders with consistent information and create more opportunities for the community to ask questions and stay up to date.
What communication mistakes should organizations avoid?
Common pitfalls include using absolutes when sharing information, sending mixed messages, adopting an overly defensive tone, over-promising outcomes, and failing to provide regular updates. Successful community outreach focuses on transparency, consistency, and clear communication of the facts known at the time. As information evolves, stakeholders should continue to receive timely updates that explain both project progress and next steps.
How can Langan’s PFAS experts support community engagement and outreach?
PFAS-related community outreach requires coordination among technical, legal, operational, and communications professionals. Langan’s PFAS team brings multidisciplinary expertise to help clients develop fact-based communications that clearly explain site conditions, regulatory requirements, and response actions. Effective outreach supports informed decision-making, productive stakeholder engagement, and greater transparency throughout a PFAS project.
Contact Langan’s PFAS experts to discuss your project’s community outreach needs and develop clear, fact-based communications that address stakeholder concerns.
Adam Hackenberg, PG, is a Senior Project Manager in Langan’s Doylestown office with 25 years of diverse environmental experience investigating and remediating environmentally distressed sites under various state programs, CERCLA/Superfund, and RCRA. He distills, interprets, and presents complex datasets to clients, integrating them into conceptual site models to support sound decision-making. He also frequently advises clients regarding chemicals of emerging concern, such as PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, and is active in several related regulatory and technical stakeholder processes.
Caryn Barnes, LSRP, is a Senior Principal in Langan’s Philadelphia office. She has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of environmental investigations and remediation, including site characterization, feasibility testing, NAPL, soil and groundwater remediation, soil vapor investigations, and site closure, with a significant focus on PFAS contamination. Barnes is a technical and regulatory expert at the forefront of investigating and remediating emerging contaminants, actively contributing to the development of regulations, rules, guidance, and policy.