MARCH 17 - 19, 2010
WALTER E. WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER
WASHINGTON, DC
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Dear Symposium Participants,
It is with great pleasure and excitement that we welcome you to Strengthening Environmental Justice
Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental
Health Impacts. For over a year we have worked to organize this symposium and to bring together a
diverse set of expert panels, speakers, and participants, premised on the recognition that the issue of
environmental justice and environmental health equity in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
decision making requires a broadening of the dialogue and the sources of scholarship, knowledge,
and expertise that are brought to the table. Multiple factors, including social, political, psychosocial,
economic, physical, chemical, and biological determinants, contribute to disproportionate human
health or environmental impacts. Therefore, diverse expertise, including environmental public health
scientists, environmental and social epidemiologists, medical anthropologists, geographers,
biostatisticians, population health scientists, toxicologists, social scientists, policy analysts, and
community experts with interests in media-specific pollution, disparities in environmental disease
burdens, children's environmental health, environmental justice, etc., are needed at the table to
weave their perspectives together to better inform environmental health policy and environmental
regulatory decision making to achieve environmental justice and environmental health equity.
For this Symposium we are focused on EPA's regulatory decision making because the regulatory
development process at EPA is currently undergoing significant change to assure that all decisions
incorporate environmental justice. The Symposium is purposed to lay the groundwork for
developing a systematic and scientifically defensible approach for incorporating
environmental justice concerns into EPA's decision-making process. Your input during this
Symposium will help:
• Identify opportunities to modify EPA's analytical frameworks to incorporate consideration of
disproportionate impacts.
• Inform the collection of data and development of analytical methods and conceptual models for
assessing and incorporating disproportionate impacts into decision making.
• Inform activities to enhance the regulatory development process, including meaningful
participation of stakeholders.
The topic of incorporating environmental justice concerns in regulatory decision making is not new. In
fact, in March 1990, the participants in the Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental
Hazards at the University of Michigan wrote a letter to the heads of the Department of Health and
Human Services, EPA, and the Council on Environmental Quality to discuss the following, among
other recommendations, "require, on a demonstration basis, that racial and socioeconomic equity
considerations be included in Regulatory Impact Assessments...and include a racial and
socioeconomic dimension in geographic studies of environmental risk." That memo resulted in a
meeting with then-EPA Administrator, William K. Reilly. Administrator Reilly subsequently created the
Environmental Equity Workgroup, a precursor event to the creation of EPA's Office of Environmental
Justice. We hope that the discussions at this Symposium lead to environmental justice and equity
considerations in regulatory decision-making becoming standard practice.
The support and contributions of many people made this Symposium possible. We would like to thank
all the Symposium Sponsors (see Sponsors tab), members of the Symposium Planning Committee
(see Planning Committee tab) and our Contributing Experts (see Contributing Experts tab). We also
would like to thank the individuals who have worked behind to scenes to ensure the success of the
Symposium and all other related efforts. Specifically, we thank Tina Conley, with the National Center
for Environmental Research (NCER) in ORD, and Maria Smith, with The Scientific Consulting Group,
Inc., for leading the meeting logistics planning and execution. We thank Deborah Weinstock, with
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MDB Inc., for her contributions to meeting logistics, and Arlene Rosenbaum, with ICF International,
and Michael Callahan, with MDB, Inc., for coordinating the technical papers. We would like to
especially thank the following individuals for coordinating travel arrangements: Stella Spyropoulos,
Executive Assistant in NCER; Betty Jo Miller, Office of Administrative and Research Support
(OARS) Travel Division Director in ORD; Susan Pearce, OARS, Travel Management Division RTP
Team Lead, ORD; Ann Fisher-Durrah, travel coordinator with the Office of Children's Health
Protection; Kelly Maguire and Natalie Durham with the EPA National Center for Environmental
Economics; Sherry Baron with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; and Liam
O'Fallon and Kate Ryan with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
On behalf of the Symposium Planning Committee, we wish you a successful meeting and constructive
dialogue,
Devon Payne-Sturges, Dr.P.H. Onyemaechi Nweke, Dr.P.H.
Assistant Center Director for Human Health Physical Scientist
National Center for Environmental Research Office of Environmental Justice
EPA EPA
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on
the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
March 17-19, 2010
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC
AGENDA
March 17, 2010
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 - 8:50 a.m. Opening and Welcome Session (Room 151AB)
Paul Anastas, Assistant Administrator, Office of Research and
Development, EPA
Speakers: Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator, EPA introduced by
Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WeACT
8:50 - 10:45 a.m. Plenary 1: Overarching Issues for Environmental Justice—Community Perspectives
(Room 151AB)
Master of Ceremonies: Brian Smedley, Vice President and Director, Health Policy
and Moderator Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Keynote Speaker: Diane Takvorian, Executive Director, Environmental Health
Coalition
Pane! Speakers: Gary R. Grant, Executive Director, Concerned Citizens of Tillery
Monique Harden, Co-Director and Attorney, Advocates for
Environmental Human Rights
Romel Pascual, Director of Environment, Office of Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa
James Ransom, Chief, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council
Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response, EPA
10:45 - 11:00 a.m. Break
11:00 — 11:30 a.m. Overview/Purpose of the Symposium (Room 151AB)
Master of Ceremonies: Brian Smedley, Vice President and Director, Health Policy
Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
o Review impetus for the symposium
o Outline focal issues for the symposium and expectations
11:30 — 1:00 p.m. Luncheon Featuring Keynote Speaker (Room 147AB)
Race, Place, and Environmental Justice: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Manuel Pastor, Professor, University of Southern California
Sponsored by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies supported by a generous
grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
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March 17, 2010 (continued)
1:00-2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Proximity (Room ISOA)
Purpose: To explore and define how proximity to environmental health hazards and their
sources contributes to disparities in environmental health impacts among ethnic and
racial minority and disadvantaged populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate
this information into the environmental policy decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker Juliana Maantay, Professor, Department of Environmental,
Geographic and Geological Sciences, Lehman College, The
City University of New York
Speakers: Jayajit Chakraborty, Associate Professor, Department of
Geography, University of South Florida
Jean Brender, Associate Dean for Research and Professor,
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A&M
University
Discussants: Roger Kim, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Environmental
Network
Peter Langlois, Senior Epidemiologist, Texas Department of
State Health Services
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Multiple and Cumulative
Impacts/Effects (Room 1506)
Purpose: To explore the contribution of exposure to multiple and cumulative
environmental stressors to adverse environmental and health impacts, and also to
disparities in environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and
disadvantaged populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information into
the environmental policy decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Stephen H. Linder, School of Public Health, University of
Texas
Speakers: Amy D. Kyle, Associate Professor, Environmental Health
Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California,
Berkeley
Gary Ginsberg, Toxicologist, Division of Environmental
Epidemiology and Occupational Health, Connecticut
Department of Public Health
Discussants: James Ransom, Chief, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council
Rita Schoeny, Office of Science and Technology, Office of
Water, EPA
2
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March 17, 2010 (continued)
1:00-2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions (continued)
State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Susceptibility and Vulnerability
(Room 152A)
Purpose: To explore the relationship between vulnerability/susceptibility factors
(including social factors) and disparities in environmental health impacts among ethnic
and racial minority and disadvantaged populations. In particular, summarize how
vulnerability modifies the relationship between environmental agents and health impacts
and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information quantitatively into environmental
risk assessment and the policy decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker:
Speakers:
Discussants:
Joel Schwartz, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology,
Harvard School of Public Health
David Bellinger, Professor, Department of Environmental
Health, Harvard University and Senior Research Associate in
Neurology, Children's Hospital, Boston
Thomas A. Glass, Associate Professor, Department of
Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health and Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins Population
Center
Wilma Subra, Subra Company, Louisiana
Sally Darney, National Program Director for Human Health,
EPA
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Unique Exposures (Room 1526)
Purpose: To elucidate how unique exposure pathways contribute to disparities in
environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged
populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information into the
environmental policy decision- making process.
Session Chair/Speaker:
Speakers:
Discussants:
Joanna Burger, Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University
Michael Gochfeld, Environmental and Occupational Medicine,
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University
Daniel Kass, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Environmental
Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene
Earl Hatley, Local Environmental Action Demanded, Oklahoma
Michael S. Metzger, Chief, Risk Assessment Branch, Health
Effects Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA
2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Break/Poster Setup
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March 17, 2010 (continue
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions
3:00 - 3:40 p.m. Poster Review
3:40 - 5:00 p.m. Presentation and Discussion—Participants discuss the posters as a
panel; focus is on methods, data sources, and results as related to
methods.
• Data and Methodology Needs: Proximity (Poster Discussion Format) (Room 150A)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore methodological approaches used in
proximity analysis, environmental and health effects studies using such approaches as
the development and application of novel proximity measures, and the application of
proximity analysis in environmental policy decision making.
Session Co-Chairs:
Brad Schultz, Chief, Exposure Modeling Research Branch, National Exposure
Research Laboratory, EPA
Robin Saha, Associate Professor, Environmental Health, Justice and Policy, University
of Montana
Poster Presenters:
Troy Abel, Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Department of Environmental
Studies, Western Washington University
Mark Corrales, Regulatory Policy Analyst, Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation,
Office of the Administrator, EPA
Mary Collins, Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Management, University of
California, Santa Barbara
Angela Gilbert, University of South Florida
William McDonnell, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor of Law,
Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah and Director, Center for Children's
Environmental Health Law and Policy
Arlene Rosenbaum, Technical Director, ICF International
• Data and Methodology Needs: Multiple and Cumulative Impacts/Effects (Poster
Discussion Format) (Room 152AB)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore data needs and methodological
approaches for assessing cumulative impacts/burdens/exposures/risks among minority,
low-income, tribal, and other population groups. This session also explores the
development and application of novel cumulative impact measures, and the application
of information on cumulative impact/risk analysis in environmental/environmental health
policy decision making.
Session Co-Chats:
Russ Lopez, Senior Research Associate, Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban
and Regional Policy, Northeastern University
Irene Dankwa-Mullan, Acting Director, Office of Innovation and Program Coordination,
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health
(NIH)
Poster Presenters:
Daniel Axelrad, Office of the Administrator, Office of Policy, Economics, and
Innovation, EPA
Patricia Murphy, ROE Health Coordinator, National Center for Environmental
Assessment, EPA
Hilton Kelley, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council/Member/Community
In-Power and Development Association Inc.
John Prochaska, Center to Eliminate Health Disparities, University of Texas Medical
Branch - Galveston
Danelle Lobdell, Chief (Acting), Epidemiology Branch, National Health and
Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, EPA
Sarah Sharpe, Environmental Health Director/Coordinator, Fresno Metro Ministry/San
Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impact Project
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March 17, 2010 (continue
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions (continued)
• Data and Methodology Needs: Susceptibility and Vulnerability (Poster Discussion
Format) (Room 1506)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore methodological and data needs for
incorporating vulnerability considerations into decision-making frameworks such as risk
assessment, health impact assessment, etc. Specifically, this session includes an
overview of data and methods for identifying vulnerable/susceptible populations.
Session Co-Chairs:
Maureen O'Neill, Children's Health Coordinator, Region 2, EPA
Terry Wesley, Environmental Justice Coordinator, Region 2, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Jane Clougherty, Senior Air Quality Scientist, New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene and Research Associate, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard
School of Public Health
Tamara Saltman, Policy Analyst, Office of Air Quality, Planning and Standards, EPA
Sacoby Wilson, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Families in Societies,
University of South Carolina
Sue M. Moodie, Department of Environmental Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public
Health
Keeve Nachman, Director, Farming for the Future Program, Bloomberg School of
Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
• Data and Methodology Needs: Unique Exposures (Poster Discussion Format) (1526)
Purpose: Some individuals, communities, and population groups may experience
unique environmental exposures due to socioeconomic status, occupation, geographic
location, life stage, or cultural practices. In this session, presenters will highlight data
sources, methods, approaches, frameworks, and analytical tools for incorporating
information on uniquely exposed populations in environmental/environmental health
policy and regulatory decision making.
Session Co-Chats:
Roseanne Lorenzana, Science Liaison, Region 10, EPA
Max Weintraub, Lead-Based Paint Enforcement Coordinator, Region 9, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Christine Chaisson, Director, The LifeLine Group
Roseanne Lorenzana, Science Liaison, Region 10, EPA
David Richardson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Vi Waghiyi, Environmental Health and Justice Program Director, Alaska Community
Action on Toxics
5:00 p.m. Adjournment - Day 1
March 18, 201
8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 - 8:45 a.m. Remarks by Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development
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March 18, 2010 (continue
8:45 - 10:15 a.m. Plenary 2: Health Disparities and the Environment (Room 151AB)
Session Pane! Moderator: Harold Zenick, Director, National Health and Environmental
Effects Research Laboratory, EPA
Pane! Speakers: The Honorable Donna M. Christensen, United States Virgin
Islands Delegate to Congress
Paula Braveman, Professor, Department of Family and
Community Medicine, School of Medicine, and Director, Center
on Social Disparities in Health, University of California, San
Francisco
Rachel Morello-Frosch, Associate Professor, Department of
Environmental Science, Policy and Management, College of
Natural Resources, and School of Public Health, University of
California, Berkeley
Howard Frumkin, Special Assistant to the Director for Climate
Change and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
John Ruffin, Director, National Center on Minority Health and
Health Disparities, NIH
10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 - 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Psychosocial Stress (Room ISOA)
Purpose: To explore how psychosocial stress contributes to disparities in environmental
health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged populations and
discuss opportunities to incorporate this information into the environmental policy
decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker Pamela Tucker, Division of Toxicology and Environmental
Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
CDC
Speakers: Bruce McEwen, Professor and Head of the Harold and Milliken
Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Rockefeller
University
Charlton Coles, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, CDC
Steven Couch, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, CDC
Deborah Cory-Slechta, Professor, Department of
Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of
Medicine and Dentistry
Discussants: Mark Mitchell, President, Connecticut Coalition for
Environmental Justice
Jane Clougherty, Senior Air Quality Scientist, New York City
Department of Health, and Mental Hygiene Research
Associate, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard
School of Public Health
6
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March 18, 2010 (continue
10:30 - 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Physical Infrastructure (Room 1506)
Purpose: To elucidate how physical infrastructure/built environment contributes to
disparities in environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and
disadvantaged populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information into
the environmental policy decision- making process.
Session Chair/Speaker:
Speakers:
Discussants:
David Jacobs, National Center for Healthy Housing
Rajiv Bhatia, Director, Occupational and Environmental
Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health and
University of California, San Francisco
Jim VanDerslice, Associate Professor and Associate Division
Chief, Division of Public Health, Department of Family and
Preventive Medicine, University of Utah
Laurel Firestone, Community Water Center, Visalia, CA
Corine Li, Manager, Drinking Water Office, Region 9, EPA
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Community Capacity To Participate in
Environmental Decision Making (Room 152A)
Purpose: To explore the relationship between community capacity to participate in the
public policy decision-making process and disproportionate environmental health impact
among ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged populations and how this
information can be incorporated into the environmental policy decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Nicholas Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor and Director,
Department of Public Health, Hunter College of the City
University of New York
Speakers: Barbara Israel, Professor, Department of Health Behavior and
Health Education, School of Public Health, University of
Michigan
Manuel Pastor, Professor of Geography and American Studies
and Ethnicity, University of Southern California
Discussants: Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WeACT
Suzanne Wells, Chief, Superfund Community Involvement and
Program Initiatives Branch, EPA
• Investigating How Physical and Social Environments Jointly Contribute to Health
Disparities: Concepts and Methods from Social Epidemiology (Room 152B)
Purpose: To introduce and illustrate analytical methods relevant to investigating the joint
contributions of physical and social environments to health disparities and discuss how
these approaches can enhance our understanding of upstream factors contributing to
inequities in environmental health and inform prevention strategies.
Session Chair: Ana V. Diez-Roux, Professor, Epidemiology, and Director,
Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities, Center
for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Robert Wood
Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, and Institute
for Social Research, University of Michigan School of Public
Health
Speakers: Mahasin S. Mujahid, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology,
Martin Sisters Endowed Chair in Medical Research and Public
Health, School of Public Health, University of California,
Berkeley
Basile Chaix, Faculty of Medicine, University Pierre et Marie
Curie-Paris, Saint-Antoine
Theresa L. Osypuk, Assistant Professor, Bouve College of
Health Sciences, Northeastern University
7
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March 18, 2010 (continue
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own)/Poster Setup
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions and Community-Based Tools Session
1:00 - 1:40 p.m. Poster Review
1:40 - 3:00 p.m. Presentation and Discussion—Participants discuss the posters as a
panel; focus is on methods, data sources, and results as related to
methods
• Data and Methodology Needs: Psychosocial Stress (Poster Discussion Format)
(Room 152A)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore approaches for measuring
psychosocial stress/hazards at the community and individual levels, and also
methodological approaches for incorporating information on psychosocial stressors in
analytical and decision frameworks (e.g., risk assessment, health impacts assessment).
