United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
In This Issue:
• EPA Releases
Environmental Justice
Documentary 1
• Environmental Justice
Reviews 2
• Headquarters
Update 3
• 2007 EJ Collaborative
Problem-Solving 5
• Reqional Corner 7
Environmental
Justice/uarterly
www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice
Summer 2007
EPA Releases Environmental
Justice Documentary
EPA Provides Motivation, Inspiration, and How-To Lessons to Communities Nationwide
Safe Shellfish
Harvesting
On June 14, EPA released a documen-
tary video entitled "Environmental Jus-
tice: The Power of Partnerships—The
Collaborative Problem-Solving Model at
Work." The video chronicles the envi-
ronmental justice story of a low-income,
African-American community in Spar-
tanburg, South Carolina.
The purpose of the video,
which is being distributed
for free to thousands of
communities nationwide, is
to motivate, inspire, and
teach others how to bring
about change in contaminat-
ed and downtrodden areas
where many people live.
The documentary tells the
story of how one man, a
local community organiza-
tion called ReGenesis, and
a handful of federal, state,
and local government
agencies, along with a uni-
versity, reversed the down-
ward spiral in their
community. It shows the
process of discovering the
problem of environmental
contamination and documents the relat-
ed problems of poor health and lack of
access to health care, drugs and crime,
dilapidated housing, and a lack of jobs
or economic development. It walks
viewers through all the steps partners
went through to envision a brighter path
for the future and then develop real
solutions. These steps provide the
foundation for EPAs "Collaborative
Problem-Solving Model."
EPA chose Spartanburg as a model
community because of the gravity of its
problems, the scope of its partnerships,
and the extent of its positive transfor-
mation. While residents were once
Environmental Justice:
The Power of Partnerships
The Collaborative Problem-Solving Model at Work
in Spartanburg; South Carolina
A Documentary Production
with Bonus features
plagued with contamination from a for-
mer fertilizer plant and local dump, now
the company and government are
cleaning up the land and working with
the community to redevelop the proper-
ties for the community's use, such as a
golf course, parks, and other recre-
ational areas. While residents once had
(Continued on page 2)
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EPA Releases Environmental Justice Documentary
(Continued from page 1)
The documentary highlights the work of
Harold Mitchell, Executive Director of
ReGenesis, which, with its many partners,
is revitalizing the Spartanburg community.
nowhere to turn for their health prob-
lems, the community now has its own
state-of-the-art health center, donated
by the local hospital center, which
sees thousands of patients annually.
While residents once lived in sub-
standard housing projects riddled
with drugs and crime, now the Spar-
tanburg Housing Authority has torn
down the dilapidated buildings and is
working with a community job training
corps to build brand new suburban
subdivisions for rental and home own-
ership. And while residents once felt
little hope in their future, now they are
proud to be actively engaged in proj-
ects to improve it.
The 45-minute video, available on
DVD, made its debut at Converse
College in Spartanburg. Granta Y.
Nakayama, EPA's Assistant Adminis-
trator for Enforcement and Compli-
ance Assurance, and Jimmy Palmer,
EPA's Region 4 Administrator, provid-
ed remarks at the ceremony, and
Senator Jim Demint appeared via
video. Nakayama pronounced that,
"The success of this project exceed-
ed our wildest expectations," and
Palmer reminded viewers of a rele-
vant adage: "Those who say it can't
be done are often interrupted by
those who are doing it." After viewing
the movie, which includes historical
footage and interviews with key play-
ers, long-time community members
spoke, expressing their gratitude that
their story will never be forgotten and
that other communities will have the
benefit of learning from it. "Great
things will happen for others," one 56-
year resident proclaimed of the value
of learning from the Spartanburg story.
To order free copies of the DVD, call
1-800-962-6215 or visit
.
Granta Y. Nakayama, EPA's Assistant
Administrator for Enforcement and Com-
pliance Assurance, spoke to an audience
of more than 200 at the documentary pre-
mier, calling the Spartanburg project "an
inspiring story...a story of hope."
EPA Embarks on Environmental Justice Reviews
In response to an Inspector General
report in September 2006, EPA is con-
ducting environmental justice reviews
to assess the extent to which its pro-
grams, policies, and activities address
environmental justice concerns.
