PUBLIC AFFAIRS: AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT 

 IN POLLUTION RESPONSE 



John Mattoon 



Assistant Director, Public Affairs 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Washington, D.C. 



In 1977, I had the opportunity to make a presentation at the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service Oil Spill Symposium (Fore 1977) in New Orleans on the role 

 of public affairs during an oil spill. I recall, during the question and 

 answer period, being challenged for using the terms "oil spill crisis" and 

 "oil spill catastrophe." I was challenged as spokesman for the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service (FWS) Public Affairs Office for using the terms. I was 

 challenged on technical grounds because the words do not reflect the bio- 

 logical situation. I was not challenged, however, on the media's use of the 

 terms "crisis" and "catastrophe," because these terms describe the way the 

 media have viewed and will continue to initially view significant spills. 

 What is "significant" to the media and to the public may not seem as impor- 

 tant to scientists. Public concern about pollution has not abated since 

 New Orleans, and media interest has grown even stronger. 



As FWS employees, we need to take advantage of public concern. If we do 

 not make it work for us, we may find it working against us. I would like to 

 point out that the Three-Mile Island incident recently provided us with an 

 excellent example of how public concern should not be handled in a crisis. 

 I like to call it the nuclear revival of Rachel Carson. Let me share with 

 you the concern of one columnist over the events at Three-Mile Island and 

 his view of what the media and the public were told. 



1979. 



The following is from Richard Cohen's column, Washington Tost, 1 April 



They lied, they lied, they lied. My God did they lie. 

 They told us it was safe. What a lie. They told us it was 

 clean. Did you every hear such a lie? They told us a lot 

 of things and all week they have been telling us one lie 

 after another. First they vented radioactive something 

 because they wanted to and then they vented it because they 

 didn't want to and now maybe they didn't vent at all. There 

 is only one thing you can count on. They lied. 



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