Advocacy work in technical communication: Technical communicators on different sides of the environmental sustainability debate

Abstract

This professional practice paper focuses on a case study of PCS Phosphate and its attempt to expand their mining operation in rural NC. This case study highlights the complex relationship among communicators who designed PCS Phosphate's activist website advocating for the mine expansion, regulatory writers at the EPA who deemed the mine expansion a threat to the environment, and technical communicators who assisted in drafting the reports produced by the Army Corps of Engineers that ultimately decided the fate of the mine expansion. Since PCS Phosphate did receive their mining permit, this paper provides best practices to designing a corporate activist website based on the seemingly successful activist website of PCS. This paper explores how technical communicators can find themselves on different sides of the environmental sustainability debate.