Session Co-Chairs:
Deborah Segal, Environmental Health Scientist, National Center for Environmental
Assessment, EPA
Maggie Breville, Environmental Health Scientist, National Center for Environmental
Research, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Jessie Carr, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Jane Clougherty, Harvard School of Public Health and New York City Department of
Health
Richard Salkowe, Department of Geography, University of South Florida
Ami Zota, Program on Reproductive Health and Environment, University of California,
San Francisco
• Data and Methodology Needs: Physical Infrastructure (Poster Discussion Format)
(Room 152B)
Purpose: The quality of physical infrastructure in a community, such as poor housing or
poorly maintained public buildings (e.g., schools), is a significant factor that may
contribute to making a community more vulnerable to environmental hazards. In this
session, we explore the types of data and methods for incorporating information on the
contributions of physical infrastructure/built environment to disproportionate impacts in
regulatory analytical and decision frameworks.
Session Co-Chats:
Sharon D. Beard, Industrial Hygienist/Program Administrator, Worker Education and
Training Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Anikah Salim, Association of Schools of Public Health Fellow, National Center for
Environmental Research, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Gary Adamkiewicz, Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard
School of Public Health
Christopher Heaney, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public
Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Rhona Julien, Environmental Health Scientist, Region 1, EPA
Gretchen Kroeger, Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Nicholas School of the
Environment, Duke University
Max Weintraub, EPA
Sacoby Wilson, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Families in Societies,
University of South Carolina
8
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March 18, 2010 (continue
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions and Community-Based Tools Session
(continued)
• Data and Methodology Needs: Community Capacity To Participate in Environmental
Decision Making (Poster Discussion Format) C150B')
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore approaches for enhancing
community capacity in the decision-making process, and also to identify data or
indicators to design better public involvement processes in decision making.
Session Co-Chairs:
Liam R. O'Fallon, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Yolanda Anita Sanchez, Environmental Scientist, Superfund Community Involvement
and Program Initiatives Branch, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Diane Ballerino-Regan, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Office of
Occupational Medicine Resident/Duke University
Steven Fischbach, Community Lawyer, Rhode Island Legal Services
Claire Franklin, The LifeLine Group
Myra Immings, Community Planner, Planning and Program Development, Atlanta
Regional Office, Federal Transit Administration
Don Yellowman, President, Forgotten People Community Development Corporation
Marsha Monestersky, Program Director, Forgotten People Community Development
Corporation
• Panel Session: Community-Based Tools for Assessing Disproportionate Impacts C150A')
Purpose: To showcase a variety of community-based/GIS-based assessment tools and
discuss opportunities for implementing/utilizing these tools to help agencies and
communities reduce or prevent disproportionate environmental health impacts.
Session Chair/Speaker Paul English, Branch Science Advisor, Environmental Health
Investigations Branch, California Department of Public Health
Speakers Steve Anderson, Office of Climate and Energy, New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
Maria Franco-Spera, Environmental Justice Coordinator, New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
James Sadd, Professor of Environmental Science, Occidental
College
Valerie Zartarian, National Exposure Research Laboratory,
EPA
Reginald Harris, Senior Toxicologist/Regional Environmental
Justice Coordinator, Office of Enforcement, Compliance and
Environmental Justice, EPA
Andrew Schulman, Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance, EPA
3:00 - 3:15 p.m. Break
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March 18, 2010 (continue
3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• Legal Authorities for Incorporating Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts
Considerations Into EPA's Decision Making (Room ISOA)
Purpose: Given the importance of the law in achieving environmental justice, this panel
will explore the application of legal authorities to address disproportionate health and
environmental impacts in EPA's regulatory decision-making process. Opportunities for
considering disproportionate impacts in the context of rulemaking, permitting,
enforcement, and state compliance will be discussed. Further, emerging non-regulatory
approaches will be explored as vehicles for addressing disproportionate burdens of
environmental exposures, vulnerabilities, and health impacts.
Session Chair: Suzi Ruhl, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Environmental Justice, EPA
Speakers: Vernice Miller-Travis, Vice Chair, Maryland State Commission on
Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities
Sheila Foster, Albert A. Walsh Professor of Law, Fordham University
School of Law, NY
Carol Ann Siciliano, Associate General Counsel, Office of General
Counsel, EPA
Dean Suagee, Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP
Nicholas Targ, Partner, Holland & Knight, LLP
Kenneth J. Warren, Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin
Patrice L. Simms, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and
Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice
• Analytical Frameworks for Assessing and Addressing Environmental Health Impacts To
Inform Decision Making (Room 1506)
Purpose: Presenters will provide an overview of decision-making frameworks, such as
Health Impact Assessment, Global Burden of Disease, and Health Equity Screens, that
explicitly allow for meaningful participation and consideration of multiple risk factors.
Examples of applications of these frameworks in decision making will be discussed and
also how they have been used to address issues of equity.
Session Chair/Speaker Rajiv Bhatia, Director, Occupational and Environmental Health,
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Speakers; Jonathan Heller, Director and Co-Founder, Health Impact
Partners
Ngozi T. Oleru, Director, Environmental Public Health Division,
Public Health Seattle/King County
Aaron J. Cohen, Principal Scientist, Health Effects Institute
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March 18, 2010 (continue
3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions (continued)
• Incorporating and Addressing Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts in EPA's
Decision-Making Process Using a Risk Assessment Framework (Room 152A)
Purpose: Risk assessment is EPA's primary science-based framework for decision
making. Risk assessment informs decision making at EPA in multiple ways, including
prioritization of decisions, rules/standard setting, cleanup of sites, permitting,
enforcement, other policy decisions, and program planning. This session includes
examples of how environmental justice concerns or disproportionate environmental
health impacts/risks have been addressed or incorporated in risk assessment
approaches
Session Chair: Stan Barone, Office of Research and Development, National Center for
Environmental Research, EPA
Speakers: Marie Lynn Miranda, Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences and
Policy, Duke University
Debbie Lowe Liang, Region 9, EPA
Rachel Morello-Frosch, Associate Professor, Environmental Science,
Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley
Matthew Small, Region 9, EPA
Zachary Pekar, Office of Air and Radiation, EPA
• Incorporating and Addressing Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts in EPA's
Decision-Making Process Using an Economic Analysis Framework (Room 1526)
Purpose: The panel provides an overview of the use of economic analysis in EPA's rule-
making analysis, as well as a discussion of how economists approach the analysis of
disproportionate impacts. The session begins with an overview of the traditional tools for
benefit-cost analysis and analyzing efficiency. Then, the session also will discuss how
economists consider equity followed by a case-study analysis from a recent regulation.
The panel concludes with alternative methods for analyzing distributional considerations
in benefits analysis.
Session Chair/Speaker: Kelly B. Maguire, Economist, National Center for
Environmental Economics, EPA
Speakers: Charles Griffiths, Senior Economist, National Center for
Environmental Economics, EPA
Maureen Cropper, Professor of Economics, University of
Maryland
Jonathan Levy, Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate
Professor of Environmental Health and Risk Assessment,
Harvard School of Public Health
Erica Sasser, Office of Air Quality, Planning, and Standards,
EPA
Henry Roman, Industrial Economics
11
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March 18, 2010 (continue
3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions (continued)
• Late Breaking Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation Session (Room 151AB)
Session Chairs: Keeve E. Nachman, Director, Farming for the Future Program,
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable
Future
Felicia Eaves, Special Projects Coordinator, Joint Center for Political
and Economic Studies
Speakers: Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg III, Associate Professor/Associate
Director, Environmental Sciences Institute, Director, Center for
Environmental Equity and Justice (CEEJ), Florida A&M University
Leah R. Williams, Department of Health Promotion, Education, and
Behavior, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of
South Carolina
Heather Tanana, Quinney College of Law, University of Utah
Martha Keating, Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Duke
University
Katie Lundquist, Department of Civil Engineering, University of
Minnesota
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Screening of the Documentary Unnatural Causes and Reception (Room 151AB)
Sponsored by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies supported by a generous
grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
7:00 p.m. Adjournment - Day 2
March 19, 201
8:00 - 8:15 a.m. Remarks by Michelle DePass, Assistant Administrator, Office of International Affairs,
EPA (Room 151AB)
Review of Day 2 (Room 151AB)
Master of Ceremonies: Brian Smedley, Vice President and Director, Health Policy
Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
8:15 - 9:30 a.m. Plenary 3: Research and Data Needs for Assessing and Addressing Disproportionate
Environmental Health Impacts Among Minority and Disadvantaged Populations
(Room 151AB)
Session Pane! Moderator: Sherry Baron, Coordinator for Priority Populations and Health
Disparities, National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, CDC
Speakers: Gwen W. Collman, Interim Director, Division of Extramural
Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, NIH
Jennifer D. Parker, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology,
National Center for Health Statistics, CDC
Steve Wing, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Gillings School
of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina School of
Public Health
Ana V. Diez-Roux, Professor, Epidemiology, School of Public
Health, University of Michigan, and Director, Center for
Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities
Gail C. Christopher, Vice President, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
9:30 - 10:00 a.m. Break
12
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March 19, 2010 (continue
10:00 — 11:30 a.m. Plenary 4: Incorporating the Concept of Disproportionate Environmental Health
Impacts in "Regulatory Development" at EPA: Analytical Challenges and
Opportunities (Room 151AB)
11:30- 12:30 p.m.
Session Pane! Moderator: Amy D. Kyle, School of Public Health, University of California,
Berkeley
Speakers: Sam Harper, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology,
Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University
Jonathan Levy, Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate
Professor of Environmental Health and Risk Assessment,
Harvard School of Public Health
Alex Scott-Samuel, Director, IMPACT - International Health
Impact Assessment Consortium, University of Liverpool
Zachary Pekar, Office of Air and Radiation, EPA
Plenary 5: Next Steps and Future Needs to Inform Policy Directions and Research
(Room 151AB)
Master of Ceremonies:
Speakers:
Brian Smedley, Vice President and Director, Health Policy
Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Lisa Garcia, Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator for
Environmental Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA),
Kevin Teichman, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science,
Office of Research and Development, EPA
Lisa Heinzerling, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy,
Economics, and Innovation, EPA
Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance, EPA
Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response, EPA
Peter Grevatt, Director, Office of Children's Health Protection
and Environmental Education
12:30 p.m.
Adjournment
13
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Symposium Structure and Themes
The Symposium is organized by three themes:
Theme #1: Understanding contributors to disproportionate environmental health impacts to facilitate
their consideration in decision making
Multiple aspects of where we live, learn, work, and play can contribute to disproportionate environmental and
health impacts. These aspects can include biological, chemical, physical, social, and cultural dimensions as
well as others. Several sessions at the Symposium will focus on commissioned technical papers and poster
discussion sessions to examine factors that may result in disproportionate environmental health impacts
among minority and low-income populations. These factors include, but are not limited to:
1. Proximity to environmental hazards;
2. Susceptibility/vulnerability;
3. Unique exposure pathways;
4. Multiple and cumulative environmental burdens;
5. Community capacity to participate in the decision-making process;
6. Physical infrastructure; and
7. Chronic exposure to stress and the implications for health outcomes related to exposure to
environmental hazards.
Theme #2: Informing policy and decision making to protect environmental health
EPA works to achieve its mission to protect human health and the environment through a variety of actions
and decisions. Examples include regulatory activities (e.g., standard setting, permitting, enforcement,
information/data collection, site clean-up). Other actions include programmatic activities, policy-making,
scientific research, outreach, and education. For the most part, the Symposium will focus on addressing
disproportionate environmental health impacts within the regulatory decision-making context.
EPA typically applies a variety of analytical approaches such as human health risk analysis, technology
feasibility studies, and cost-benefit analysis, which provide the necessary inputs (e.g., health effects, costs
and benefits estimates) to support regulatory decision making. A number of sessions at the Symposium will
explore existing legal, decision, and analytical frameworks, including those used by EPA, to identify
opportunities to incorporate consideration of environmental justice in environmental regulatory decision
making.
Theme #3: Informing research to advance policy
Research and data are necessary to make effective decisions and policies. Research can help identify
contributing factors to disproportionate environmental health impacts for minority and low-income
populations, and also highlight opportunities to address these disparities. Research also is important in
validating conceptual models and developing analytical methods for assessing and addressing
disproportionate environmental health impacts. Data gaps and research needs are a common thread through
several sessions at the Symposium. Three sessions in particular provide ample opportunity for focused
discussions about the types of data and research that are needed to facilitate the incorporation of
environmental justice considerations in decision making.
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Symposium Sessions That Relate to Theme #1: Understanding contributors to
disproportionate environmental health impacts to facilitate their consideration in
decision making
March 17, 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Proximity (Room ISOA)
Purpose: To explore and define how proximity to environmental health hazards
and their sources contributes to disparities in environmental health impacts among
ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged populations and discuss
opportunities to incorporate this information into the environmental policy decision-
making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Juliana Maantay, Professor, Department of
Environmental, Geographic and Geological Sciences,
Lehman College, The City University of New York
Speakers: Jayajit Chakraborty, Associate Professor, Department
of Geography, University of South Florida
Jean Brender, Associate Dean for Research and
Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
Texas A&M University
Discussants: Roger Kim, Executive Director, Asian Pacific
Environmental Network
Peter Langlois, Senior Epidemiologist, Texas
Department of State Health Services
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Multiple and Cumulative
Impacts/Effects (Room 1506)
Purpose: To explore the contribution of exposure to multiple and cumulative
environmental stressors to adverse environmental and health impacts, and also to
disparities in environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and
disadvantaged populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this
information into the environmental policy decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Stephen H. Linder, School of Public Health, University
of Texas
Speakers: Amy D. Kyle, Associate Professor, Environmental
Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of
California, Berkeley
Gary Ginsberg, Toxicologist, Division of Environmental
Epidemiology and Occupational Health, Connecticut
Department of Public Health
Discussants: James Ransom, Chief, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council
Rita Schoeny, Office of Science and Technology, Office
of Water, EPA
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March 17, 2010 (continued)
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions (continued)
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Susceptibility and Vulnerability
(Room 152A)
Purpose: To explore the relationship between vulnerability/susceptibility factors
(including social factors) and disparities in environmental health impacts among
ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged populations. In particular, summarize
how vulnerability modifies the relationship between environmental agents and
health impacts and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information
quantitatively into environmental risk assessment and the policy decision-making
process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Joel Schwartz, Professor of Environmental
Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
Speakers: David Bellinger, Professor, Department of
Environmental Health, Harvard University and Senior
Research Associate in Neurology, Children's Hospital,
Boston
Thomas A. Glass, Associate Professor, Department of
Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health and Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins
Population Center
Discussants: Wilma Subra, Subra Company, Louisiana
Sally Darney, National Program Director for Human
Health, EPA
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Unique Exposures
(Room 152B)
Purpose: To elucidate how unique exposure pathways contribute to disparities in
environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged
populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information into the
environmental policy decision- making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Joanna Burger, Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers
University
Speakers: Michael Gochfeld, Environmental and Occupational
Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New
Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers
University
Daniel Kass, Acting Deputy Commissioner,
Environmental Health, New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene
Discussants: Earl Hatley, Local Environmental Action Demanded,
Oklahoma
Michael S. Metzger, Chief, Risk Assessment Branch,
Health Effects Division, Office of Pesticide Programs,
EPA
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March 17, 2010 (continue
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions
3:00 - 3:40 p.m. Poster Review
3:40 - 5:00 p.m. Presentation and Discussion—Participants discuss the posters as a
panel; focus is on methods, data sources, and results as related to
methods.
• Data and Methodology Needs: Proximity (Poster Discussion Format)
(Room ISOA)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore methodological approaches
used in proximity analysis, environmental and health effects studies using such
approaches as the development and application of novel proximity measures,
and the application of proximity analysis in environmental policy decision making.
Session Co-Chairs:
Brad Schultz, Chief, Exposure Modeling Research Branch, National Exposure
Research Laboratory, EPA
Robin Saha, Associate Professor, Environmental Health, Justice and Policy,
University of Montana
Poster Presenters:
Troy Abel, Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Department of
Environmental Studies, Western Washington University
Mark Corrales, Regulatory Policy Analyst, Office of Policy, Economics, and
Innovation, Office of the Administrator, EPA
Mary Collins, Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Management,
University of California, Santa Barbara
Angela Gilbert, University of South Florida
William McDonnell, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor of Law,
Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah and Director, Center for Children's
Environmental Health Law and Policy
Arlene Rosenbaum, Technical Director, ICF International
• Data and Methodology Needs: Multiple and Cumulative Impacts/Effects (Poster
Discussion Format) (Room 152AB)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore data needs and
methodological approaches for assessing cumulative
impacts/burdens/exposures/risks among minority, low-income, tribal, and other
population groups. This session also explores the development and application
of novel cumulative impact measures, and the application of information on
cumulative impact/risk analysis in environmental/environmental health policy
decision making.
