Explanatory Note:
On March 16, 1971, the National Academy of Engineering convened the Forum of the Committee on Power Plant Siting (COPPS) in Washington, D.C. After two days of plenary sessions the members of the three main working groups met for three days to begin drafting their reports. Four of the authors of the present report (Borrelli, Easterling, Lees and Poppe) constituted the sub-group on Environmental Aspects of Siting of Working Group II-Systems Approach to Site Selection. Intensive discussions in Washington in this sub-group, and the subsequent exchange of draft sections by mail, convinced us that we should go far beyond our original assignment and probe into all aspects of power plant siting, especially the public interest factors. During a second intensive working session in Pasadena, California, on April 22 and 23, 1971, we were joined by Guy Pauker and Burton H. Klein, who also participated in the subsequent redrafting of the final report. We are grateful to the NAE-COPPS for stimulating our thinking on this important and difficult problem. However, the final report is solely our responsibility as individuals and the responsibility of the Caltech Environmental Quality Laboratory.
Lester Lees
Director, Environmental Quality Laborator