The Agency's Environmental Justice
Reviews Workgroup held its first face-to-
face meeting in Washington, DC, on
April 10-11, 2007. The Agency-wide
Workgroup is composed of approxi-
mately 61 members from all EPA
regions and most of the program offices
in Headquarters. The workgroup mem-
bers represent a diversity of knowledge,
expertise, and perspectives. The work-
group is developing protocols for con-
ducting environmental justice reviews
focused on four major EPA functions: (1)
standard setting and rulemaking/regula-
tory development; (2) permitting;
(3) enforcement and compliance; and
(4) cleanup and remediation.
EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus
Peacock has called for "a more sys-
tematic, broader-scale approach to
identifying and addressing dispropor-
tionate impacts to human health and
the environment." To this end, the
Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ)
is working to integrate environmental
justice throughout the Agency, and
the reviews will be a key mechanism
for achieving this goal.
The primary objectives of an environ-
mental justice review are to:
• Identify ways in which the Agency is
effectively identifying and address-
ing environmental justice concerns
that arise or may arise with respect
to a program, policy or activity.
• Identify opportunities for the
Agency to enhance its effective-
ness in identifying addressing envi-
ronmental justice concerns that
arise or may arise with respect to a
program, policy or activity.
Charles Lee, Acting Director for OEJ,
stated that, "We are building lots of
momentum now and constantly
searching for effective and meaning-
ful ways to integrate environmental
justice into our day-to-day work."
For more information on Environmen-
tal Justice Reviews, visit OEJ's Web
site at or
contact Amy Tuberson at (202) 564-
5152 or .
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II
Headquarters Update
Office of Children's
Health Protection and
Environmental Education
Each quarter, the Headquarters Update
features a specific office at i
highlighting recent activities, programs, and
policies aimed at addressing a variety of
environmental justice issues.
OCHPEE Gives Kids a Helping Hand
Building Health Professional
Capacity to Address Children's
Environmental Health
In 1996, EPA issued a national
agenda that included a mandate to
educate healthcare providers on
children's health and the environ-
ment as one of seven action items.
Since it was established in 1997,
EPA's Office of Children's Health
Protection, now the Child and
Aging Health Protection Division of
the Office of Children's Health Pro-
tection and Environmental Educa-
tion (OCHPEE), has expanded
educational efforts with health pro-
fessionals to identify, prevent, and
reduce environmental health
threats to children. Examples
activities include:
• Developing continuing education
modules for nurses through a
grant to the American Nurses
Foundation and the University of
Maryland School of Nursing;
• Developing a series of work-
shops for incoming chief pedi-
atric residents on children's
environmental health, sponsored
by the American Academy of
Pediatrics;
• Supporting and collaborating
with the Pediatric Environmental
Health Specialty Units; and
• Managing seven grants to build
health professional capacity to
address children's environmental
health issues around the world.
For more information, visit
.
Prenatal Partnership
OCHPEE is participating in the Pre-
natal Partnership on Environmental
Health. Together with outside part-
ners, such as the American Col-
lege of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, the American Col-
lege of Nurse Midwives, the Ameri-
can Academy of Pediatrics, and
the American Nurses Association,
OCHPEE has developed a vision
and a scoping document to frame
the various activities of the partner-
ship. The goal of the Prenatal Part-
nership is to promote behaviors and
(Continued on page 4)
As part of the OCHPEE's Distinguished Speak-
er Webcast Series, viewers can hear from
leading researchers about current topics relat-
ed to children's environmental health, such as
this presentation from the June webcast about
the connection between poverty and environ-
mental hazards and exposures.
-------
OCHPEE Gives Kids a Helping Hand
(Continued from page 3)
social changes that reduce exposure
of pregnant women and children to
environmental health risks before,
during, and after pregnancies.
This initiative will help to ensure
that children in the United States
are born with maximum good
health by eliminating or minimizing
environmental health risks to preg-
nant women and their children. The
partnership is especially important
for low-income, low-literacy, com-
munities of color, where environmen-
tal health risks are more prevalent.
OCHPEE is currently considering
applications for the solicitation,
"Building Capacity to Address
Environmental Health Issues During
Pregnancy." These grants will help
increase the number of women of
childbearing age and healthcare
professionals who are able to iden-
tify, understand, and take action to
address environmental health risks
to pregnant women and children,
specifically during early periods of
child development.