Session Co-Chairs:
Russ Lopez, Senior Research Associate, Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for
Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University
Irene Dankwa-Mullan, Acting Director, Office of Innovation and Program
Coordination, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
Poster Presenters:
Daniel Axelrad, Office of the Administrator, Office of Policy, Economics, and
Innovation, EPA
Patricia Murphy, ROE Health Coordinator, National Center for Environmental
Assessment, EPA
Hilton Kelley, National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council/Member/Community In-Power and Development Association Inc.
John Prochaska, Center to Eliminate Health Disparities, University of Texas
Medical Branch - Galveston
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March 17, 2010 (continue
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions (continued)
• Data and Methodology Needs: Multiple and Cumulative Impacts/Effects (Poster
Discussion Format) (Room 152AB) (continued')
Danelle Lobdell, Chief (Acting), Epidemiology Branch, National Health and
Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, EPA
Sarah Sharpe, Environmental Health Director/Coordinator, Fresno Metro
Ministry/San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impact Project
• Data and Methodology Needs: Susceptibility and Vulnerability (Poster
Discussion Format) (Room 1506)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore methodological and data
needs for incorporating vulnerability considerations into decision-making
frameworks such as risk assessment, health impact assessment, etc.
Specifically, this session includes an overview of data and methods for identifying
vulnerable/susceptible populations.
Session Co-Chairs:
Maureen O'Neill, Children's Health Coordinator, Region 2, EPA
Terry Wesley, Environmental Justice Coordinator, Region 2, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Jane Clougherty, Senior Air Quality Scientist, New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene and Research Associate, Department of
Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health
Tamara Saltman, Policy Analyst, Office of Air Quality, Planning and Standards,
EPA
Sacoby Wilson, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Families in Societies,
University of South Carolina
Sue M. Moodie, Department of Environmental Health, Johns Hopkins School of
Public Health
Keeve Nachman, Director, Farming for the Future Program, Bloomberg School
of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
• Data and Methodology Needs: Unigue Exposures (Poster Discussion Format)
(152B)
Purpose: Some individuals, communities, and population groups may
experience unique environmental exposures due to socioeconomic status,
occupation, geographic location, life stage, or cultural practices. In this session,
presenters will highlight data sources, methods, approaches, frameworks, and
analytical tools for incorporating information on uniquely exposed populations in
environmental/environmental health policy and regulatory decision making.
Session Co-Chairs:
Roseanne Lorenzana, Science Liaison, Region 10, EPA
Max Weintraub, Lead-Based Paint Enforcement Coordinator, Region 9, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Christine Chaisson, Director, The LifeLine Group
Roseanne Lorenzana, Science Liaison, Region 10, EPA
David Richardson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Vi Waghiyi, Environmental Health and Justice Program Director, Alaska
Community Action on Toxics
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March 18, 201
10:30 - 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Psychosocial Stress
(Room 1 SPA)
Purpose: To explore how psychosocial stress contributes to disparities in
environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged
populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this information into the
environmental policy decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Pamela Tucker, Division of Toxicology and
Environmental Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry, CDC
Speakers: Bruce McEwen, Professor and Head of the Harold and
Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology,
Rockefeller University
Charlton Coles, Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry, CDC
Steven Couch, Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry, CDC
Deborah Cory-Slechta, Professor, Department of
Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School
of Medicine and Dentistry
Discussants: Mark Mitchell, President, Connecticut Coalition for
Environmental Justice
Jane Clougherty, Senior Air Quality Scientist, New York
City Department of Health, and Mental Hygiene
Research Associate, Department of Environmental
Health, Harvard School of Public Health
• State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Physical Infrastructure
(Room 1506)
Purpose: To elucidate how physical infrastructure/built environment contributes to
disparities in environmental health impacts among ethnic and racial minority and
disadvantaged populations and discuss opportunities to incorporate this
information into the environmental policy decision- making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: David Jacobs, National Center for Healthy Housing
Speakers: Rajiv Bhatia, Director, Occupational and Environmental
Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health and
University of California, San Francisco
Jim VanDerslice, Associate Professor and Associate
Division Chief, Division of Public Health, Department of
Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah
Discussants: Laurel Firestone, Community Water Center, Visalia, CA
Corine Li, Manager, Drinking Water Office, Region 9,
EPA
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March 18, 2010 (continued[
10:30 - 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
State-of-the-Science Commissioned Paper Panel: Community Capacity To
Participate in Environmental Decision Making (Room 152A)
Purpose: To explore the relationship between community capacity to participate
in the public policy decision-making process and disproportionate environmental
health impact among ethnic and racial minority and disadvantaged populations
and how this information can be incorporated into the environmental policy
decision-making process.
Session Chair/Speaker: Nicholas Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor and
Director, Department of Public Health, Hunter College of
the City University of New York
Speakers: Barbara Israel, Professor, Department of Health
Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health,
University of Michigan
Manuel Pastor, Professor of Geography and American
Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California
Discussants: Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WeACT
Suzanne Wells, Chief, Superfund Community
Involvement and Program Initiatives Branch, EPA
Investigating How Physical and Social Environments Jointly Contribute to Health
Disparities: Concepts and Methods from Social Epidemiology (Room 152B)
Purpose: To introduce and illustrate analytical methods relevant to investigating
the joint contributions of physical and social environments to health disparities and
discuss how these approaches can enhance our understanding of upstream
factors contributing to inequities in environmental health and inform prevention
strategies.
Session Chair:
Speakers:
Ana V. Diez-Roux, Professor, Epidemiology, and
Director, Center for Integrative Approaches to Health
Disparities, Center for Social Epidemiology and
Population Health, Robert Wood Johnson Health and
Society Scholars Program, and Institute for Social
Research, University of Michigan School of Public Health
Mahasin S. Mujahid, Assistant Professor of
Epidemiology, Martin Sisters Endowed Chair in Medical
Research and Public Health, School of Public Health,
University of California, Berkeley
Basile Chaix, Faculty of Medicine, University Pierre et
Marie Curie-Paris, Saint-Antoine
Theresa L. Osypuk, Assistant Professor, Bouve College
of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
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March 18, 2010 (continued}
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions and Community-Based Tools
Session
1:00 - 1:40 p.m. Poster Review
1:40 - 3:00 p.m. Presentation and Discussion—Participants discuss the posters as
a panel; focus is on methods, data sources, and results as related
to methods
• Data and Methodology Needs: Psychosocial Stress (Poster Discussion Format)
(Room 152A)
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore approaches for measuring
psychosocial stress/hazards at the community and individual levels, and also
methodological approaches for incorporating information on psychosocial
stressors in analytical and decision frameworks (e.g., risk assessment, health
impacts assessment).
Session Co-Chairs:
Deborah Segal, Environmental Health Scientist, National Center for
Environmental Assessment, EPA
Maggie Breville, Environmental Health Scientist, National Center for
Environmental Research, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Jessie Carr, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Jane Clougherty, Harvard School of Public Health and New York City
Department of Health
Richard Salkowe, Department of Geography, University of South Florida
Ami Zota, Program on Reproductive Health and Environment, University of
California, San Francisco
• Data and Methodology Needs: Physical Infrastructure (Poster Discussion Format)
(Room 152B)
Purpose: The quality of physical infrastructure in a community, such as poor
housing or poorly maintained public buildings (e.g., schools), is a significant factor
that may contribute to making a community more vulnerable to environmental
hazards. In this session, we explore the types of data and methods for
incorporating information on the contributions of physical infrastructure/built
environment to disproportionate impacts in regulatory analytical and decision
frameworks.
Session Co-Chairs:
Sharon D. Beard, Industrial Hygienist/Program Administrator, Worker Education
and Training Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Anikah Salim, Association of Schools of Public Health Fellow, National Center for
Environmental Research, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Gary Adamkiewicz, Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health,
Harvard School of Public Health
Christopher Heaney, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global
Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Rhona Julien, Environmental Health Scientist, Region 1, EPA
Gretchen Kroeger, Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Nicholas School of
the Environment, Duke University
Max Weintraub, EPA
Sacoby Wilson, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Families in Societies,
University of South Carolina
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March 18, 2010 (continued}
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Data and Methodology Sessions and Community-Based Tools
Session (continued)
• Data and Methodology Needs: Community Capacity To Participate in
Environmental Decision Making (Poster Discussion Format) C150B')
Purpose: The purpose of this session is to explore approaches for enhancing
community capacity in the decision-making process, and also to identify data or
indicators to design better public involvement processes in decision making.
Session Co-Chairs:
Liam R. O'Fallon, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Yolanda Anita Sanchez, Environmental Scientist, Superfund Community
Involvement and Program Initiatives Branch, EPA
Poster Presenters:
Diane Ballerino-Regan, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Office of
Occupational Medicine Resident/Duke University
Steven Fischbach, Community Lawyer, Rhode Island Legal Services
Claire Franklin, The LifeLine Group
Myra Immings, Community Planner, Planning and Program Development, Atlanta
Regional Office, Federal Transit Administration
Don Yellowman, President, Forgotten People Community Development
Corporation
Marsha Monestersky, Program Director, Forgotten People Community
Development Corporation
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Symposium Sessions That Relate to Theme #2: Informing policy and decision making
to protect environmental health
March 18, 2010
3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• Legal Authorities for Incorporating Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts
Considerations Into EPA's Decision Making (Room ISOA)
Purpose: Given the importance of the law in achieving environmental justice, this
panel will explore the application of legal authorities to address disproportionate
health and environmental impacts in EPA's regulatory decision-making process.
Opportunities for considering disproportionate impacts in the context of
rulemaking, permitting, enforcement, and state compliance will be discussed.
Further, emerging non-regulatory approaches will be explored as vehicles for
addressing disproportionate burdens of environmental exposures, vulnerabilities,
and health impacts.
Session Chair: Suzi Ruhl, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Environmental Justice,
EPA
Speakers: Vernice Miller-Travis, Vice Chair, Maryland State Commission
on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities
Sheila Foster, Albert A. Walsh Professor of Law, Fordham
University School of Law, NY
Carol Ann Siciliano, Associate General Counsel, Office of
General Counsel, EPA
Dean Suagee, Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP
Nicholas Targ, Partner, Holland & Knight, LLP
Kenneth J. Warren, Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin
Patrice L. Simms, Deputy Assistant Attorney General,
Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of
Justice
• Analytical Frameworks for Assessing and Addressing Environmental Health
Impacts To Inform Decision Making (Room 1506)
Purpose: Presenters will provide an overview of decision-making frameworks,
such as Health Impact Assessment, Global Burden of Disease, and Health Equity
Screens, that explicitly allow for meaningful participation and consideration of
multiple risk factors. Examples of applications of these frameworks in decision
making will be discussed and also how they have been used to address issues of
equity.
Session Chair/Speaker: Rajiv Bhatia, Director, Occupational and Environmental
Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health
Speakers: Jonathan Heller, Director and Co-Founder, Health
Impact Partners
Ngozi T. Oleru, Director, Environmental Public Health
Division, Public Health Seattle/King County
Aaron J. Cohen, Principal Scientist, Health Effects
Institute
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March 18, 2010 (continued}
3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions (continued)
• Incorporating and Addressing Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts in
EPA's Decision-Making Process Using a Risk Assessment Framework (Room
152A)
Purpose: Risk assessment is EPA's primary science-based framework for
decision making. Risk assessment informs decision making at EPA in multiple
ways, including prioritization of decisions, rules/standard setting, cleanup of sites,
permitting, enforcement, other policy decisions, and program planning. This
session includes examples of how environmental justice concerns or
disproportionate environmental health impacts/risks have been addressed or
incorporated in risk assessment approaches
Session Chair: Stan Barone, Office of Research and Development, National
Center for Environmental Research, EPA
Speakers: Marie Lynn Miranda, Associate Professor, Environmental
Sciences and Policy, Duke University
Debbie Lowe Liang, Region 9, EPA
Rachel Morello-Frosch, Associate Professor, Environmental
Science, Policy and Management, University of California,
Berkeley
Matthew Small, Region 9, EPA
Zachary Pekar, Office of Air and Radiation, EPA
• Incorporating and Addressing Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts in
EPA's Decision-Making Process Using an Economic Analysis Framework (Room
152B)
Purpose: The panel provides an overview of the use of economic analysis in
EPA's rule-making analysis, as well as a discussion of how economists approach
the analysis of disproportionate impacts. The session begins with an overview of
the traditional tools for benefit-cost analysis and analyzing efficiency. Then, the
session also will discuss how economists consider equity followed by a case-study
analysis from a recent regulation. The panel concludes with alternative methods
for analyzing distributional considerations in benefits analysis.
Session Chair/Speaker: Kelly B. Maguire, Economist, National Center for
Environmental Economics, EPA
Speakers: Charles Griffiths, Senior Economist, National Center for
Environmental Economics, EPA
Maureen Cropper, Professor of Economics, University
of Maryland
Jonathan Levy, Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate
Professor of Environmental Health and Risk Assessment,
Harvard School of Public Health
Erica Sasser, Office of Air Quality, Planning, and
Standards, EPA
Henry Roman, Industrial Economics
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March 18, 2010 (continued}
3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions (continued)
• Late Breaking Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation Session (Room ISIAB)
Session Chairs: Keeve E. Nachman, Director, Farming for the Future Program,
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for a
Livable Future
Felicia Eaves, Special Projects Coordinator, Joint Center for
Political and Economic Studies
Speakers: Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg III, Associate
Professor/Associate Director, Environmental Sciences Institute,
Director, Center for Environmental Equity and Justice (CEEJ),
Florida A&M University
Leah R. Williams, Department of Health Promotion, Education,
and Behavior, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health,
University of South Carolina
Heather Tanana, Quinney College of Law, University of Utah
Martha Keating, Children's Environmental Health Initiative,
Duke University
Katie Lundquist, Department of Civil Engineering, University of
Minnesota
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Symposium Sessions That Relate to Theme #3: Informing research to advance policy
March 18, 201
8:45 - 10:15 a.m. Plenary 2: Health Disparities and the Environment (Room 151AB)
Panel Speakers:
Session Panel Moderator: Harold Zenick, Director, National Health and
Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, EPA
The Honorable Donna M. Christensen, United States
Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress
Paula Braveman, Professor, Department of Family and
Community Medicine, School of Medicine, and Director,
Center on Social Disparities in Health, University of
California, San Francisco
Rachel Morello-Frosch, Associate Professor,
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and
Management, College of Natural Resources, and School
of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
Howard Frumkin, Special Assistant to the Director for
Climate Change and Health, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC)
John Ruffin, Director, National Center on Minority Health
and Health Disparities, NIH
10:30 - 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Breakout Sessions
• Investigating How Physical and Social Environments Jointly Contribute to Health
Disparities: Concepts and Methods from Social Epidemiology (Room 152B)
Purpose: To introduce and illustrate analytical methods relevant to investigating
the joint contributions of physical and social environments to health disparities and
discuss how these approaches can enhance our understanding of upstream
factors contributing to inequities in environmental health and inform prevention
strategies.
Session Chair: Ana V. Diez-Roux, Professor, Epidemiology, and
Director, Center for Integrative Approaches to Health
Disparities, Center for Social Epidemiology and
Population Health, Robert Wood Johnson Health and
Society Scholars Program, and Institute for Social
Research, University of Michigan School of Public Health
Speakers: Mahasin S. Mujahid, Assistant Professor of
Epidemiology, Martin Sisters Endowed Chair in Medical
Research and Public Health, School of Public Health,
University of California, Berkeley
Basile Chaix, Faculty of Medicine, University Pierre et
Marie Curie-Paris, Saint-Antoine
Theresa L. Osypuk, Assistant Professor, Bouve College
of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
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March 19, 201
8:15 - 9:30 a.m. Plenary 3: Research and Data Needs for Assessing and Addressing
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts Among Minority and
Disadvantaged Populations (Room 151AB)
Session Panel Moderator: Sherry Baron, Coordinator for Priority Populations and
Health Disparities, National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, CDC
Speakers: Gwen W. Collman, Interim Director, Division of
Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Jennifer D. Parker, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology,
National Center for Health Statistics, CDC
Steve Wing, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Gillings
School of Global Public Health, University of North
Carolina School of Public Health
Ana V. Diez-Roux, Professor, Epidemiology, School of
Public Health, University of Michigan, and Director,
Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities
Gail C. Christopher, Vice President, W.K. Kellogg
Foundation
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Symposium Background and Overview
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Administrator, Lisa Jackson, has made the
inclusion of environmental justice (EJ) principles in all EPA actions a priority. This technical
Symposium will serve as a platform to stimulate innovative, bold thinking and foster discussions
about critical topics and approaches to achieve this goal.
EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment embodies shared objectives with
other sectors, including organizations at the local, regional, national, and international levels.
EPA works to achieve its mission to protect human health and the environment through a variety
of actions and decisions. Examples include regulatory activities (e.g., standard setting,
permitting, enforcement, information/data collection, site cleanup). Other actions include
programmatic activities, policy making, scientific research, outreach, and education. Executive
Order 12898, issued by President Clinton in 1994, requires EPA (and other federal agencies) to
"identify disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority
and low-income populations that may result from their programs, policies, and activities, and
take action to address such disparities." EPA's mission supports the goals of identifying,
analyzing, and generating evidence-based and sound information to address disadvantages and
disparate impacts among specific groups within the U.S. population regarding their health and
the environment. However, a more systematic and consistent approach is desired.
