Understanding stakeholder uncertainties in environmental remediation: lessons from Belgium’s industrial legacy of mixed radioactive-chemical contamination

Environmental remediation projects imply a process fraught with uncertainties. While this is a truism, uncertainties faced by different stakeholders before, during, and after a remediation process have not been systematically and empirically investigated. Hence, the goal of this study is to identify how stakeholders, including affected populations (residents), remediation experts, authorities, industry, and the mass media, perceive and experience uncertainties encountered during long-term environmental remediation processes at mixed chemical-radiological contaminated sites caused by industrial practices. For this purpose, the study employs a mixed methods approach at two sites in Flanders, Belgium contaminated by radioactive materials from radium production and the phosphate industry: this includes media content analysis (N = 164 articles published over three decades), semi-structured interviews with residents from affected areas (N = 24), and exploratory questionnaire followed by a panel discussion with experts, industry representatives, remediation experts, and authorities (N = 10). The study reveals that uncertainties vary widely among stakeholder groups and over time. Stakeholders emphasize different aspects of uncertainty, from management and legal issues to public health concerns. Residents show higher trust in authorities and operators to solve the uncertainties, contrasting with experts’ focus uncertainties related to remediation techniques, societal challenges like conflicting needs and expectations and future land use. Each contaminated site’s uncertainties are shaped by historical, socio-political, and economic contexts. This study is valuable for those interested in stakeholder involvement in decision-making on environmental issues, as well as for those examining the societal aspects of decision-making in radiation protection.