Support for Environmental Justice
Initiatives
OCHPEE is working on two new
environmental justice initiatives.
First, OCHPEE is representing EPA
on the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) Federal Col-
laborative on Health Disparities
Research. This CDC working group
is addressing four factors related to
health disparities: (1) obesity; (2)
mental health; (3) quality indicators
for individuals affected by multiple
conditions; and (4) the built envi-
ronment. OCHPEE is currently
focusing on the effects of the built
environment on health disparities
and finding potential partnerships
to address them.
Environmental Health Disparities
OCHPEE is developing fact sheets
on environmental health disparities.
The fact sheets focus on African
American, Asian and Pacific
Islander, Native American, and His-
panic children. The fact sheets will
address the social, economic, and
physical environmental factors that
can lead to environmental health
disparities. OCHPEE's regulatory
team leader, Devon Payne-Sturges,
states that the facts sheets will
build and improve upon existing
measures that researchers use to
assess children's environmental
wellbeing (e.g., air pollution, expo-
sure to environmental tobacco
smoke, and drinking water). The fact
sheets will provide information on
actions individuals and communities
can take to reduce and eliminate
these disparities.
The fact sheets resulted from a
2005 technical workshop, cospon-
sored by OCHPEE and EPAs Office
of Environmental Justice. The "Con-
necting Social and Environmental
Factors to Measure and Track
Environmental Health Disparities"
workshop was attended by nearly
40 people, representing a cross
section of individuals that work on
the issue of children's health but
who do not generally meet to dis-
cuss current issues or potential
solutions. Attendees included
traditional environmental scientists,
social scientists, risk assessors,
community activists, social epi-
demiologists, health geographers,
nurses, and state and federal gov-
ernment representatives. The work-
shop explored how environmental
health disparities are produced, the
common connections between
social and physical factors that
might produce these disparities,
and what can be done to prevent
and remedy them. The event pro-
duced five published technical
papers, which can be found on
OCHPEE's Web site at
.
The workshop also resulted in
OCHPEE extending its support to
many small research projects
exploring how the lessons learned
at the workshop can be built upon
and identifying the social factors
leading to health disparities.
Distinguished Speaker Webcast Series
For the past decade, OCHPEE has influenced the way that children
of disadvantaged communities within the United States and interna-
tionally are studied and protected. 2007 marks the 10-year anniver-
sary of the office's establishment and of the signing of Executive
Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental Health ,
and Safety Risks. As part of the celebration of these two events, the
office is holding a Distinguished Speaker Webcast Series. During
these presentations, individuals interested in children's environmental
health can hear from the leading researchers and practitioners on a
wide range of current topics. June's webcast discussed why minority
and low-income children are more vulnerable to environmental haz-
ards and exposures, while the July presentation discussed the rela-
tionship between children's health and environmental factors in the
home. Future webcast topics will focus on children's environmental
health concerns in the wake of disasters. For more information on the
speaker series, visit OCHPEE's Web site at .
-------
EPA Launches 2007 EJ Collaborative
Problem-Solving Program
On June 5-7, 2007, the Office of Envi-
ronmental Justice kicked-off a new
round of cooperative agreements
under the Environmental Justice Col-
laborative Problem-Solving Program
by hosting a training workshop for the
new grantees. Each of the 10 com-
munity-based organizations received
$100,000 to undertake local projects
on environmental and health issues.
The workshop provided grantees with
an orientation of EPA's grants man-
agement process and the use of
EPA's Environmental Justice Collabo-
rative Problem-Solving Model in
implementing their projects over the
next three years.
Also during this workshop, EPA for-
mally awarded the grant by present-
ing a "big check" to each of the
grantees. Granta Y. Nakayama, Assis-
tant Administrator for Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance, present-
ed the checks to each organization.
"These grants provide necessary
resources for local communities to
take an active role in our nation's
environmental solutions," he said.
Page 6 provides a description
of each of the grantees' proj-
ects for 2007.
Since 1994, EPA has provid-
ed more than $31 million in
funding to more than 1,100
community-based organiza-
tions. Past grantees have
used the funds to:
EPA formally awarded the $100,000 grant to each
of 10 community-based organizations to take on
local issues related to environmental and health
issues.