Multiple aspects of the physical environment in which we live, learn, work, and play can put
certain groups of people "at higher risk." Also, individuals and groups may experience
disadvantages related to their gender, lifestage, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, disability,
education, and other aspects of their diverse backgrounds. This complex interaction between the
physical environment and other conditions of social disadvantage contributes to known social
disparities in environmental health outcomes.
The EPA Office of Environmental Justice published a white paper in 2007 that describes "factors
or conditions that EPA staff may look for when seeking to incorporate environmental justice
considerations in a particular regulatory decision." These factors are prevalent among minority
and low-income populations and also are associated with environmental health impacts or
disparities in environmental health impacts. Therefore, these factors may help EPA staff identify
conditions in which minority and/or low-income communities may be exposed
disproportionately to environmental harms and risks. These factors are:
1. Proximity to what can be considered "environmental hazards" or, more specifically, risks,
threats, or hazards to health and the environment;
2. Susceptibilities and vulnerabilities;
3. Pathways of exposure to environmental pollutants that are unique;
4. Multiple and cumulative pollutant exposures/health impacts that may create disadvantages to
specific individuals and groups;
5. Community capacity to participate in the EPA decision-making process;
6. Physical infrastructure; and
7. Chronic exposure to stress and the implications for health outcomes related to exposure to
environmental hazards.
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Disproportionate environmental health impacts/burdens in populations may result from one or
more of the above factors or other factors/conditions not stated. For the purposes of this
Symposium, the term "impact" refers broadly to consequences on human health and the
environment that may be described by both qualitative and quantitative measures along the
"environmental health continuum," from source of hazards or presence of hazard to exposure to
health effect. The concept of disproportionate environmental health impacts and burdens refers
to the finding that some populations systematically experience higher levels of exposure to
environmental hazards, with related health risks, health impacts, and reduced quality of the
physical environment, than the general population. This perspective recognizes that multiple
factors, including social, psychosocial, economic, physical, chemical, and biological
determinants, may contribute to disproportionate human health or environmental impacts.
Therefore, population-level disparities in these burdens and health impacts may be attributable to
one or more combinations of inequities related to harmful exposures or differentials in the ability
to withstand or mitigate harms.
About the Symposium
At this Symposium, EPA aims to stimulate innovative, bold thinking and foster discussions on
incorporating EJ considerations into EPA decision making and creating a baseline of
understanding to inform discussions about the next steps.
Symposium participants will examine the current state-of-the-science for factors associated with
environmental health disparities, determine additional factors that should be considered, discuss
types of data and methods for analyzing these factors, and discuss the implications for
incorporating these factors into decision making. Participants will examine the evidence on
social determinants of environmental health disparities or disproportionate impacts. In addition,
participants also will explore current and alternative analytical and decision frameworks to
identify opportunities to incorporate consideration of EJ into environmental decision making at
EPA to mitigate and prevent environmental health disparities. Data gaps and research needs are a
common thread throughout the Symposium.
This Symposium is the first in a series of activities needed to advance EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson's priority to include EJ principles in all of EPA's decisions.
Objectives
The objectives of this Symposium are to:
1. Describe the current state-of-the-science for factors associated with environmental health
disparities to help understand how to incorporate these factors into decision making, and
describe evidence of the contribution of social determinants to environmental health
disparities or disproportionate impacts.
2. Explore a variety of frameworks, analytical tools, and methods for assessing the
environmental health impacts of environmental programs, policies, and activities on
disadvantaged populations (e.g., minority and low-income populations) and identify
opportunities to apply these frameworks, methods, and tools in environmental decision
making.
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3. Identify short-term and long-term preliminary goals that could serve as a blueprint for an
action agenda, including research and data needs that are necessary to ensure that EJ
concerns and social disparities in environmental health are incorporated into EPA's decisions.
Outcomes
The anticipated outcomes from this Symposium are:
1. Publications, including scientific papers and technical reports, from the conversations or
presentations at this Symposium.
2. Short-term and long-term preliminary goals that could serve as a blueprint for an action
agenda, including research and data needs.
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Symposium Planning Committee Members
Martha Vela Acosta, The Kresge Foundation
Mustafa Ali, Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA)
Sherry Baron, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
Stan Bar one, National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), Office of Research and
Development (ORD), EPA
Sharon Beard, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Rosanna Beltre, Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) Fellow with OEJ, EPA
Maggie Breville, National Center for Environmental Research, ORD, EPA
Heather Case, OEJ, EPA
Nigel Fields, Office of Science Policy (OSP), ORD, EPA
Lauren Gordon,formerly ASPH Fellow with NCER, ORD, EPA
Peter Grevatt, Office of Children's Health Protection, EPA
Reggie Harris, EPA Region 3
Fred Jenkins, Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), EPA
Charles Lee, OEJ, EPA
Roseanne Lorenzana, EPA Region 10
Kelly Maguire, National Center for Environmental Economics, EPA
Keeve Nachman, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University
Loan Nguyen, Office of Administration and Policy, Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance, EPA
Onyemaechi Nweke, OEJ, EPA
Liam O'Fallon, NIEHS
Maureen O'Neill, EPA Region 2
Devon Payne-Sturges, NCER, ORD, EPA
Elizabeth Resek, Office of the Science Advisory Board, EPA
LaShonia Richardson, OPP, EPA
Suzi Ruhl, OEJ, EPA
Anikah Salim, ASPH Fellow with NCER, EPA
Tamara Saltman, Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), EPA
Yolanda Sanchez, Office of Superfund Remediation & Technology Innovation, Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response, EPA
William Sanders, NCER, ORD, EPA
Brad Schultz, National Exposure Research Laboratory, EPA
Deborah Segal, National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), ORD, EPA
Deborah Smegal, OPP, EPA
Arati Tripathi, OEJ, EPA
John Vandenberg, NCEA, ORD, EPA
Max Weintraub, EPA Region 9
Terry Wesley, EPA Region 2
James White, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, OAR, EPA
Hal Zenick, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, ORD, EPA
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Contributing Experts
Gilbert C. Gee, University of California, Los Angeles
Amy Kyle, University of California, Berkeley
Russ Lopez, Northeastern University
Rachel Morello-Frosch, University of California, Berkeley
Nsedu Obot-Witherspoon, Children's Environmental Health Network
Robin Saha, University of Montana
Donele Wilkins, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice
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Symposium Sponsors
National Center for Environmental Research
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Center for Environmental Research
(NCER) funds grants, fellowships, and small businesses that conduct environmental research to
protect human health and the environment. By funding some of the top researchers in the nation,
NCER works to identify and solve environmental problems and provide scientific leadership to
protect our planet and our health.
Specifically, NCER's Human Health Research Science To Achieve Results (STAR) program's
competitive, peer-reviewed grants program funds an array of outstanding grantees that fill unique
needs for exposures in science, epidemiologic, and community-based participatory research on
environmental public health outcomes of great concern. We fund independent research on a wide
variety of environmental and health issues such as children's environmental health, interpretation of
biomarkers of exposures, identification of early indicators of disease resulting from exposures to
environmental toxicants, development of public health outcome indicators, role of sociodemographic
contextual factors and social stressors in exposures to environmental contaminants and cumulative
risks, and impacts of global climate change environmental contamination on tribal communities and
traditional practices. For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/ncer
National Center for Environmental Economics
EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) offers a centralized source of
technical expertise to the Agency, as well as other federal agencies, Congress, universities, and other
organizations. NCEE's staff specializes in analyzing the economic and health impacts of
environmental regulations and policies and assists EPA by informing important policy decisions with
sound economics and other sciences. NCEE also contributes to and manages EPA's research on
environmental economics to improve the methods and data available for policy analysis. For more
information, please visit: http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/webpages/homepage
Office of Environmental Justice
The mission of the Office of Environmental Justice is to facilitate EPA's efforts to improve the
environment and public health in environmentally and economically distressed communities by
integrating environmental justice into all programs, policies, and activities. For more information,
please visit: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/.
Office of Children's Health Protection
EPA established the Office of Children's Health Protection (OCHP) in 1997 to support the Agency
as it embraced the 1996 National Agenda to Protect Children's Health from Environmental Threats
and the 1997 Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children's Health from Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks. The mission of EPA's Children's Office is to make the health protection of
children a fundamental goal of public health and environmental protection in the United States and
around the world. Ensuring that our children are protected from exposure to unsafe levels of toxins
and pollution or other environmental threats in their homes, schools, or anywhere else is central to
EPA's work. Children face greater threats from environmental pollutants than adults because of
differences in their physiology, activity patterns, and development. Not all children are the same: we
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continue to see disparities in exposures and health outcomes among the poor, African American,
Latino, and other ethnic minorities. For more information, please visit:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/homepage.htm.
The National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
As part of EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD), the National Health and
Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) is the Agency's focal point for scientific
research on the effects of contaminants and environmental stressors on human health and ecosystem
integrity. The Laboratory's mission embraces three objectives: (1) Perform human health and
ecological effects research of the highest scientific quality in support of the science needs of the
Agency; (2) Demonstrate leadership in identifying, studying, and resolving important environmental
health and ecological effects issues and in influencing the national environmental research agenda;
and (3) Provide scientific and technical assistance to EPA Program and Regional Offices and to
local, state, regional, national, and international governments and organizations. Pursuit of these
objectives undergirds NHEERL's contribution to ORD being recognized as a premier environmental
research organization. For more information, please visit: www.epa.gov/nheerl
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies was founded in 1970 in the wake of the Voting
Rights Act. With lead support from the Ford Foundation, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Joint Center
seeks to augment the voice and resources of emerging black leaders and elected officials.
The Joint Center is the only freestanding think tank focusing primarily on the concerns of African
Americans and communities of color. The Joint Center continues to uphold its mission to improve
the socioeconomic and health status of these communities through high quality research and
recommendations on national public policy debates. Current Joint Center initiatives include its
Health Policy Institute, the Media and Technology Institute, the Commission to Engage African
Americans on Climate Change, and the soon-to-be-launched Civic Engagement and Governance
Institute. For more information, please visit: www.jointcenter.org
Center for a Livable Future
The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) is a not-for-profit organization within the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The CLF promotes research and develops and
communicates information about the complex interrelationships among water, diet, food production,
environment, and human health while advancing an ecological perspective in reducing threats to the
health of the public. It also promotes policies that protect health, the global environment, and the
ability to sustain life for future generations. Central to the mission of the CLF are both the impacts of
industrial food animal production on rural and farming communities and the consequences of
diminished access to safe and nutritious food among disadvantaged persons. For more information,
please visit: http://www.jhsph.edu/clf
American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and most diverse organization of
public health professionals in the world and has been working to improve public health since 1872.
The Association aims to protect all Americans, their families, and their communities from
preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure that community-based health promotion and
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disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United
States. APHA represents a broad array of health professionals and others who care about their own
health and the health of their communities. More information is available at www.apha.org.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the federal agency responsible
for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and
illness. NIOSH's mission is to generate new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health
and to transfer that knowledge into practice for the betterment of workers. To accomplish this
mission, NIOSH conducts scientific research, develops guidance and authoritative recommendations,
disseminates information, and responds to requests for workplace health-hazard evaluations. NIOSH
provides national and world leadership to prevent work-related illness, injury, disability, and death
by gathering information, conducting scientific research, and translating the knowledge gained into
products and services, including scientific information products, training videos, and
recommendations for improving safety and health in the workplace. One of NIOSH's current
emphases is on conducting research and developing materials to eliminate health disparities arising
from disproportionate risks at the workplace for low-wage, minority, immigrant, older, younger, and
other higher risk worker groups. For more information, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh.
National Center for Environmental Health
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health
(NCEH) plans, directs, and coordinates a national program to maintain and improve the health of the
American people by promoting a healthy environment and by preventing premature death and
avoidable illness and disability caused by non-infectious, non-occupational environmental and
related factors. NCEH is especially committed to safeguarding the health of populations that are
particularly vulnerable to certain environmental hazards—children, the elderly, and people with
disabilities. NCEH seeks to achieve its mission through science, service, and leadership. It conducts
research in the laboratory and in the field to investigate the effects of the environment on health and
tracks and evaluates environment-related health problems through surveillance systems. NCEH also
helps domestic and international agencies and organizations prepare for and respond to natural,
technologic, humanitarian, and terrorism-related environmental emergencies. On the basis of
research and surveillance results, NCEH works with partners to protect human health. Interventions
range from responding to emergencies, educating and training various audiences, and developing
new standards and guidelines to helping formulate public policy. NCEH strives to protect health over
the entire lifespan. NCEH works to promote optimal fetal, infant, and child development, including
preventing birth defects and developmental disabilities, and enhance health and quality of life and
prevent secondary conditions among children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities. For more
information please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a
federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
ATSDR's mission is to serve the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health
actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and disease-related
exposures to toxic substances. Since the discovery of contamination in New York State's Love Canal
first brought the problem of hazardous wastes to national attention in the 1970s, thousands of
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hazardous sites have been identified around the country. Formally organized in 1985, ATSDR was
created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(CERCLA), more commonly known as the Superfund law. The Superfund program is responsible for
finding and cleaning up the most dangerous hazardous waste sites in the country. EPA currently
targets more than 1,200 National Priorities List (NPL) sites for cleanup. ATSDR is the lead federal
public health agency responsible for determining human health effects associated with toxic
exposures, preventing continued exposures, and mitigating associated human health risks at these
NPL sites and others throughout the country. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science,
taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful
exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. ATSDR is directed by congressional mandate to
perform specific functions concerning the effect on public health of hazardous substances in the
environment. These functions include public health assessments of waste sites, health consultations
concerning specific hazardous substances, health surveillance and registries, response to emergency
releases of hazardous substances, applied research in support of public health assessments,
information development and dissemination, and education and training concerning hazardous
substances. For more information, please visit: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), located in Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina, is one of 27 research institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), DHHS. The mission of the NIEHS is to reduce the burden of human illness and
disability by understanding how the environment influences the development and progression of
human disease. NIEHS research focuses on diseases that have a strong environmental component and
a high or increasing prevalence in the U.S. population. Using integrated teams of scientists from
varied and relevant disciplines, NIEHS can address complex hypotheses by more effectively
identifying environmental health hazards and coupling this information with new tools to better
understand the causes of disease. This knowledge is then translated into public health initiatives and
policies that can have immediate and profound impacts on people's health. For more information,
please visit: http://www.niehs.nih.gov
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
The mission of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) is to
promote minority health and to lead, coordinate, support, and assess the NIH effort to reduce and
ultimately eliminate health disparities. In this effort, NCMHD will conduct and support basic,
clinical, social, and behavioral research; promote research infrastructure and training; foster
emerging programs; disseminate information; and reach out to minority and other health disparity
communities. For more information, please visit: http://ncmhd.nih.gov/default.html
Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation is a $2.8 billion private, national foundation that seeks to influence the
quality of life for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations in six fields:
health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services, and community development.
In 2009, it awarded 404 grants totaling $197 million. For more information, please visit:
www.kresge.org
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Office of Minority Health
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the
Assistant Secretary for Health on public health program activities affecting American Indians and
Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Native Hawaiians,
and Pacific Islanders.
The mission of OMH is to improve and protect the health of racial and ethnic minority populations
through the development and coordination of health policies and programs. OMH serves as the
Federal lead for eliminating health disparities for racial and ethnic minorities. For more information
please visit: http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Environmental Justice: From the Ground Up
Diane Takvorian
Environmental Health Coalition, National City» CA
Low-income communities of color long have struggled with discriminatory land use and regulatory
practices and are plagued by the all-too-familiar problems of substandard housing, overcrowded schools,
a lack of social services, and poor jobs. Also typical is the preponderance of polluting industries in
residential and commercial neighborhoods—thanks to mixed-use zoning, which allowed auto body and
chrome plating shops, chemical supply houses, and woodworking and painting companies to locate
adjacent to homes, schools, and parks—and lead contamination in the aging houses. It is not uncommon
to see residential areas opened up for industrial development, houses located next to freeways and toxic
polluters, and new freeway development and truck routes targeted at these communities. All of these
factors diminish health, safety, and quality of life.
The question is—do our communities have the power to change these practices and revitalize our
neighborhoods? How can we leverage our needs against those of corporations, developers, and decision-
makers who ignore or envision the fixture of our communities differently?
