V. DEC Vs. Riverside Pulp and Paper
In the remainder of this paper, the SmartSettle process is illustrated in the context of a hypothetical negotiation problem between the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Riverside Pulp and Paper (footnote 6). The conflict is briefly described as follows.
Riverside is located beside the Deep River, which happens to be a convenient place to discharge the effluent from their operation. The Deep River water quality has deteriorated over the years and an administrative order has been issued by DEC requiring Riverside to improve the situation. Because a demonstration project would be of great value, DEC is quite keen on having Riverside install a new technology called the Technoclean Scrubber. DEC is so motivated toward the Technoclean Scrubber that it seems willing to include a guarantee, subsidy, insurance, and other incentives. However, DEC also claims the authority to require Riverside to shut down for as long as it takes to properly comply and go through a testing period. Not surprisingly, Riverside is unwilling to cooperate with DEC’s ideas for resolution of the conflict.
In the dynamic of real world negotiations, one phase is seldom completed before the next one begins, and an iterative process may bring a party back to an earlier phase any number of times as the problem evolves and is more thoroughly understood. However, for the sake of brevity, this illustration assumes static party preferences and follows a simple sequential progression through each phase.