Clean up and prepare an
abandoned lot for redevel-
opment in Anahola, Hawaii;
Educate the residents of Tacoma,
Washington, about safe and sus-
tainable methods of harvesting
shellfish;
Reduce exposure to asthma and
increase community access for
asthma treatment for residents of a
Brooklyn, New York, community;
Help residents of Mebane, North
Carolina, address issues associat-
ed with failing septic systems,
potentially impacting 500 homes;
and
• Reduce lead exposure among resi-
dents of Pacoima, California, a Los
Angeles area city.
Financial assistance under the Envi-
ronmental Justice Collaborative Prob-
lem-Solving Program is available to all
nonprofit organizations designated by
the IRS or recognized by the state,
territory, commonwealth, or tribe in
which it is located. The purpose of
the funding is to assist affected com-
munities so that they can develop
proactive, strategic, and visionary
approaches to address their environ-
mental justice issues and to achieve
community health and sustainability.
The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Program launched the 2007 grant awards with a training workshop for
new grantees.
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Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving
Cooperative Agreement Program 2007 Awards
Region 1
• Organization: Vietnamese American Initiative
for Development (Boston, MA)
• Project Description: The identified issue for this
project is worker exposure to flammable and
toxic floor finishing products.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to these
toxic chemicals by floor finish workers. Viet-AID
will accomplish this goal by: (1) working with
and educating business owners and workers to
practice safer handling techniques and to use
less toxic alternative floor finishing products; (2)
working with business owners to promote prod-
uct replacement by switching to less toxic
products; (3) working with state and local gov-
ernments to adopt legislation that requires floor
finishers to be certified and to ban toxic lacquer
sealers; and (4) educating customers on less
toxic floor finishing products.
Region 2
• Organization: Southwest Area Neighborhood
Association, Inc. (Rochester, NY)
• Project Description: The identified issue for
this project is resident exposure to household
hazards, namely lead, asthma triggers, and
carbon monoxide.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure of resi-
dents to these household hazards. SWAN will
accomplish this goal by: (1) educating the resi-
dents on how to avoid household hazards and
how to make personal changes to reduce expo-
sure; (2) assisting residents on how to gain
access to resources and services that address
exposure to household hazards more effectively
and efficiently; and (3) conducting follow-ups
with the participants in the program and the
resource providers to determine if changes in
behavior occurred or if services were rendered.
Region 3
• Organization: Coalition for Environmentally
Safe Communities (Washington, DC)
• Project Description: The identified issue for this
project is resident exposure to household haz-
ards, namely asthma triggers and lead.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to
such hazards. CESC plan to achieve their
desired goal by: (1) creating sustainable,
ongoing resources and technical assistance
to DC organizations and agencies to improve
their ability to respond to environmental
health threats; and (2) providing training to
staff and volunteers to identify procedures for
informing residents of environmental hazards
affecting them.
Region 4
• Organization: Rural Empowerment Associa-
tion for Community Help (Duplin, NC)
• Project Description: The identified issue for this
project is residents' exposure to air and water
contaminants, particularly hydrogen sulfide,
from local hog operations within Duplin County.
• Desired Result: Reduction in the exposure of
residents to air and water contaminants from
local hog operations. REACH hopes to
achieve this goal by: (1) working with local
hog operations to utilize new technologies
that will eliminate the need for lagoons and
spray fields; or (2) working with local hog
operations to get them to comply with state
guidelines for operating spray fields.
Region 5
• Organization: Cleveland Tenants Association
(Cleveland, OH)
• Project Description: The identified issue for
this project is resident exposure to indoor
environmental hazards.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to such
hazards. The Cleveland Tenants Association
and Environmental Health Watch hopes to
achieve this goal by: (1) conducting educational
outreach at tenant sites and community events
regarding hazards and self-protective actions to
reduce risk related exposure; (2) performing
building inspections with tenants to evaluate
hazards; (3) helping tenants organize to secure
landlord repairs and/or remediation of hazards
and to affect local policy decisions regarding
hazards and regulation and enforcement proce-
dures; and (4) providing referrals for additional
resources, such as home visits and additional
educational opportunities, as needed.
Region 6
• Organization: Louisiana Environmental Jus-
tice Community Organization Coalition
(Morgan City, LA)
• Project Description: The identified issue for
this project is exposure of residents to toxic
air emissions from industrial facilities.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to toxic
air emissions. LEJCOC will concentrate on
two communities in Shreveport and St.