This presentation will offer models of community empowerment, leadership development, and policy
advocacy that have achieved some measure of environmental justice in the San Diego/Tijuana region,
where the Environmental Health Coalition has worked for 30 years. I also will foeus on the challenges
and need for systemic change. A community-centric approach that recognizes the unique needs and
priorities of each area, empowers community members to envision their own future, and provides them
with the resources and regulations to achieve that vision is critical to achieving our goal of justice in every
community.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Proximity to Environmental Hazards; Environmental Justice and Adverse
Health Outcomes
Juliana Maantay', Jayajit Chakraborty2, and Jean Brcnder'
1 Department of Environmental, Geographic, and Geological Sciences, City University of New York-
Lehman College, Bronx, NY;2 Department of Geography, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL;
3Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science
Center, College Station, TX
Objectives: The goal of this paper is to explore and answer the question: "Does proximity to
environmental hazards result in adverse health outcomes and account for health disparities, and if so, how
does proximity contribute to disproportionate environmental health impacts? A substantive literature
review and critique covering the salient research on these topics during the past two decades, including
some earlier seminal works on the subject, was undertaken to answer this question. This paper provides
an overview of the connections between proximity to hazards and environmental health justice; reviews
and evaluates the range of methodological approaches that have-been used to measure and assess the
relationship between proximity to hazards and environmental justice; reports on the findings of numerous
research studies that examine the relationship between proximity to hazards and adverse health outcomes,
such as adverse pregnancy outcomes, cancer (primarily childhood cancer), cardiovascular and respiratory
illnesses, end-stage renal disease, and diabetes; discusses limitations of spatial epidemiology; and offers
some recommendations as to future research, improvements in methodological approaches, and data
needs to achieve more definitive results for guiding policy-making, regulatory changes, and public health
decisions.
Relevance: Previous research demonstrates the existence of an uneven geographic distribution of
environmental health hazards, and potentially disproportionate exposure to environmental risk in the
United States, resulting in racial/ethnic minority and lower income communities bearing the highest
burdens which, in turn, might contribute to the health disparities that have been noted extensively by
public health officials and medical researchers. That these health and quality-ol-life impacts are visited
disproportionately on the most vulnerable populations, those least likely to be able to combat them
effectively, renders these impacts even more detrimental to the public's health, and the need for remedy
even more urgent.
Summary of Findings: The majority of reviewed studies show that both race/ethnicity and
socioeconomic status (SES) predicted a disproportionate spatial distribution of environmental burdens.
When these two suites of variables were compared, SES variables pointed to more significant risks of
exposure than race; however, race tended to be predictive of disproportion even when controlling for
SES. Research on the impacts of proximity to environmental hazards on the health of residential
populations shows that there are increased risks for central nervous system defects (including neural tube
defects), congenital heart defects, chromosomal anomalies, low birth weight, and small-for-gestational-
age for populations that live close to hazardous waste sites. Several studies also noted maternal residence
near active sites with chemical emissions to be associated with fetal deaths, infant deaths, low birth
weight, central nervous system defects, oral clefts, heart defects, renal dysplasia, and chromosomal
anomalies. Residential proximity to pesticide applications or waste sites containing these chemicals was
associated with fetal deaths, limb malformations, and neural tube defects. In several studies, women who
lived near highways were more likely to have preterm births and low-birth-weight offspring. Studies also
found an association between risk of childhood cancer and residential proximity to industrial facilities,
highly trafficked roads, nuclear power plants, pesticide applications, and gasoline stations or automobile
repair shops, although these positive associations were not consistently found. Results from the studies
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
reviewed suggest that residential proximity to both stationary sources of air pollution (TRIs, NEIs, HAPs,
petroleum refineries, etc.) and, with a few exceptions, heavily trafficked roads, is significantly associated
with asthma hospitalizations. In addition, exposure to mobile sources of air pollution increases the
occurrence of chronic respiratory symptoms by exacerbating asthma. The studies reviewed also suggest
that there is a significant association between residential exposure to combined sources of air pollution
and stroke mortality. Although there is some evidence linking residential proximity to hazardous waste
sites and PCB toxicity, end-stage renal disease, and diabetes, the dearth of literature on these health
outcomes makes definitive conclusions difficult. Only a few studies examined whether disproportionate
risks of adverse health outcomes with respect to proximity to environmental hazards were present by
race/ethnicity or SES, and findings of these studies tended to be inconsistent.
Recommendations: Based on our review of existing research and our analysis of the evidence for
disparities by race/ethnicity and income in relation to proximity to environmental hazards, the adverse
health outcomes for populations in close proximity to environmental hazards, and acknowledging the
health disparities generally experienced by communities of color and lower income communities, we
recommend the following: that these factors be given serious consideration in the decision-making
process by governmental environmental and health agencies regarding the siting of environmentally
burdensome facilities and land uses, in regulatory and enforcement efforts concerning pollution, and in
the active promotion of environmental health justice and environmental health protection. We also offer
several technical recommendations regarding improvements in analytical methods, data, and research
emphasis to more definitively connect proximity to environmental hazards, exposure of vulnerable
populations, and adverse health outcomes.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
The Importance of Rigorous Analytical Strategies for Elucidating
Cumulative Risk Burdens and Disproportionate Effects
Stephen II. Under' and Ken Sexton2
1 School of Public Health, University of Texas, Houston, TX; 2 Division of Environmental and
Occupational Health, School of Public Health, University of Texas, Brownsville Regional Campus,
Brownsville, TX
The history of cumulative assessment of effects from exposures to harmful agents in the environment
dates back at least several decades, and these assessments were notably complex and combined multiple
chemical classes and modes of action with a range of plausible health effects (NRC, 2009). The legacy of
these efforts can be seen in the recent Menzie et al. (2007) summary of practical approaches to cumulative
assessment. Under the rubric of vulnerability, differentiation among subpopulations at risk extends
beyond epidemiologic notions of susceptibility and resilience to include nonchemical stressors as
important factors in how risk cumulates in community settings. Much less is known about how the effects
of these stressors actually accumulate or whether some process analogous to interaction occurs. It is not
surprising then that, as a 2009 NRC report notes, no cumulative risk assessment by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has formally employed non-chemical stressors (NRC, 2009).
What do we currently know about aggregate and cumulative health impacts, and how do we apply this
knowledge to cumulative risk assessment? The peer-reviewed science tells us that there is clear and
convincing scientific evidence that either simultaneous or sequential exposure to multiple environmental
agents, including biological, chemical, physical, and psychosocial stressors, can, under the right
circumstances, modify the toxic effects of these same agents acting alone. A diversity of biologic
mechanisms that occur inside the body may alter toxicity from concurrent exposure to two or more
environmental agents so that their combined adverse health effects are either greater than or less than the
sum of adverse effects from each individual agent acting separately, There is also no question that people
are routinely exposed during their everyday activities to a diverse and ever-changing concoction of
multiple environmental stressors.
Assessment of cumulative risk from exposure to environmental mixtures is hindered in most
cases by lack of information on the magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing of exposure to multiple
Stressors; insufficient data on whether mixture-related effects are antagonistic, synergistic, or additive
at real-world exposure levels; and inadequate knowledge and understanding about interactive
mechanisms of toxicity among mixture components. As complicated as it is to evaluate interactive
effects of chemical mixtures, even simple ones, the degree of difficulty increases dramatically when we
attempt to include non-chemical stressors in our analysis.
The models and analytical frameworks for understanding biological mechanisms are simply
more developed and offer firmer 'guidance for empirical investigations than the frameworks currently
applied to social and contextual factors that are proposed under EPA's current cumulative risk paradigm.
Any given theory may be equally compatible with a wide range of empirical results; and conversely, the
same data may support rival theories. In practice this means that one's commitment to a given set of
theoretical assumptions, or to the selection of a particular model, cannot depend exclusively on
empirical evidence. Other forms of justification and analysis are also required. Similarly, when a model
or framework is deployed to make sense of empirical results, underlying concepts and assumptions should
be scrutinized in judging its adequacy and appropriateness. We adopt this perspective in the
subsequent comparison and assessment of approaches to cumulating non-chemical and chemical
stressors.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Although the peer-reviewed science tells us that cumulative impacts will occur from exposure to
multiple stressors, and available data bases tell us that these impacts will lead to disproportionate
health effects in many cases, the practice of cumulative risk assessment in communities (i.e., how to
interpret the data and reach conclusions) is a nascent science. There is as yet no widely accepted single
conceptual framework for community cumulative risk assessment. This leaves us currently with the
situation that the framework chosen will make a difference in how data are generated and interpreted,
and how conclusions from the assessment can be drawn and interpreted. This situation leaves us with
the following "take home messages":
• There are at least three frameworks relevant to understanding and measuring cumulative risk.
• Each is relatively well developed and supported by empirical findings,
• They share many of the same measurement indicators, but:
• Pathways, causal ordering, inferences, and interpretations are distinctive to each.
• The researcher's chosen (or default) framework matters for how empirical results are generated and
interpreted.
• The framework in use should be acknowledged explicitly and subject to some accountability criteria.
• A framework should be subject to revision and possible rejection on both empirical and conceptual
grounds.
• The estimation and understanding of cumulative risk has to begin with an evaluative consideration of
frameworks.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Addressing Cumulative Impacts in Communities Through Public Policy
Actions in Environmental Protection
Amy D. Kyle
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA
People experience environmental exposures in particular contexts, including communities where they
live. Communities vary enormously in combinations of environmental agents present. Moreover,
communities and individuals vary in their vulnerability to stressors and resilience to respond. The term
"cumulative impacts" refers to consideration of multiple stressors, community and individual
vulnerability, the interaction of environmental factors with other health determinants, and justice or equity
concerns. In environmental protection, predominant approaches to assessing the significance of
environmental contaminants for public policy action focus on single contaminants. Dose-response models
that quantitatively characterize relationships between exposures or doses of environmental agents and
frequency of adverse health outcomes are both the dominant technical paradigm and metaphor. The
policy assumption is that individual chemicals are managed to avoid exposures that pose appreciable or
significant risks. However, evidence suggests that this assumption is not always true. Consequently, it is
important to consider when combined burdens from multiple stressors require other approaches. Common
elements that can be assessed with regard to communities and considered in making decisions include:
sources, agents, media, and people. This can be done more qualitatively when data are limited and more
quantitatively when data are extensive. These elements map onto key concepts in the underlying statutory
frameworks for environmental protection. This can begin to link public policy actions taken by
environmental protection agencies and cumulative impacts in communities by elucidating situations in
which the assumption of control of individual agents is not met or when inequalities occur and
consideration of additional actions therefore is warranted.
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The Importance of Background Exposures and Disease Burden in Human
Health Risk Assessment
Gary Ginsberg
Division of Environmental Epidemiology
and Occupational Health, Connecticut Department of Public Health, Hartford, CT
The examples of fine particulate matter, lead, ozone, and mercury suggest that the difficulty in identifying
a population threshold is because there is a wide variety in thresholds across the population. Even low
levels of exposure may trigger an adverse reaction in highly vulnerable individuals. Life stage, genetics,
disease processes, and concomitant exposures likely contribute to this variability and thus are important
factors in dose-response assessment. Risk assessment has yet to incorporate these host vulnerability
factors except to some degree for children's cancer risk. The National Academy of Sciences Silver Book
(Science and Decisions, 2009) provides a framework for analyzing how background exposures and
disease processes can be driving influences on health risk. At low environmental exposures, chemicals are
more likely to interact with the etiology of common diseases rather than have an independent health
effect. Animal models and epidemiology studies of chemical-disease interaction are needed to understand
how particular agents may increase the population's disease burden and how those with diseases are more
susceptible to toxic effects. Assessment of multiple chemical exposures needs to focus on the variety of
target organs that can be impacted by each chemical rather than the single endpoint focus now used.
These considerations will enable risk assessment to better predict risk across the range of susceptibility in
the population.
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Differential Vulnerability and Susceptibility: Expanding the Scope of Risk
Assessment
Joel Schwartz1, Thomas A, Glass2, and David C. Bellinger1
'Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public
Health, Boston, MA; 2Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health, Baltimore, MD; Children fs Hospital Boston, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical
School, Boston, MA
Objectives: The central paradigm for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard-setting is risk
assessment. This paradigm has served public health well for decades. However, gaps have emerged in the
fabnc of this framework, causing some authors to begin to challenge certain underlying assumptions.
With two goals in mind, we examine six related assumptions. First, our overall aim is to extend the risk
assessment approach by examining, both conceptually and methodologically, how differential
vulnerability and susceptibility across population groups can be better integrated into the risk assessment
process. Second, we illustrate these issues, focusing on two specific examples: lead and air pollution.
Relevance; Addressing inequities in health risks and health outcomes will require an extension of the
risk assessment paradigm. Currently, methods and approaches are available for considering differential
risk and vulnerability, but have not yet found their way into widespread usage. Our proposed extension is
intended to increase the precision and effectiveness of risk assessment generally, and to provide
additional policy tools to help target resources to achieve greater equity in the health status of
populations.
Summary of Findings: We identify and discuss six assumptions implicit in standard risk-assessment
models. For convenience, we label these: (1) risk independence, (2) risk averaging, (3) risk uniformity,
(4) risk non-transfcrability, (5) risk synchrony, and (6) risk accumulation and chaining. The literature on
lead and air pollution is reviewed to illustrate how these assumptions might be modified to take account
of differential risk and vulnerability. Our main finding is that differential risk and vulnerability is a
critically important but neglected area within risk assessment. However, a wide range of methodological
and conceptual tools now is available for addressing these gaps.
Recommendations: If continued progress is to be made in explicating these complex phenomena, future
studies of toxicant exposure-risk relationships must invest the resources necessary to measure contextual
and individual-level factors that might modify these relationships. In most cases we do not know which
subgroups are the most vulnerable or, if we do, subgroups are defined very broadly. We advocate defining
vulnerable subgroups with greater specificity. We urge investigators to gather additional data necessary to
identify factors that modify vulnerability. To characterize more fully the bases of inter-individual
differences in vulnerability, we recommend several methodological approaches that go beyond simple
interaction terms to consider multilevel and cross-level structures. In essence, we argue for moving
beyond the reliance on standard uncertainty factors and working to explicitly unpack the "black box" that
represents variability in vulnerability.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Outliers Matter in Environmental Justice: Unique Exposure
Pathways and Disproportionate Exposures in Low-Income,
Minority, Native American, and Other Populations
Joanna Burger''2 and Michael Gochfeld2'3
'Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Pis cutaway, New Jersey; 2Environmental and
Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder
Participation, Piscataway, New Jersey;JEnvironmental and Occupational Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey
The human health risk assessment paradigm includes consideration of individuals at the 95th or even 99th
percentile of risk, but does not adequately account for those with unique exposures or pathways or those
with extremely high exposures (> 99th percentile). In this paper we: (1) review exposure pathways
normally examined by risk assessors in the exposure assessment phase calling attention, to outliers;
(2) provide a framework for identifying unique pathways; (3) identify and discuss populations with high
end exposures and unique exposure pathways (such as children, Native Americans, urban poor) whose
risks from combined exposures (chemical, physical, psychosocial) are likely underestimated by current
risk assessment practices; and (4) examine how these contribute to health disparities. It is critical to
identify and assess these exposures and pathways because they lead to poor environmental health,
particularly if the burdens fall disproportionately on low-income populations, urban communities,
minorities, and Native Americans. Attending to the identification of risk factors for these environmental
justice communities will lead to improving risk assessment, improving public health, and decreasing
environmental inequities in our health care system.
We present a conceptual model for risk assessors to consider when gathering information that could lead
to unusual, unique, and excessive exposures that builds on the exposure matrix of inhalation, dermal,
ingestion, and injection. We discuss unusual exposure scenarios that should be considered when
conducting risk assessments for a neighborhood, community, or other population (whether defined by
ethnicity, income level, or other factor). Exposure pathways for inhalation include exposure from
factories, volatile household pesticides, sweat baths for American Indians, cultural uses of mercury,
and volatile contaminants from showers. Dermal exposures include cosmetics or medicines, showering or
swimming, and contaminants on clothes. Unusual ingestion scenarios include self-caught fish or shellfish,
wildlife, or bird eggs; wild herbs, berries, and roots; high one-meal exposures; and soil ingested by
children or adults. Injection includes intentional injection of plant or animal extracts, and tattoos. Some of
the above are included in risk assessments, but without addressing the uncommon high exposures.
Given the matrix of exposure routes and pathways, there are several groups that are particularly
vulnerable and are apt to have unusual, unique, or excessive exposures, including children, Native
Americans, subsistence or game/sport fishers, rural populations (including farm workers and migrant
workers), and the urban poor. Often, individuals and communities fall into several of these categories.
While children, rural residents, or urban residents are not necessarily exposed to unusual or unique
exposure pathways, they can be so exposed when their economic or minority status leaves them
vulnerable.
We conclude that there is scientific evidence that unique exposure pathways and unusual behaviors can
significantly add to the hazardous exposures for various populations. Most of these pathways fall outside
the conventional methods of exposure assessment and evaluation of risk as practiced by EPA. The impact
of these unusual pathways is greater in minority and low-income populations, which also experience
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multiple stressors. A concerted effort needs to be made to capture these data and translate this information
into guidelines for risk assessors. Decision-makers need to be aware of what questions to ask about the
exposures and risks. A conceptual model for these exposures is presented in this paper as a matrix of
routes and pathways of exposure. We discuss several ways in which exposure assessment and risk
assessment can be expanded to enhance protection of these outlier populations.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
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Biomonitoring as a Policy Lever; A Case Study of Mercury and Pesticide
Surveillance in New York City
Daniel Kass
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene,
Department of Environmental Health, New York, NY
In 2004, New York City (NYC) conducted a population-based environmental biomonitoring study to
characterize exposures to selected biomarkers and to inform the choice and conduct of public health and
policy actions to reduce exposures. The survey collected and analyzed urine and blood to evaluate
inorganic and organic mercury and urinary metabolites of organophosphorus and pyrethroid pesticides.
