As the 20th anniversary of the tragedy at Bhopal approaches in December of this year, archival footage will undoubtedly remind chemical processing plants and nearby communities of the tenuous relationship they have with one another. Also, this anniversary will likely prompt emergency notification and response networks to examine their processes in an attempt to improve performance and assure the communities they are charged with serving that they have a system in place that will meet any challenge. Although effective community notification and emergency response are critical to withstanding the consequences of a chemical release, the key to building a strong, trusting relationship is prevention. This paper was based on a very simple premise of assessing a number of breakdowns in community notification and response incidents and asking, what happened, what went wrong, and what has happened to prevent recurrence? In virtually all of the incidents presented, communication loomed large as a central area of concern. Improving this area is a key component in capturing the confidence of citizens. Moreover, as illustrated in the examples cited, an honest effort to close the gap can yield better performance by both sides of the equation, but there must be a willingness to engage in a dialog. In the instances of events investigated by CSB in which communities are impacted by releases, the issue of zoning is raised frequently. Effective planning can play a huge role in ensuring communities are provided the necessary safeguards to prevent harm to them by spills or releases. Unfortunately, this issue becomes more vibrant after an incident, rather than being addressed proactively by city planners and developers as new communities are developed. As community alert and response networks continue to seek ways to address the concerns expressed in this paper, strategies can and should be examined to incorporate more effective zoning.
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