James Parish along Highways 44 and 18 and
train residents on the use of alternative dis-
pute resolution so they will be empowered to
negotiate with the industries in these two
communities to reduce the residents' expo-
sures. They will work with the industries to
make changes to their equipment and/or
operating controls, which may involve: (1)
coming into compliance with permits; (2)
meeting emission levels lower than the per-
mit levels; and/or (3) instituting non-permit
initiatives to reduce resident exposure.
Region 7
m Organization: Area Resources for Community
and Human Services (St. Louis, MO)
• Project Description: The identified issue for
this project is toxic exposure of residents in
their homes and from small businesses locat-
ed in the affected community.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to toxi-
cs. ARCHS will achieve this goal by: (1) cre-
ating a public/private partnership led by the
city of St. Louis to create a regular pickup
service for household hazardous waste; (2)
educating residents on the use of less toxic
alternatives and the proper handling and dis-
posal techniques for household hazardous
waste; and (3) working with businesses to
adopt pollution prevention mechanisms.
Region 8
• Organization: San Luis Valley Ecosystem
Council (Alamosa, CO)
• Project Description: The identified issue for this
project is resident exposure to contaminants
(e.g., metals, fertilizers) via household wells.
• Desired Result: Reduction in the number of resi-
dents within the valley who are exposed to con-
taminants through their drinking water source.
SLVEC and its partners plan to achieve their
desired goal through: (1) educating residents to
take personal steps, such as using well water
only for bathing or washing, and installing or
cleaning water filters, to avoid exposure to well
water contaminants; (2) educating health care
providers so that they will provide services and
information to affected residents to reduce
exposure and to reduce associated health prob-
lems; and (3) promoting and implementing new
technologies that are cost effective, which will
allow low-income residents to afford filtration
systems or to drill for new wells.
Region 9
• Organization: Pacific Institutes for Studies in
Development, Environment, and Security
(West Oakland, CA)
• Project Description: The identified issue for this
project is exposure to diesel emissions and
other environmental hazards associated with
inappropriate land use within West Oakland.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to such
hazards. Pacific Institutes and the West Oakland
Environmental Indicators Project plan to achieve
their desired goal through: (1) incorporating the
community's vision into existing land use plans
for the reuse of the Oakland Army Base and the
city of Oakland; (2) convening all relevant stake-
holders including business, Port of Oakland, and
the city to participate on the Land Use Work-
group to develop and implement solutions; and
(3) working with the city and other government
entities to change existing policies to favor land
uses with less environmental impacts.
Region 10
• Organization: Environmental Coalition of
South Seattle (Seattle, WA)
• Project Description: The identified issue for
this project is exposure to toxic nail care
products by nail salon workers and clients.
• Desired Result: Reduction in exposure to toxics
from nail care products. ECOSS and its part-
ners will achieve their desired goal by: (1)
working with industry manufacturers and dis-
tributors to make less toxic nail care products
more readily accessible to salon owners; and
(2) educating nail salon owners, workers, and
clients about the benefits of less toxic prod-
ucts, the health hazards of using toxic prod-
ucts, and changes that individuals can make
to minimize exposure so that these groups can
make informed decisions to lessen their expo-
sure to toxic products.
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Regional Corner
Region 3
This column explores exciting environmental initia-
tives under way in EPA regional offices. Each quarter,
we focus on a different regional program. EPA Region
3 covers Delaware, the District of Columbia, Mary-
land, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Region 3 Ensures New Community Is Lead-Free
When the dust settles—or, rather,
now that the dust problem has been
settled—around the $1-billion rede-
velopment of East Baltimore, near
Johns Hopkins Hospital, the area will
include a state-of-the-art biotechnolo-
gy park, retail stores, a community
school, and mixed-income housing.
In this three-phase, 88-acre project,
controlling lead-bearing dust is
exactly what concerned this East
Baltimore community, the project
partners, and EPA Region 3.
Many of the more than 500 buildings
torn down in 2005 and 2006 to make
way for the new construction con-
tained lead-based paint. Lead, if
released into the air, water, or soil
during demolition can cause adverse
health affects when the lead parti-
cles are inhaled or ingested. Lead
exposure is a particular concern for
young children. EPA's Region 3 office
has been collaborating with its many
partners over the years to develop
the first formalized, controlled demo-
lition practices designed to reduce
exposure to lead dust, protecting
residents living around the project's
perimeter from lead emissions.