Levels of inorganic mercury among those bora in the Dominican Republic were higher than others,
largely attributable to the use of illegally imported mercury-containing skin-lightening creams. Total
mercury was three times higher in NYC than the United States, with population differences within NYC
largely explained by varying frequency of fish consumption. Pesticide exposures were similarly higher in
NYC than in the United States.
Biomonitoring led NYC to actions that included the embargo of products, expanded intergovernmental
oversight of mercury in fish, public and healthcare provider education campaigns, and local efforts to
restrict the use and availability of pesticides. The presentation will discuss a policy framework to explain
why environmental biomonitoring results appear to influence public policy readily.
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The Environment, Health, and Justice
Paula Braveman
University of California, San Francisco, CA
When most of us think of environmental health, we think about preventing or minimizing health damage
from exposure to toxic substances or physically unsafe conditions- Environmental justice (£J) has meant
addressing the markedly disproportionate exposure to toxic or unsafe physical conditions experienced by
poor communities, particularly poor people of color. In the past two decades, however, knowledge has
accumulated indicating that a wider range of features of the contexts where people live, work, learn, and
play powerfully shape a population's health overall and disparities in health by race or social class. Much
is unknown, but we now understand how many features of social and physical environments, traditionally
outside the purview of environmental health—for example, features affected by policies on child care,
education, or income—are likely to affect health and health disparities through plausible pathways and
biological mechanisms. In the United States, initiatives addressing health disparities often have focused
primarily on racial disparities in medical care, with less emphasis on social class and nonmedical factors.
Concern for both EJ and health disparities rests on the notion of social justice, which has a basis in ethical
and human rights principles; these principles in turn direct our attention to a broader range of potential
determinants of health and well-being than typically have been considered within mainstream
environmental health or health disparities initiatives. This presentation will discuss links and distinctions
between environmental health, EJ, health, and health disparities, and the need for broader and more
interrelated concepts of each.
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Moving Upstream To Advance Environmental Justice: Examining
Cumulative Impacts and Political Economy of Place
Rachel M o rello-Frosch
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management,
University of California, Berkeley, CA
There has been a surge of scientific inquiry into disparities in environmental hazards among diverse
communities in the United States. Much of the evidence points to a general pattern of disproportionate
exposures to toxics among communities of color and the poor, with racial differences often persisting
across economic strata. Although results have implications for environmental decision-making, most of
these analyses are limited to illustrating how inequities in hazard exposures are spread across the
landscape, while shedding little light on their origins, the reasons for their persistence, and the cumulative
impacts of environmental and non-environmental stressors. Examining how political economy of place
shapes distributions of people, pollution, and associated health implications is important to address the
fundamental causes of environmental health inequalities. A multidisciplinary approach to theorizing the
dynamic of environmental discrimination and a synthesis of the science on the cumulative impacts of
multiple environmental and social stressors can provide a new framework for future policy-making and
community engagement to achieve environmental justice.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
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Health Disparities and the Environment
Howard Frumkin
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Health disparities exist with respect to many environmental exposures-—both dangerous exposures such
as toxic chemicals, polluted air, and neighborhood incivilities, and healthy exposures such as parks,
public transit, and healthy food choices. Moreover, disproportionate environmental exposures rarely occur
in isolation; they coexist with social, economic, and biomedical burdens. The Public Health approach to
these disparities relies on several core functions of public health, including data collection and
surveillance, analysis of exposure pathways, identification of vulnerable populations, empowering
communities, communication, and protective policies. This discussion will introduce each public health
function and provide examples from the work of the National Center for Environmental Health and the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
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The Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts and Health
Disparities Research
John Ruffin
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD
What level of enhanced social, economic, and physical environment factors is required to narrow the
health disparity gap within populations and communities? What tools are needed to identify and measure
effective interventions to mitigate the disproportionate biological and non-biological determinants that
contribute to disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental impacts? How much
disease burden can be prevented through healthier environments? What are the implications for health
disparities research? These questions lie at the heart of our national and global efforts to address the root
causes of health disparities through improved research—using the full range of science advances,
policies, interventions, and technologies in our store of knowledge.
Many health disparities research studies traditionally have examined the aggregate disease burden or risk
of death, disease, or disability attributed to factors such as race and ethnicity, geography (e.g., rural versus
urban), and economics (e.g., poverty and low socioeconomic status). The work of social, behavioral, and
environmental researchers has provided new perspectives to the health disparities field, emphasizing the
need for translational and transdisciplinary approaches. This presentation examines these issues and
implications for strengthening environmental justice research. We describe the evolving knowledge about
social, economic, and physical environment-health interactions and how this can be used to inform policy
interventions. We provide promising practices, such as translational collaborative approaches and
community-based participatory research approaches, that can support the design of effective public health
strategies to reduce corresponding disproportionate environmental health impacts.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
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Community Stress and Psychosocial Hazards
Pamela Tucker', Charlton Coles', Steven R. Couch1, and Bruce S. McEwen*
'Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Atlanta, GA; 2Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill Haven, PA;J Rockefeller University,
New York»NY
Exposure to hazardous materials often is the highest in locations occupied by people of lower income and
education, and usually members of minority groups. Because of factors in these neighborhoods such as
crowding, poor quality housing, inadequate access to healthy food and recreational opportunities, family
turmoil, and violence, there is considerable ongoing stress in such communities. These factors collectively
have adverse effects on health; and there is growing evidence that they interact with exposure to toxic
elements in the environment, such as air pollution, to worsen health outcomes. During the last 40 years,
there has been quite a bit of research documenting the existence of excess levels of psychosocial stress in
communities affected by chronic contamination by toxic waste. The toxieological literature documents
the effects of controlled laboratory stress on animals exposed to toxic substances, i.e., that stress can
cause shifts in dose-response curves for some substances for some stressors.
From a neurobiological viewpoint, the most important points are: (a) There is a response network for
stress—the network of allostasis—that responds to psychological stressors, generated through the brain,
the central organ of stress and adaptation; (b) this network—or at least parts of it—respond to toxic
agents, e.g., air pollution leads to inflammation which, in turn, activates Cortisol responses; (c) the
imbalances in the network due to chronic psychological stress and lifestyle (e.g., poor sleep, excess
calories and obesity/diabetes, alcohol) cause the network to respond differently to those toxic agents, and
evidence so far indicates that there is synergy and enhancement of, for example, the inflammatory.
response and further imbalance in the network; and (d) imbalance in the network leads, over time, to
allostatic load/overload, which accelerates disease processes. The above points lead to the general
conclusion that one cannot study toxic agents in a vacuum without considering the psychological stressors
and their impact on the body physiology through families and neighborhoods and interpersonal conflicts.
Other conclusions include:
Current risk assessment does not take into account the effects of psychosocial stress in addition to the
toxic exposures in the Superfund or any other communities that the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency serves. Too often, there has been an "either-or" mentality regarding the causation of disease
related to low-level environmental contamination. Many community members and scientists even felt that
stress was a red heiring designed to denigrate their very real health complaints thought to be due solely to
toxic exposure.
Psychosocial stress itself has not been widely recognized as a risk factor for adverse health outcomes until
research on the underlying causes of the current epidemic of heart disease in our society showed stress to
be a potent and under-recognized risk factor.
The role of psychosocial stress in disease causation needs to be more fully elucidated because it is a
potentially modifiable factor in the toxin-disease chain. Most of the prevention strategies at contaminated
sites concentrate on practical engineering solutions designed to reduce or eliminate exposures. Obviously,
where possible, this always should remain the primary strategy. But, in communities with known past
exposures or hard-to-prevent ongoing exposures, other preventative measures such as community health
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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education and measures designed to reduce community discord and shore up resilience also may prove
useful and ameliorative to health.
For Agency personnel charged with ameliorating toxic contamination, it is critically important to be
aware that the problems confronting contaminated communities are related not only to technical clean-up
and physical health, but also to social aspects of the community. In many contaminated communities, a
destructive social process develops that exacerbates the psychological and physical health impacts on
community residents. If this goes unrecognized, outside agency intervention may make the social process
even more destructive. On the other hand, if an agency works in partnership with a community, it is
possible to decrease the development of social stresses and increase the social capital and collective
efficacy available to a community to respond to contamination.
Positive involvement of local leadership and community groups with the process of environmental clean-
up and/or containment is crucial. Open, honest communication that accurately and realistically conveys
the risks of the situation and the processes involved in response is essential to building trust, and trust is
the most essential element needed in helping to build a positive response from community residents.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
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Synergistic Effects of Combined Lead and Stress; Implications
for Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Deborah A. Cory-Slechta
Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry,
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Lead (Pb) and stress are co-occurring risk factors, particularly for low-socioeconomic (SBS)
communities. Moreover, Pb and stress act on common biological substrates (the hypothalamic-pituitary
adrenal [HPA] axis, brain mesocorticolimbic and hippocampal dopamine and glutamate systems) and
produce common adverse outcomes (e.g., cognitive impairments). Collectively, these findings suggest the
potential for these risk factors to act synergistically. Animal studies in rats of combined lead and stress
strongly support this contention. For example, combined exposures of rat dams to Pb in drinking water
and to prenatal stress synergistically altered, in female offspring, brain neurotransmitter levels,
performance on a behavioral paradigm considered a surrogate for impulsivity, and the behavioral
response to stress challenges. The latter effects correlated highly with stress challenge-induced
corticosterone changes. Lifetime Pb exposure combined with prenatal stress produced synergistic and
selective impairments in a repeated learning paradigm in female offspring, as well as corresponding
synergistic increases in dopamine turnover in nucleus accumbens, a region important to mediation of
cognitive function. The learning impairments were mitigated by administration of an antagonist of
glucocorticoid receptors that mediate stress responses. Evidence now is emerging to indicate that Pb
exposure and stress likewise act in a cumulative fashion in humans. From a regulatory perspective, these
findings underscore the critical need to determine effect levels of toxicants in the context of o ther extant
risk factors with which they share biological substrates and common adverse outcomes, i.e., to move
toward cumulative risk assessment. From the policy and economics perspectives, the findings suggest that
residual Pb exposure may contribute to the increased incidence of diseases and disorders in low-SES
communities through its permanent modulation of HPA axis function and also that programs for
screening elevated Pb body burden need to be expanded to include pregnant women, particularly those
living in high-stress environments.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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The Contributions of Physical Infrastructure to Environmental Health
Disparities: Housing, Transportation, and Water
David E. Jacobs', Rajiv Bhatia", and James VanDersttce*
1 National Center for Healthy Housing, Washington, DC; 2San Francisco Department of Public
Health, San Francisco, CA;3 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
The physical infrastructure is the most basic and at the same time most varied foundation that makes
living and modern social structures possible. Without a functioning, protective, and equitable
infrastructure, our very survival as individuals and as a community would not be possible. Much of our
existing environmental health apparatus is aimed at protecting aspects of the physical infrastructure
(sometimes called the "shared commons"), with only secondary attention to solving environmental health
disparities. Historically, the legal structure for the environmental movement in the United States stands on
two fundamental principles of English Common Law: "Shared Commons" and "The Polluter Pays."
"Shared Commons" is derived from medieval practice governing community use of a public resource. In
short, while everyone's cattle may graze on the common green (a key component of the physical
infrastructure of its day), nobody's cattle may overgraze the resource and deprive others of its use. In its
current legal application, this principle means that the community may act to protect its interest if private
activity deprives the public of its right and reliance on a shared resource—e.g., breathable air—or, as
explored in this paper, housing, transportation, and water. The "Polluter Pays" principle holds that it is the
originator of the pollution, not the injured public, who bears responsibility for the cost of its control.
Contrast this scenario with the aspects of the physical infrastructure we consider in this paper: housing,
transportation, and water. For these three, there is not a consistent perceived "shared commons" for which
the public feels a communal benefit and responsibility. Even the language is myopic—we refer to a
housing unit, with the connotation that it is small and insignificant. Small communities and individual
drinking water wells are almost entirely unregulated, creating environmental health disparities. And,
transportation historically has meant building more freeways without interconnecting neighborhoods, thus
creating neighborhoods that are cut off, ill served, or both. For these systems, there may not be a
"polluter" that can be identified easily and tasked with payment for remediation.
We have selected three forms of physical infrastructure, one to represent the individual level (housing),
another to represent the community level (transportation), and a third that includes both (water), while at
the same time recognizing the significant overlap among them all. We have reviewed the literature on the
individual and community factors that influence environmental health disparities, either through direct
causal pathways or through more indirect distal and proximate pathways. We also have examined the
evidence that interventions, particularly in the cases of childhood lead poisoning prevention, traffic
calming and rerouting, and establishment of community water systems, can promote the environmental
health of the general population and at the same time reduce disparities. We also have identified a number
of research activities and methodological improvements that are needed, and we close with some
conclusions on how scientific evidence on disparities in physical infrastructure can be used to bring
environmental justice (EJ) considerations into policy deliberations.
For housing infrastructure, this review shows that racial and ethnic disparities in housing with both severe
and moderate physical problems are large and have existed for decades. In contrast, other data
demonstrate that when resources are properly targeted and when interventions have been proven effective
(as has been the case in childhood lead poisoning prevention from lead-based paint hazards in housing), it
is possible to greatly reduce disparities in housing-related health hazards. These two contrasting outcomes
are examples of the evidence that housing disparities are pronounced, but effective interventions exist that
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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can reduce them. This has enormous implications for how the EI movement chooses to characterize social
determinants of health, particularly in resolving long-standing housing-related health disparities.
For transportation infrastructure, this paper presents available evidence for five pathways through which
transportation system infrastructure may cause disproportionate environmental or health impacts on
vulnerable populations. Most directly, infrastructure can displace residents and permanently damage
community structure and integrity. Second, both the construction and operation of infrastructure can
impair (or benefit) walkability and livability. Third, use of motor vehicles on roadways and rail facilities
generates air pollution, noise, and pedestrian hazards, disproportionately affecting residents living
adjacent to these facilities. Fourth, preferential investments in auto-centered transport have generated a
transit-dependent subclass that has substantial barriers to access. Finally, transportation systems facilitate
ethnic- and class-based segregation, contributing to the reproduction of environmental injustice.
For water infrastructure, there is clear evidence that there are many cases where low-income, minority
communities that rely on individual or shared water systems face risks from contaminants in their
drinking water. These include Tribal communities, residents of border colonias, migrant farm workers,
and communities in other rural areas. In each of these cases, there are efforts at the local, state, and/or
federal level to address the problems, even though these agencies have no legislatively mandated
regulatory role, and these efforts have involved the affected communities. Examining disparities involves
by its nature a comparison of individuals or communities. The majority of evidence comes from the case
studies of communities with unregulated water systems. The comparison is an implicit one, comparing
these unregulated systems to fully compliant community water systems. Very few studies compare
infrastructure between individuals or communities of different socioeconomic status, and these studies
have focused on water quality as the outcome. Improving our understanding of disparities associated with
water infrastructure will depend on better data, especially geo-referenced data on service area boundaries
to link each water system to the individuals served.
Overall, there is no unified research agenda for physical infrastructure disparity research in the United
States, although there have been recent advances in this area. The absence of a "home" for housing,
transportation, and water quality health research, and research on health and the physical infrastructure
generally within the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other
research agencies is noteworthy.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Community Participation in the Environmental Decision-Making Process:
Can It Reduce Disproportionate Impact?
Nicholas Freudenberg', Manuel Pastor?, and Barbara Israel3
'School of Public Health, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY; 2Departments
of Geography and American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
CA;3 University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Environmental health exposures impose a disproportionate burden on low-income populations and
communities of color. Although many factors contribute to this inequitable impact, one important
influence is the ability of such communities to participate in making public policy decisions about
environmental health. In this report, we seek to describe and analyze the characteristics of communities
that contribute to their capacity to participate in making environmental decisions and of environmental
policy decision making processes that invite or discourage such. The goal is to identify steps that the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can take to design programs and policies that achieve more
meaningful participation.
Previous analyses have identified 10 important domains of action to strengthen community capacity:
leadership, participation, skills, resources, social and organizational networks, sense of community,
understanding of community history, community power, critical reflection, and community values. Our
review of the specific literature on environmental justice and disparate exposures suggested three
additional domains that are particularly promising for interventions: community cohesion, language
capacity, and community information. In addressing all of these domains, we proposed five basic
strategies for enhancing community capacity: training and technology transfer, technical assistance,
community-based participatory research, empowerment approaches, and community organizing/social
action.
