Cooperate, Don't Litigate: Mediated Dispute Reduces Pollution
In Dorog, Hungary, an impasse arose between a waste management company and a local environmental group that led them to Partners-Hungary's Mediation Center. The waste management company had agreed to incinerate refuse from a neighboring town. Meanwhile, the Dorog Environmental Association, a citizens’ group dedicated to ecological issues, claimed that the increase in waste incineration would raise air and water pollution to dangerous levels. The waste management company complained, in turn, that the Association’s assessment of pollution levels was inaccurate, and as a result the company was being unfairly maligned in the press.
Partners-Hungary’s mediators met with both groups and persuaded the parties to resolve their dispute through mediation, pointing out that the media war was only exacerbating tensions, and litigation would be an expensive and time consuming ordeal.
During a series of mediation sessions, the Association demanded that the company immediately cease the burning of waste from other communities, and that it have the right to monitor and periodically inspect the company's facilities. The company insisted that the Association report information about the incinerator's environmental impact to the public in an accurate and objective manner.
What had seemed to be an intractable issue was ultimately resolved in a detailed agreement. The company agreed to stop incinerating refuse from other towns and gave the Association access to its facilities and records. The Association agreed to report the company's activities based on full, accurate information.
The parties met three months later to evaluate the agreement. While the company expressed some concern over perceived negative publicity from the Association, both parties decided to extend the agreement indefinitely.
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