Environmental Health and Justice in Norton Sound, Alaska: Bringing Together Isolated Communities to Reduce Harmful Environmental Exposures

This project builds upon the success of a previous project in the area by focusing on known and previously unexamined contaminants that may be important factors affecting the environmental health of Alaska Native communities in the Norton Sound region, including Brevig Mission, Diomede, Elim, Gambell, Golovin, Koyuk, Saint Michael, Savoonga, Shaktoolik, Shismaref, Stebbins, Teller, Unalakleet, Wales and White Mountain. The Nome Eskimo Community and the villages of Council, King Island, Solomon and Mary's Igloo are also included This project is a partnership with the fifteen communities of Norton Sound and the five village councils based in Nome, which is examining effective means to limit the release and mitigate the human health effects of environmental contaminants. This presentation will describe the strategies for fostering partnerships among communities that are separated geographically. It will also discuss methods for engaging the regional health care administration to build capacity and address the environmental health problems affecting local residents. Finally, it will describe training activities for community members.