The Community Divide is more Detrimental than the Plant Itself: Confrontational Stigma and Community Responses to Rural Facility Siting

Rural communities are changing as ex-urban residents in-migrate with differing expectations than long-time residents of the surrounding agricultural community. The implications come into focus when techno-industrial developments are introduced in rural landscapes—potentially affecting residents’ place attachment. In the Township of Southgate, Ontario, a proposed biosolid (sewage sludge) processing facility resulted in hostile community conflict and emotional impacts that have driven a wedge between friends and family members. Utilizing in-depth interviews (n=22), this paper examines narratives of community in Southgate Township and the emotional impacts residents experienced during the facility siting process. The results suggest that divergent responses to facility development and landscape change has stimulated particularly strong intra-community conflict and emotions, altering the ways rural residents initially perceive their landscape and community as a safe tranquil place with a strong sense of community. Emerging from this analysis is the notion of confrontational stigma whereby residents worried the polarizing conflict that emerged in the community between those who oppose the facility versus those who support it for economic and agricultural purposes is leading to outsiders viewing their community negatively. Residents described how this depth of conflict could be more detrimental to the community than the effects of the facility itself. These findings suggest greater attention to community-level impacts of facility siting in rural areas in particular. This study makes recommendations for a facility siting process in rural communities that is more attentive to the diversity of rural residents, their range of place attachments and the potential for lasting social and emotional impacts within these diverse rural communities. Keywords: biosolids; community conflict; place attachment; community dynamics; waste processing; risk perception ------------------------------------------------------- Resume Les communautes rurales sont en plein changement alors que les anciens citadins qui s' y installent ont des attentes differentes de celles des residents de la communaute agricole avoisinante. Les implications deviennent evidentes quand les developpements techno-industriels sont introduits dans les paysages ruraux-potentiellement affectant l'attachement des residents a l'endroit. Dans la municipalite de Southgate, en Ontario, une suggestion d'usine de traitement de biosolides (boues d'epuration) a entraine des conflits hostiles dans la communaute et des impacts emotionnels qui ont cree un fosse entre amis et membres de la famille. En utilisant la methode d'entrevues approfondies (n=22), cet article examine les recits de la communaute, dans la municipalite de Southgate, et les impacts emotionnels que les residents ont subis durant le processus d'implantation de l'usine. Les resultats suggerent que des reponses divergentes au developpement de l'usine et le changement du paysage ont stimule des conflits et emotions intra-communautaires particulierement forts, alterant les facons dont les residents ruraux percoivent initialement leur paysage et leur communaute, c'est-a-dire comme un endroit tranquille et securitaire avec un fort sentiment communautaire. L'on tire de cette analyse la notion de stigma conflictuel, notion selon laquelle les residents se soucient de l'etendue d'un conflit polarisant qui emerge dans une communaute entre ceux qui s'opposent a une installation et ceux qui la supportent pour des raisons economiques et agricoles, ce dernier point de vue etant privilegie a celui d'une personne exterieure jugeant la communaute negativement. Les residents ont decrit dans quelle mesure la profondeur les conflits pourrait etre encore plus nefaste que l'usine elle-meme. Ces resultats suggerent de porter une plus grande attention aux impacts aux niveaux communautaires lors de l'implantation d'installations, en particulier en zones rurales. Cette etude fait des recommandations sur les processus d'implantation des installations dans les communautes rurales qui tiennent davantage compte de la diversite des residents ruraux, leurs degres d'attachement a un lieu et la possibilite d'impacts sociaux et emotionnels durables entre les diverses communautes rurales.