Impacts of Cyclonic Storms on Environmental Health along the Gulf Coast: A Community-Driven Initiative to Characterize Risk from Storm-Surge Sediment After Hurricane Ike

September 12th 2008, Hurricane Ike struck Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula with strong Category 2 winds and surge floods from 9 -15 feet. A Galveston CBO, St. Vincent's House, raised concerns regarding the safety of sludge sediment deposited on the Island by Ike's surge because of Galveston's proximity to heavy industry and petrochemical complexes. A community-based coalition emerged to test sediment for toxins including: heavy metals, dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, sulfur compounds, diesel range organics, and semi-volatile organics. Areas vulnerable to toxins from Galveston Bay, the Galveston Industrial Channel, and the Houston Ship Channel were chosen as sampling sites.

CBO and UTMB personnel were trained in EPA sampling protocols and collected targeted sediment samples. No actionable levels of toxins were found, however, heavy metal levels exceeded EPA residential screening levels for six of the eight sites and dioxin was elevated at one site.

Results raised concern given Galveston's pre-storm lead burden. Additional concerns include health disparities, disproportionate damage to housing in low-income neighborhoods of color, exposure of vulnerable populations, and cumulative risk impacts on populations taxed by multiple post-disaster issues.

Environmental health recommendations include: public awareness campaigns to address actual risk and citizen risk perceptions, monitoring illness related to sediment exposure, minimizing exposure of vulnerable populations, additional testing for dioxins and furans focused on sensitive land use areas, affordable sediment disposal, coordination of City services to reduce exposure, and development of comprehensive disaster planning strategies and outreach education to reduce potential exposure related to future tropical weather events.