Each of these capacity-building strategies offers some promise for helping environmental justice
communities address their concerns. Our review suggests that many choices from bottom-up and Agency-
down intervention are available to increase capacity. Careful documentation and evaluation of such
efforts will help to establish a systematic body of knowledge that can help communities to make informed
choices and match interventions to community contexts.
To more effectively reduce disparate environmental exposure and engage the public in making
environmental policy decisions, we recommend that EPA engage relevant constituencies in participation
processes early, provide these constituencies with the resources and information that can contribute to
effective participation, and ensure that the outcomes reflect participation.
By strengthening community capacity, advancing authentic participation, and building democratic power,
it may be possible to alter the demonstrated pattern of disparities that underlies the environmental
"riskscape" of America—not by redistributing risk but by minimizing it in each of our communities.
Thus, strengthening participation—by helping communities develop the capacities needed to be effective
in such processes and by changing Agency practices to better incorporate such voices—will be a key and
proper task for EPA in the years ahead.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
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Measuring Specific Features of Neighborhood Environments and
Estimating Their Contribution to Health Disparities
Mahasin Mujahid
University of California, Berkeley, CA
Studies examining neighborhood environments in relation to health often use census-derived indicators of
neighborhood socioeconomic position as the key neighborhood measure of interest. Although these
indicators have revealed important neighborhood health effects, there is a need for research that considers
specific features of neighborhood environments to elucidate the potential pathways by which
neighborhoods impact health. In this presentation, we discuss general approaches to measuring the
physical and social environments of neighborhoods, with a focus on a survey of area residents. Using this
approach, we illustrate a few challenges in developing neighborhood scales and testing their measurement
properties. We conclude by highlighting the utility of these measures using examples from the Multi-
Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Modeling Effects of the Social and Physical Environment
on Health—A Spatial Perspective
Basile Chabc
Inserm and University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France
In the analysis of associations between neighborhood exposures and individual health outcomes, socio-
epidemiologic studies often have described the geographic distribution of health phenomena in terms of
within-ncighborhood. correlation (using multilevel models) and have defined contextual exposures within
administrative neighborhoods. In contrast to this approach considering a territory fragmented into
disconnected administrative areas, the aim of a spatial perspective is to reintroduce spatial continuity in
the measurement of environmental exposures (by considering personal exposure areas centered on
residences) and in the modeling of their effects on health (to account for the spatial patterns of social and
health phenomena).
First, focusing on the measurement of environmental exposures, we use the RECORD Cohort Study to
illustrate that performing sensitivity analyses on the scale of measurement of contextual factors provides
relevant information on the spatial scale on which environmental influences may operate.
Second, we report epidemiologic examples of the use of spatial regression models based on individual
data. These models account for the fact that health outcomes may be more similar between neighborhoods
that are close to each other than between neighborhoods that are farther apart. Models taking into account
both spatially structured and unstructured components of variability, when estimable, are shown to
provide information facilitating the interpretation of individual/environmental fixed effects. However, we
also discuss recently described biases associated with the use of spatial random effects that affect the
fixed effects of interest.
We conclude the presentation with a balanced discussion of the potential gains and added complexities
associated with the consideration of spatial continuity in the measurement of exposures and modeling of
their effects.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health impacts
Measuring Racial/Ethnic Inequality of Context
Theresa Osypuk
Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
In this presentation, 1 will discuss measurement and analytic approaches for measuring and modeling
social and physical environments. I will discuss racial inequality measures of spatial separation of
neighborhood exposure, and modeling approaches for understanding how such inequality in context may
be associated with health. The talk will address such issues as inequality measurement, spatial scale,
hierarchical modeling, racial/ethnic disparities in housing and neighborhood environments, and effects of
place on health.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Use of California Environmental Health Tracking Data To Investigate
Environmental Health Disparities
Paul English, Eric Roberts, Michelle Wong, Galatea King, Craig Wolff, Diana Ruiz,
and IJnda Rudolph
Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control,
California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA
Communities long have expressed the need for accurate, timely, and neighborhood-scale data to address
concerns regarding impacts of environmental hazards. In California, there are documented disparities by
racial/ethnic group and/or income for specific hazards, such as agricultural pesticides. There remain two
unaddressed concerns: (1) that hazard data (e.g., emission data from secondary data sources) do not
accurately characterize the level of true exposure in individuals; and (2) although disparities in hazard
proximity can be documented, information on disparities in local health impacts is lacking. This latter
point is due to small numbers of health events, confidentiality restrictions, and unstable rates, among
other issues. The California Environmental Health Tracking Program (CEHTP), established in 2003, has
established a Web portal where users can assess timely localized data on many environmentally related
diseases and hazards. We will present three case studies in which CEHTP data were used to examine
disparities in environmental health outcomes: (1) prevalence of asthma in Alameda County, California;
(2) use of hazard data to identify potential populations disproportionately exposed to pesticides in
California's Central Valley; and (3) use of adverse reproductive outcome data as possible input into a
health impact assessment of California's cap-and-trade regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Issues of data usability, access, and interpretation will be discussed, as well as the potential to expand
these approaches into related areas of environmental health.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Preliminary Screening Method To Estimate Cumulative
Environmental Impacts
Steve Anderson and Maria Franco-Spera
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ
In response to recommendations made by the New Jersey Environmental Justice Advisory Council
(NJEJAC), the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has developed a
preliminary screening method to estimate cumulative environmental impacts. This method, which is being
evaluated continuously for enhancement, could be characterized as a state-level screening approach using
data available for the entire state to develop indicators of environmental impact. Currently, nine indicators
have been developed, including cancer risk (as estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment), vehicle counts using 1,000-foot buffers on roadways, densities of
major regulated sites, and others. Indicators are quantified separately at a fine geographic scale (100 km)
to estimate potential local impacts. Methods to normalize and combine indicators to see how multiple
indicators impact the same location currently include calculating statistical z-scores (or standard scores).
Estimates at the local level then are aggregated to the block-group level. This aggregation allows the
estimates of environmental cumulative impact to be compared to social and economic factors with data
available in the 2000 US Census. Initial comparisons with total minority and percent poverty show a
positive correlation, with estimates of environmental cumulative impact increasing with increases in
minority and poverty. The NJDEP is evaluating ways to update and enhance the current methods with
new data and additional indicators.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Environmental Justice Screening Method
James X. Sadd1. Manuel Pastor, Jr.2, Rachel Morello-Frosch'
'Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA; 2 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA;
* University of California, Berkeley, CA
We have developed an Environmental Justice Screening Method (EJSM) designed to identify and map
cumulative impacts and vulnerability at the neighborhood-level using a comprehensive set of 24 indicator
metrics. Selection of indicators is based in the scientific literature of environmental health risk and social
vulnerability to air pollution, organized into three categories - hazard proximity and land use; health risk
and exposure, social and health vulnerability. The EJSM combines GIS spatial analysis and statistical
programming define specific locations using land use and census polygons, evaluate proximity to air
pollution hazards, analyze the distribution of indicator metrics. The results are expressed as a cumulative
impacts (CI) "score"-applied to specific locations, either census tracts or a finer unit of geography that
combines census blocks and land use polygons, using relative ranking procedures. The EJSM was
designed to be scientifically valid, flexible and transparent, and is optimized for application in California.
As an integral part of the design process a variety of stakeholders - State regulators, policy makers,
community leaders - were consulted for input during development. It offers a way to objective examine
and screen large regions for areas most negatively affected by cumulative exposure and social
vulnerability, to guide further research, community outreach, and to targeted regulatory strategies to better
address environmental justice concerns related to air pollution impacts across diverse communities in
California.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
EPA's Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool: C-FERST
and its Potential Use for Environmental Justice Efforts
Valerie Tartarian'. BradSchultf, Marybeth Smuts', Timothy Banyk2, Davyda Hammond2, Myriam
Medina-Vera2, Andrew Geller2
'Region 1, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, MA;3U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC
EPA's Office of Research and Development, in collaboration with the CARE Program, is developing the
Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST; www.epa.gov/heasd/c-ferst).
C-FERST is a "one-stop shop" Web-based tool for conducting multimedia community assessments, and
will support EPA's priorities for cleaning up communities and working for environmental justice.
C-FERST incorporates innovative, high quality science into a user-friendly interface to assist with
characterizing the confluence of multiple stressors for: prioritizing environmental issues within
communities; identifying communities at risk; and, ultimately, assessing impact of actions. It is
anticipated that this tool will empower environmental managers and community residents to make better-
informed and more cost-effective decisions to improve public health.
C-FERST links to and builds upon other EPA and Federal Agency tools for informing community
assessments. Users will be able to:
• Follow available community guidance roadmaps
• Link to fact sheets about community environmental issues
• Access guidance on collecting and uploading local data
• Generate maps of sources, concentrations, human exposures, and cumulative risks, with overlays
about EJ factors or health outcomes
• Generate C-FERST "issue profile" reports containing available fact sheets, weblinks, and maps for
over 30 community environmental issues
• Explore risk reduction actions
• Learn about communities with similar issues and solutions implemented
This presentation will demonstrate C-FERST in the context of potential environmental justice
applications, and describe ORJD research efforts to develop census tract level data for community-
identified priority environmental issues. It will also provide opportunities to explore collaborations
between EPA, other Federal Agencies, and acadcmia.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
EJSEAT: A Screening Tool for EJ Concerns
Reggie Harm1 and Andrew Schulman2
1Region 3, Office of Enforcement, Compliance and Environmental Justice, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Philadelphia, PA; 2Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
EJSEAT is a draft screening measure that can help to identify communities of highest environmental
justice (El) concern, to better focus enforcement and compliance activities in those areas. It combines 18
data elements in categories of health, environment, demographics, and environmental enforcement. Case
studies will illustrate how EJSEAT is used in combination with other information to identify minority
and/or low-income communities that may be exposed to environmental harms and risks, and what actions
were taken to address those circumstances through programmatic activities.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Health Impact Assessment and the Management of Environmental Justice
and Cumulative Effects
Rajiv Bhatla
San Francisco Department of Public Health and University of California,
San Francisco, CA
Health Impact Assessment (IDA) describes a systematic practice to judge the human health impacts of
public decisions and to consider related health-responsive management strategies for policy design,
adoption, and implementation. Defining characteristics of HIA include the use of all available theory and
evidence, a broad definition of health and health determinants, potential application to policy-making in
diverse public sectors, an explicit concern with vulnerable populations and health equity, engagement
with decision-makers and stakeholders, and a commitment to transparency and democracy, HIA thus is
instrumental to the fundamental objective of environmental justice (El)—identifying and preventing
disproportionate, adverse health or environmental burdens on socially vulnerable populations. HIA
similarly provides an integrated methodology for the assessment of cumulative health impacts,
specifically one that can manage the joint effects of dissimilar exposures and dissimilar mechanisms of
action. This presentation will provide an overview of the HIA method and use case studies to explore how
this method can attend to gaps in conventional cumulative impact and EJ impacts analyses.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Case Studies in Applying Health Impact Assessment To Address Health
and Equity Holistically
Jonathan Heller
Human Impact Partners, Oakland, CA
Health Impact Assessment (III A ) is becoming more widely used in the United States as a framework to
evaluate the potential effects of a proposed project, plan, or policy and the distribution of those effects
within the population. With a primary goal of informing a decision-making process with an objective,
holistic health analysis, HI A also is used to highlight disparities in impacts, identify feasible mitigations
for negative impacts, build collaboration and consensus, and engage and empower the community. Three
case studies demonstrating the use of HIA to achieve these aims will be discussed:
• The Jack London Gateway Senior Housing Development in Oakland, California
• The decision to include HIA in the Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed 1-710 freeway
expansion in Los Angeles
• HIA-seoping for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
Other applications of HIA also will be described briefly.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
King County Equity and Social Justice Initiative
Ngozi Oleru
Public Health - Seattle and King County, Seattle, WA
In February 2008, King County launched the Equity & Social Justice Initiative (ES.II) to eliminate
longstanding and persistent inequities and social injustices. The goal of ESJI is for all King County
residents to live in communities of opportunity where all people thrive. The Initiative aims to improve
conditions for people of color, low-income residents, and ethnic groups who have limited English
proficiency and focuses on 13 social, economic, and physical environment factors that also are termed the
determinants of equity. King County is applying the principles of equity and social justice in its service
delivery, decisions, and policies and in how it engages communities. The County takes a comprehensive
and systems-level approach to how it measures and monitors the impact of these actions on equity.
(1) Policy development and decision-making: Monitor and examine the impacts of current policies and
practices that promote equity or contribute to inequity. (2) Delivery of county services and organizational
practices to address inequities: All executive departments commit to specific actions that promote equity
and social justice. (3) Community partnerships: Engage community groups that are most impacted by
inequities, as well as groups that hold power, to increase awareness, build partnerships, and address
structural changes that improve the social, economic, and physical conditions where people live, work,
and play. This session will focus on the tools (Equity Impact Review | EIR] tools and the Community
Engagement Guide) that King County has developed to hold itself accountable to the Initiative's goal.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Quantifying Inequalities in the Global Burden of Disease Due to
Environmental Factors: Perspectives from the Global Burden of Disease
Comparative Risk Assessment
Aaron J. Cohen
Health Effects Institute, Boston, MA
The Global Burden of Disease Comparative Risk Assessment (GBD/CRA) is a collaborative effort of the
Gates-funded Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, WHO, and leading academic centers, designed
to measure loss of health due to comprehensive set of disease, injury, and risk factor causes using
comparable and consistent methods*. It has periodically quantified the role of selected, potentially-
modifiable risk factors in global and regional burden of disease, including major environmental risk
factors such as poor water quality and sanitation, air pollution from indoor burning of solid fuels, outdoor
air pollution and lead** (see Figure), Estimates will soon be updated to allow comparison of burden
estimates for 1990 and 2005.
Because the burden of disease attributable to each risk factor is estimated in a comparable way using
consistent methods the GBD/CRA framework provides a basis for comparing environmental risks, and
for exploring the role played by economic and social inequalities in the burden of disease due to
environmental factors among and with-in regions and countries. Recent estimates of the burden of disease
attributable to selected environmental factors, and their global distributions, will be presented, along with
an example of how this framework has been used for more detailed within-country assessment of the
environmental burden of disease and its economic and social determinants.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Using Advanced Geospatial Methods To Address Childhood
Lead Poisoning
Marie Lynn Miranda
Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Nicholas School of the Environment,
Duke University, Durham, NC
Lead has long been recognized as an environmental neuro toxicant, with clear disproportionate impacts on
low-income and minority children. To truly protect children from lead exposure, we must replace
traditional mitigative approaches with preventive intervention programs. We have addressed this issue
successfully by using advanced spatial and statistical analysis to develop the Childhood Lead Exposure
Risk Model. The Lead Model uses spatial analysis of county tax assessor, U.S. Census, and North
Carolina blood lead screening data to predict lead exposure risk levels mapped at the individual tax parcel
unit State and local public health officials and local community advocates use the Lead Model in
designing and implementing programs to prevent lead exposure. The Lead Model, now available for 43
North Carolina counties and multiple national sites, allows the translation of complex data into clear and
accessible maps and reports that are used for community outreach, strategic planning of outreach
activities and resource expenditures, targeted blood lead screening, and housing rehabilitation programs.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Does Community Vulnerability Amplify the Relationship Between Traffic
Exposure and Adverse Birth Outcomes? A University-State-USEPA
Research Collaborative on Environmental Health Inequalities
Debbie Lowe Liana', Rachel Morello-Frosch2, Bill Jesdale2, Paul English3, Manuel Pastor4, James
Sadd, Thomas Plenys', Eric Hall5, and Matthew Lakin
'U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), San Francisco, CA;2 University of California,
Berkeley, CA;3 California Department of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health,
Richmond, CA;4Department of Geography and American Studies and Ethnicity, University of
Southern CA, Los Angeles, CA; Environmental Science, Department of Geology, Occidental College,
Los Angeles, CA ; slI.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC
This research project assesses the relationship between traffic exposure and risk of low birth weight and
preterm birth, both strong predictors of health status throughout the life course, among 1.5 million births
in California during 2001-2006. The analysis also examines whether measures of community and
individual vulnerability confound or amplify the adverse effects of these exposures. While previous
studies have examined relationships between ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes, most of
these studies have not assessed whether and how individual- and area-level measures of community
vulnerability affect observed pollutant-perinatal outcome relationships. Preliminary results indicate an
increased risk of low birth weight and preterm birth with higher estimated traffic exposures. Effect
estimates remain robust after conducting sensitivity analysis using different exposure assessment
techniques. This unique collaborative between academic, EPA, and California Department of Public
Health scientists produced a novel application of GIS spatial analysis to estimate traffic exposure metrics
for every census block in the state. Results of this collaborative study will enhance understanding about
how source-specific measures, such as traffic burden, can elucidate policy-relevant opportunities for
environmental agencies to reduce community exposure to multiple pollutants by taking actions such as
targeting enforcement actions, encouraging voluntary reductions, and requiring mitigations.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate En vironmental Health Impacts
Evaluating Environmental Justice/Disproportionate Impacts Over Time at a
Typical Industrial Facility Within a Cumulative Risk Framework
Matthew C. Small
Region 9, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, San Francisco» CA
This presentation will discuss how cumulative risks can change over the lifetime of a facility. This session
also will identify ways in which temporal considerations of cumulative risk might inform decision-
making for environmental justice/disproportionate impacts at local levels. Cumulative risk in the context
of local decisions will be examined through case studies focused on the four Hfecyclc stages of a typical
industrial facility: (1) planning and installation; (2) operation; (3) cleanup and closure; and (4) land re-
use. We will discuss how the sources of risk, risk management goals, risk assessors, risk managers, and
cumulative risk assessment tools can change dramatically during each of the four stages. For example, the
sources of risk during construction of a hazardous waste incineration facility are quite different from the
hazards associated with the combustion emissions during operation of the facility. In addition, the city
council, financial institutions, and developers often drive risk assessment and management decisions
when selecting a location for a facility, whereas regulatory agencies are more likely to be responsible for
monitoring facility emissions during operation. A cumulative risk approach allows for inclusion of
environmental justice/disproportionate impact analysis throughout the lifecycle of the facility.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate En vironmental Health Impacts
Challenges in Assessing Risk for Disproportionately Impacted Populations
in the Regulatory Context (the Examples of Lead and Mercury)
Zachary Pekar
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Research Triangle Park, NC
The review and development of air quality regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can
invol ve consideration of risks experienced by disproportionately impacted populations. This in turn
requires application of population-level risk assessment to assess both the magnitude and severity of
public health impacts on these special at-risk populations. The use of risk assessment in this context can
be challenging given limitations in available data, including the absence of data characterizing high-end
exposure-related behavior in the multipathway context. Challenges in modeling exposure and risk for
disproportionately impacted populations are well illustrated by the examples of ambient-air-sourced lead
and mercury. In the case of lead, we must consider both direct and indirect exposures to lead released into
ambient air as well as non-air sources of exposure (e.g., indoor paint). With lead, we have the added
challenge of a concentration-response function for 1Q loss that is non-linear, increasing demands on the
precision of our exposure modeling and requiring that we consider total exposure and not just air-sourced.
