A mob scene erupted in April 1990 in the sleepy hamlet of Caneada, a small town on the northern edge of the Allegheny Mountains. In addition to riots and numerous arrests, six senior citizens, handcuffed to a heavy chain, formed a human barricade across the steel bridge spanning the Genesee River. Their purpose was to prevent the siting commission of a low-level radioactive waste dump from getting across the bridge. In the past few decades, finding sites for undesirable facilities, such as prisons and garbage landfills, has become ever more difficult. The difficulty lies not in tracking down technically suitable sites, but in the so-called NIMBY syndrome. People might agree that a facility is desperately needed just as long as it is Not In My Backyard. The unfortunate results of this proverbial game of hot potato are ever-mounting social and economic costs. State and local governments will continue to spend small fortunes finding sites to facilities that everyone desires hi principl
