Case Studies
NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT
Under tremendous pressure to expand the region’s infrastructure to support unprecedented growth, the North Texas Municipal Water District in the mid 90s embarked on a 10-year process to permit a new regional solid waste disposal facility to serve the growing cities of Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Richardson, as well as other smaller communities and private haulers. In addition to its technical and legal teams, the District retained Pavlik and Associates to develop and execute a public information and community consensus-building program.
Factors
- No one wants a landfill in their back yard. The site selection process, although community representatives had been involved, created an awareness of the project that immediately engaged property owners and environmental activists in a campaign to stop the facility from being permitted.
- NTMWD had an extremely low profile in the region, and public awareness was needed to combat some tensions involving the newly proposed facility.
- The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, during this 10 year-period, periodically changed its rules and guidelines for solid waste disposal as well as water and waste water facilities.
- The McKinney Landfill, owned and operated by NTMWD, was nearing the end of its lifetime. If the district could not permit the new facility before McKinney’s closure, NTMWD would be forced to purchase disposal capacity from the private sector, a situation that would be costly for the district and its member cities.
- A loosely-organized citizens group called DAVID (Defenders of America’s Voice in Decision Making) began a barrage of complaints and misinformation about the district’s operations capabilities and the proposed facility. Throughout the entire process, no formal or reasonable solutions were presented by DAVID.
Agency Role
Pavlik and Associates developed a comprehensive public information, legislative affairs and consensus building program that supported the permitting process at the TCEQ level as well as NTMWD overall. Our responsibilities included:
- Conceptual development and on-going coordination of a solid waste advisory panel, appointed by the NTMWD’s Board of Directors, out of which came ideas for how to buffer the landfill operations from its neighbors as well as ideas for public-private development opportunities.
- Facilitation of on-going communication with elected officials at the state and local levels.
- Crisis management when the opposition went to the media and elected officials with inaccurate information.
- Development of an overall information program, including media and public input at all levels.
- Design and production of collateral materials including a newsletter distributed on a periodic basis and power point presentations.
- Preparation and distribution of news releases about the project’s status.
Results
NTMWD was granted an operating permit for its new regional solid waste facility in a unanimous vote of the TCEQ commissioners on October 8, 2003, despite efforts over a 10-year period by opponents determined to thwart the project. Construction began immediately, and the facility opened in short order.
AWARDS
2008 Hermes Creative Awards International Competition
Gold Award
- "2006-2007 Annual Report" on behalf of the North Texas Municipal Water District
View the pdf.