A variety of partners collaborated on
safely razing more than 500 build-
ings and preparing 165 vacant lots.
East Baltimore Development, Inc.
(EBDI), the nonprofit organization
created to lead and manage the
revitalization project, oversaw the
demolition. A researcher formerly
with the Johns Hopkins University's
Bloomberg School of Public Health
provided the initial research for the
demolition guidelines. A variety of
stakeholders from both inside and
outside of the community provided
valuable input and technical expert-
ise in the formal protocol develop-
ment. EPA's environmental justice
coordinator served as a member of
the independent review panel of lead
experts that conducted a review of
the monitoring data and made
recommendations on the decon-
struction/demolition protocol.
Reginald Harris, regional environmen-
tal justice coordinator and senior toxi-
cologist for Region 3, explained that
the team's comprehensive effort to
control the release of lead dust and to
monitor lead dust levels during decon-
struction/demolition was the first of its
kind on this scale. He hopes that com-
munities around the country will work
to establish formal demolition proto-
cols based on their methods.
Employing careful deconstruction
methods, rather than wholesale dem-
olition, played a critical role in the
safe removal of the houses. Con-
struction workers removed windows
and window sills, fireplace mantles,
door frames, and other detachable
parts of the houses suspected to
contain lead paint and disposed of
them prior to demolition. They also
used Jersey barriers and protective
fencing to enclose work areas, and
EBDI employed full-time supervisory
personnel on site who oversaw all
aspects of the project and ensured
that workers followed the protocol. In
addition, the recipient of the EPA Col-
laborative Problem-Solving Coopera-
tive Agreement served as a monitor
for the project as well. Workers used
plastic tarps to prevent contamination
of soils and other areas prone to dust
fall. Workers taped doors and win-
dows to seal those areas where dust
might infiltrate the buildings during
deconstruction. They sprayed water
from two angles on work sites—an
effective method to reduce and con-
trol lead dust levels. As of December
2006, workers removed nearly 64,000
tons of debris and completed the
housing demolition activity for the
project's first phase. The entire rede-
velopment project is expected to take
10 or more years to complete.
The project partners used various
methods to monitor lead levels in
areas around the demolition site.
When breezes exceeded 15 miles
per hour, project leaders postponed
demolition until wind speeds
dropped to acceptable levels to
(Continued on page 8)
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Safe & Sustainable Shellfish Harvesting Project
When pollution closes beaches in the
Pacific Northwest, shellfish harvest-
ing and consumption becomes dan-
gerous due to biotoxins, bacteria,
viruses, or chemicals in the water.
Typically, beach closures are com-
municated to local residents without
a hitch, but for some populations with
limited English skills, beach closure
signs go unnoticed and unsafe shell-
fish ends up on dinner tables. The
Asian and Pacific Islander (API) com-
munity in Pierce County, Washington,
is one such population.
Fortunately, proactive outreach and
education from the Indochinese Cul-
tural and Service Center (ICSC) in
partnership with the Korean Women's
Association (KWA), recipients of
EPA's Collaborative Problem-Solving
Grant, are improving the odds for the
approximately 58,000 Asian and
Pacific Islanders in this region.
The high prevalence of subsistence
shellfish harvesting in the API com-
munity (which includes people of
Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian,
Korean, Filipino, and Samoan
descent) in combination with cultural
traditions, language barriers, and
illiteracy, all lead to the failure to
understand and comply with local
Alan Rammer of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife trains Asian
American youth about safe and sustainable shellfish harvesting during a field trip
in June 2006.
beach closure warnings. As a result,
this population is especially vulnera-
ble to paralytic shellfish poisoning.
For example, in August 2000, nine
Cambodian workers were hospital-
ized after eating mussels from a
closed area on the Puget Sound.
In partnership with the KWA and
other stakeholders (see sidebar on
page 9), ICSC and its partners have
developed a comprehensive plan
that will be implemented statewide to
communicate beach closure
(Continued on page 9)
R3 Ensures Community Is Lead-Free
(Continued from page 7)
prevent the spread of the construc-
tion site dust. Although the inde-
pendent review panel is still
analyzing the data and writing a final
report, Harris said the initial findings
regarding the lead abatement efforts
are "very encouraging." Lead dusts
levels seemed to remain acceptable
throughout the demolition.
