UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED COMMUNITY IMPACT AND MEDIA INTEREST ON ENVIRONMENTAL SPILL REPORTING

The National Response Center (NRC) data base offers a unique insight into the intentions of companies when the report Oil Spills and Hazardous Material Releases. Given that most firms routinely advertise and state their... [ view full abstract ]

The National Response Center (NRC) data base offers a unique insight into the intentions of companies when the report Oil Spills and Hazardous Material Releases. Given that most firms routinely advertise and state their concern for the environment, when the opportunity occurs to report the impact or interest to the community, it is not done. Less than 1% of the reports from 1990 to 2015 anticipate community or media interest for an incident yet, they spend twice as long, 13 versus 7 minutes, reporting the incident. This suggests that there is something they are concerned about and they either wish to disclose more information in anticipation of increased scrutiny, or to protect the organization by being more transparent than they ordinary are. Several reasons for this phenomenon are possible and need to be researched in more depth, but it is likely that the individual making the report wishes to be more forthcoming in the report to protect themselves should the media or community become involved.