265319 Health impact assessment for Seattle's Duwamish River Superfund cleanup plan

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

William E. Daniell, MD, MPH , Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
C. Linn Gould, MS, MPH , Just Health Action, Seattle, WA
B.J. Cummings, MA , Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group, Seattle, WA
Seattle's Duwamish River serves industrial, recreational, subsistence, and cultural needs. The Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW), 5.5 miles long, was designated a Superfund site in 2001. Decades of industrial and urban waste have left high concentrations of 40+ contaminants in the shoreline, sediments, fish, and adjacent neighborhoods.

The Site has undergone environmental analyses, chemical risk assessment, and hot spot cleanups. In 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will announce its Cleanup Plan for public review. Through funding from Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is being conducted by a partnership team including the University of Washington School of Public Health and two non-profit organizations, Just Health Action and the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group, EPA's designated Community Advisory Group for the Site.

This HIA is the first in the country applied to a Superfund site cleanup. It examines the short- and long-term health impacts of the proposed cleanup and administrative controls (e.g., fish advisories and restrictions) on three affected populations: 1. Residents of two predominantly low-income and minority communities adjacent to the river; 2. Native American tribes that have cultural resources, treaty rights, and/or actively fish the river; and 3. Immigrant and low-income subsistence fishers. The HIA is guided by a Community Advisory Committee and a Liaison Committee representing regulators and responsible parties. This presentation discusses the successes and challenges of working with polarized stakeholders in a regulatory environment that has not previously incorporated HIA as a policy tool to inform decision making.

Learning Areas:
Environmental health sciences
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe short- and long-term health impacts that may not be adequately assessed in conventional risk assessments and plans for cleanup or mitigation of polluted sites, such as Superfund sites. Describe how HIA might broaden the scope and inform decisions about cleanup and control options at polluted sites, particularly for non-engineered, administrative controls. Discuss the potential role of academic and community organization partnerships for enabling broader consideration of health and social impacts in regulatory decision making at polluted sites.

Keywords: Environmental Health, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present on this content because I am the principal investigator on this project and an environmental and occupational health physician and epidemiologist, with board certification in occupational and environmental medicine and in internal medicine.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.