That is good news for future resi-
dents and displaced residents who
want to return to the neighborhood.
Of the more than 1,200 new and
renovated homes planned, one-
third will be low-income, one-third
will be moderately priced, and
one-third will be market priced.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a
key player in the Eastside revital-
ization effort, along with Johns
Hopkins Hospital provided $10 mil-
lion to give displaced homeowners
money to buy a comparable
replacement home. Displaced
renters are receiving extended
rental assistance. Residents whose
homes were torn down to make
way for the revitalization project will
have the opportunity to relocate
back to their old neighborhood in
late 2007, when the first 152 housing
units are expected to be completed.
"The biotech center and mixed
housing are a great shot in the arm
for the community, making it a sus-
tainable community," Harris said.
The life sciences and technology
park is expected to link biotech
firms with Hopkins researchers,
and the entire project is expected
to generate about 6,000 new jobs.
8
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warnings and raise awareness about
the serious health issues of eating
contaminated shellfish to this commu-
nity. Awareness activities include:
• Outreach Brochure: The partner-
ship developed an educational
brochure about safe and sustain-
able shellfish harvesting, as well as
new, easier to understand beach
signs. The brochure will be translat-
ed into Vietnamese, Khmer (Cam-
bodian), Korean, Tagalog, and
Samoan.
• Beach Walks: Project coordinators
and partners work with youth to
sample and monitor the water qual-
ity conditions of various beaches.
• Marine Resources Laboratory
Tours: Project coordinators take
youth on tours to learn about
biotoxin monitoring and sampling.
• Commercial Shellfish Site Tour:
Tours are given to API community
residents so they are aware of
sources of shellfish other than har-
vesting.
• Presentation to Elders: Youth par-
ticipating in the beach monitoring/
sampling provide education and
present their findings to elders
during monthly cultural gatherings.
Collaborative Partnership at Work: "Marine Resources for Future
Generations":
Indochinese Cultural and Service Center
(co-leader)
Korean Women's Association (co-leader)
Washington State Fish and Wildlife
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Washington State Department of Health
Fish Consumption Advisories
Washington State Department of Health
Food Safety and Shellfish Program
Understanding API cultures has been
crucial for ICSC and KWAs success in
changing unsafe shellfish harvesting
behavior. At the advice of community
elders, ICSC and KWAs outreach tar-
gets the API youth for the most cultur-
ally sensitive and effective way to
disseminate information throughout
the entire community. In many API cul-
tures, it is inappropriate for children to
teach their parents, even if the chil-
dren are adults. However, ICSC and
KWA were able to capitalize on a cul-
tural loophole: community elders tend
to be more receptive to listening to the
youth (often their grandchildren),
because they want to encourage their
education. So ICSC teaches the youth
about healthy shellfish harvesting, the
youth teach their grandparents, and
The Marine Resources for Future Generations' partnership (joined by Asian American
youth participants in this photo) collaborated on the Safe and Sustainable Shellfish
Harvesting Project.
Pierce County Water Program
University of Washington
Puget Sound Water Quality Action Tea
Washington State Parks Department
Seattle Aquarium
Citizens for a Healthy Bay
Puget Sound Restoration Society
the grandparents teach their children
(the youth's parents), completing the
cycle of information.
Since receiving the Collaborative Prob-
lem-Solving Grant in 2004, ICSC and its
partners have involved more than 1,000
API community members in outreach
and education activities. According to
beach park rangers, these efforts have
significantly decreased the number of
people harvesting contaminated shellfish
from closed beaches.
ICSC is one of 30 organizations to
receive $100,000 through an Office of
Environmental Justice (OEJ) grant pro-
gram that focuses on using the Collab-
orative Problem-Solving (CPS) Model to
address local environmental and public
health issues. Like other grant projects,
this project benefits communities dis-
proportionately exposed to environmen-
tal and public health risks.
The CPS Model specifically seeks
solutions that involve multiple stake-
holders. The hope is that varied com-
munity members and organizations
working together will have greater
existing resources and will better
identify new resources and partners to
sustain their solution to the environ-
mental or public health concern.
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