In the context of mercury exposure (primarily through fish ingestion), we have the challenge of
accounting for self-caught fish consumption, as well as commercial (bought) consumption. How these
two sources of fish consumption combine to determine overall exposure for disproportionately impacted
populations (and particularly subsistence fishers) can be challenging. This talk will cover some of the
uncertainties (data needs) associated with modeling risk related to lead and mercury exposure for
disproportionately impacted populations.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Including Environmental Justice in the Economic Analyses at the EPA
Charles Griffiths
National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency»
Washington, DC
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required by Executive Order and statute to conduct
an economic analysis for some of its regulations. This analysis generally includes a benefit-cost analysis,
which primarily is concerned with economic efficiency and maintains an implicit assumption that dollar
impacts affecting different groups have equal weighting. Since 1994, the Agency also has been required
to address environmental justice (EJ) concerns, and this consideration has sometimes made its way into
the economic analysis. This presentation will begin with a review of the mandates for both economic
analysis and EJ and discuss Agency guidelines for how equity considerations are supposed to be included
in regulatory impact analyses. It then will describe what the Agency typically includes in its economic
analyses and review the degree to which EJ and equity concerns actually have been included. The
presentation will close with a brief discussion of how the Agency currently is moving forward in
including these concerns.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Incorporating Equity Concerns Into Benefit-Cost Analysis
Maureen L. Cropper
University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and Resources for the Future, Washington, DC
This presentation will focus on several questions that must be answered before equity concerns can be
incorporated in benefit-cost analyses of environmental regulations. The talk will begin by discussing the
relationship between equity and altruism, and will discuss the theoretical basis for monetizing either
altruistic or equity concerns in a benefit-cost analysis. When it is appropriate to include equity concerns,
how should equity be characterized: by the distribution of risks in a population, or using a measure that
summarizes this distribution, such as the Gini coefficient or Atkinson index? The answer to this question
depends in part on how people perceive the distribution of outcomes (such as health risks) in a population.
The talk will conclude by discussing the types of distributional changes that are likely to be associated
with environmental policies, and how we might measure the preferences of laypersons for changes in the
distribution of risks delivered by environmental programs.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Addressing Distributional Issues in Environmental Health Benefits Analysis
Jonathan Levy
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA
When developing regulations to address environmental health risks, decision makers often attempt to take
into account both benefit-cost considerations and environmental justice or equity issues. Although
methods to quantify population health benefits and other measures of efficiency have been well defined
and extensively applied, there have been fewer attempts to develop meaningful and interpretable methods
to address the distribution of health benefits. In this presentation, I provide an overview of an axiomatic
approach for deriving meaningful measures of health inequality, leveraging insight from previously
developed measures of income inequality but considering issues specific to environmental health. These
include the necessity of explicitly incorporating background conditions and avoiding implicit value
judgments. Given the quantitative inequality indicators that best meet the various axiomatic criteria, I
present two case studies illustrating the strengths and limitations of this approach, focusing on optimal
strategies to control power plant emissions across the United States given a national cap and to control
diesel bus emissions in Boston given budgetary constraints. In each case, both the magnitude and
distribution of public health benefits are characterized formally across numerous control strategies. These
analyses suggest that, in settings with multiple risk management options, more efficient strategies may
correspond with more equitable strategies, as targeting high-risk populations can both provide greater risk
reductions per unit of concentration change and best reduce health risk disparities. These studies provide
evidence that environmental equity issues can be incorporated formally in regulatory analyses at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and elsewhere, helping to determine policies that are both efficient and
equitable.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Evaluating Distributional Impacts in a Regulatory Context:
Lead NAAQS Case Study
Erika Sasser
Office of Air and Radiation, US. Environmental Protection Agency,
Research Triangle Park, NC
In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a limited distributional analysis in
connection with a proposed rule to revise the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead.
This analysis serves as a useful case study to illustrate how a proximity-based analytical approach can
provide information about potential exposures to environmental hazards, and also the limitations of such
an approach. The presentation outlines the methodology used to assess the sociodeinographic
characteristics of populations living near ambient air lead monitors and stationary sources of lead
emissions. The presentation describes the technical approach used in the analysis, demonstrates the type
of results that can (and cannot) be generated using these methods, and discusses uncertainties and
limitations associated with this type of analysis. Finally, the presentation briefly considers how other
analytical approaches may compare, in terms of providing information useful to regulatory decision
makers.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Analysis of the Effects of Air Pollution Control Programs on Inequality
in Risks in Two Urban Areas
Henry Roman', Jeneva Craig2, Mikael Gentile', and Jonathan Levy3
'industrial Economics, Incorporated, Cambridge, MA;2 Office of Air and Radiation,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC;3Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, MA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not currently have a peer-reviewed framework for addressing
inequality in risk in the context of air pollution benefit assessments or for assessing disproportionate risk
changes across populations. Recent papers by Levy et al. (2006, 2007, and 2009) have proposed using the
Atkinson index as a meaningful indicator of inequality in human health risks across populations. Among the
favorable properties of the Atkinson index are scale invariance and decomposability. The former allows for
comparisons of inequality among air pollutants with widely ranging concentrations and potencies, while the
latter facilitates assessments of inequalities at different geographic resolutions and assessments for sensitive
subpopulations or economically disadvantaged groups. The authors currently are applying the Atkinson index
approach to evaluate the effects of actual or potential pollution control programs on inequalities in risks due to
air pollutant exposures in two major U.S. cities—Detroit and Houston. The Detroit analysis uses urban scale
air quality modeling data for fine particulate matter (PM? 5), ozone, and a number of carcinogenic hazardous
air pollutants (HAPs, e.g., vinyl chloride) to assess the baseline degree of risk inequality associated with
exposures to these pollutants and estimate the effect of alternative multi-pollutant control strategies on
reducing inequality. The Houston analysis involves characterizing the degree of inequality in leukemia risks
associated with benzene exposure in the Houston metropolitan area and evaluating the effect of Clean Air Act
provisions for regulating benzene on leukemia risk inequality.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
The Impact of the Environmental Justice Movement on Public Policy in the
United States
Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg
Center for Environmental Equity and Justice, Environmental Sciences Institute,
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fl.
By way of effective advocacy, the Environmental Justice Movement has successfully made the issue of
environmental quality and its impact on human health and well being a critical public policy issue in the
United States. Some examples of this impact are: the 1991 First National People of Color Environmental
Leadership Summit in Washington, DC; the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Office of Environmental Justice in 1992; the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council
in 1993, followed by the 1994 Presidential Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations; the National Institutes of
Health National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Environmental Justice: Partnerships for
Communication Extramural Research Program in 1994, followed by the Community-based Participatory
Research Program in 1995; the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, established by
the passage of the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000, Public
Law 106-525; the National Academies Institute of Medicine 1999 Report: Toward Environmental
Justice: Research, Education, and Health Policy Needs-; the University of Michigan undergraduate and
graduate programs in environmental justice; Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty 1987-2007, A-Report
Preparedfor the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries; and the 2009 Advancing Climate
Justice-A 20th Anniversary National Conference Hosted by WE ACT for Environmental Justice at
Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus, New York City. The purpose of this study is to examine and
articulate the change and impact of the coalition of environmental justice grass roots community
organizations and other stakeholders on the environmental and public health enterprise at the local, state,
and federal levels, in response to disparate environmental exposures and health outcomes in people of
color and low-income communities and populations.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Assessment of a Novel Environmental Justice
Community-University Partnership
Leah Williams', Sacoby Wilson , Omega Wilsons, and Roy Charles4
1 Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; institute for Families
in Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; 3 West End Revitalization Association,
Mebane, NC;4School of Education, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Background and Objectives: This study seeks to address critical gaps in the scientific knowledge on the
effectiveness of community-university partnerships in empowering vulnerable communities to address
environmental justice (EJ) issues. The West End Revitalization Association (WERA), a community-based
environmental protection organization based in Mebane, North Carolina, established a community-
university partnership to address the lack of basic amenities, environmental injustice, and public health
issues in local black communities. WERA developed the community-owned and -managed research
(COMR) framework as the foundation for its community-university partnership.
Methods: We are using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and surveys to evaluate the
effectiveness of WERA's community-university partnership, particularly its COMR approach and use of
the EPA collaborative problem solving model (CPSM) to address EJ and health issues.
Results: Preliminary analysis of interview and survey data has shown that the COMR approach has been
effective in addressing EJ and health issues in WERA neighborhoods and can be effective at helping other
communities address their issues. There are mixed results on the impact and utility of the CPS approach.
Conclusions: Preliminary analyses of interview and survey data reveal that WERA's community-
university partnership has been effective at addressing local EJ and health issues. Study participants
generally agreed that the COMR approach can be adopted by other communities to address local EJ and
health issues. More focus groups need to be performed to obtain information from study participants on
the overall impact and utility of WERA's COMR and CPSM to address EJ and health issues in various
community contexts.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
The Breakdown of Federal Protections: How Environmental Health Policy
Set at the National Level Can Be Derailed at the State Level
Heather I. Tanana1'1. Robert Adlerand William McDonnellJ
' S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT;2Bloomberg School of Public
Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD;3 University of Utah School of Medicine, Center for
Children's Environmental Health Law and Policy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Background and Objectives: The effectiveness of federal statutes and regulations designed to prevent
adverse environmental exposures relies on adequate federal, state, and local implementation. This study
addresses the legislative gaps under environmental laws, specifically the exemption of mining waste from
hazardous and solid waste regulation. Contrary to legislative intent, some states have failed to regulate
mining waste, creating a void in solid waste regulation and contributing to disproportionate
environmental health impacts.
Methods: Current policy and regulatory structures were analyzed through a case study of Utah's
experiences with the regulation of by-product mining wastes. Utah's waste management scheme was
examined in light of the intent and purpose of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Actual and potential disparate adverse impacts on certain subpopulations associated with Utah's
regulatory approach were explored.
Results: Utah has exempted mining waste from both hazardous and solid waste management, despite the
associated environmental risks. Such a comprehensive mining exemption exemplifies how state
environmental regulation can contravene federal principles. With more than 23,000 active mining claims
in Utah, mining wastes increase exposures to low-income communities, including San Juan County,
without appropriate RCRA regulation. Consequently, the public is denied crucial protection from
environmental hazards as well as the capacity to participate in the decision-making process.
Conclusion: State loopholes can circumvent the purpose and effectiveness of even well-designed federal
requirements governing environmental health. As a result, low-income communities are
disproportionately impacted, without the appropriate protections intended by federal standards or
opportunities to participate effectively in decisions regarding adverse exposures.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Whose Backyard Is It? Proximity Analysis Using GIS as a Tool
for Environmental Justice
Martha Keatine. Marie Lynn Miranda, and Sharon Edwards
Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Duke University, Durham, NC
Background and Objectives: A geographic information systems (GIS) methodology is used in two
different studies to evaluate the environmental justice (EJ) implications of proximity to industrial sources
and pollution exposure. The first study assessed the demographics of communities affected by the Toxics
Release Inventory (TRI) Burden Reduction Rule (issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in
December 2006 and rescinded in March 2009). This rule exempted facilities meeting certain higher
reporting thresholds from filing detailed reports about chemical releases. The second study assessed the
demographics of populations residing in counties with poor ambient air quality. The objective of these
studies was to illustrate the utility of spatial analysis for assessing policy change and to describe the
potential disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards borne by certain segments of the
population.
Methods: The analytical approach examines demographic characteristics of populations within defined
buffers around a georeferenced facility or air pollution monitor. We used a 50 percent areal containment
method to identify Census 2000 block groups within different buffers. Demographics of these populations
were compared to populations in unaffected locations.
Results: TRI facilities that were eligible for reduced reporting are more likely to be proximate to
communities with a higher percentage of minority and low-income residents. Demographic differences
are more apparent at increasingly resolved geographic scales. Similarly, populations residing in counties
with poor air quality are more likely to be minority and have low socioeconomic status.
Conclusion: Proximity analysis using GIS is a valuable tool for describing, quantifying, and visualizing
the EJ implications of environmental policies.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Shifting Exposures: Diesel Emission Reductions
and Environmental Justice
Kalhrvn M. Lundauist and Julian D. Marshall
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Background and Objective: Particulate matter from diesel engines (DPM) is estimated to be
responsible for a majority of the outdoor air pollution lung cancer risk in California's South Coast.
Previous research documents exposure inequalities for DPM in this location. Current policies will reduce
DPM emissions. Our research aims to quantify how changes in exposure distributions would depend on
which sources are targeted for emission reductions.
Methods: To estimate air pollution exposures, we combined the CAMx air dispersion model with census
data and a mobility-based exposure model. The mobility model simulates minute-by-minute micro-
environmental exposures for approximately 25,000 people. We explore emission reductions from the five
main DPM sources: on-road mobile, off-road mobile, ships, trains, and stationary sources. We compare
several exposure metrics, including intake per person, environmental equality (variations among
individuals), and environmental justice (EJ, variations among socioeconomic groups).
Results: Exposures vary among individuals and groups; on average, exposure is inversely related to
socioeconomic status. Changes in these exposure distributions depend on which source is targeted for
emission reductions. For example, reducing ship emissions would provide comparatively large benefits to
equality, yet only modest changes to EJ. Total exposure impacts are greater for off-road than for on-road
emissions, but EJ impacts are greater for on-road than for off-road emissions.
Conclusion: Air quality management involves evaluating which sources should reduce their emissions
and by how much. Our results quantify the exposure, EJ, and environmental equality impacts of potential
emission reductions.
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Plenary 3; Research and Data Needs for Assessing and Addressing
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts Among Minority and
Disadvantaged Populations
Session Panel Moderator: Sherry Baron, Coordinator for Priority Populations and Health Disparities,
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Speakers: Owen W, Collman, Interim Director, Division of Extramural Research and Training,
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Jennifer D, Parker, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology, National Center for Health
Statistics, CDC
Steve Wing, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health,
University of North Carolina School of Public Health
Ana V. Diez-Roux, Professor, Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of
Michigan, and Director, Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities
Gail C. Christopher, Vice President, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
This session will feature reflections on the first two days of conference discussions, with a focus on how
research efforts can best advance and improve the development and implementation of environmental
policy that reduces disproportionate exposures. Perspectives will be shared from academic researchers,
federal officials, and private foundation personnel reflecting views from those who fund, conduct, and
promote research aimed at eliminating health disparities and environmental injustice. Issues to be
addressed include: Are there more appropriate approaches to research that have proven successful in
leading to effective policy changes? Are the right research questions and approaches being used and are
the appropriate research disciplines being included and supported to address these questions? Are
researchers appropriately considering and measuring the social context of the physical environment that
EPA regulates? How can research on psychosocial factors be structured to support environmental action
and not just clinical interventions? Are there major data gaps that should be addressed through changes in
policy? How might policy makers, researchers, and affected communities collaborate to promote more
appropriate and effective collection of data? What research is needed to detect and intervene when policy
changes have the unintended consequence of creating disproportionate exposures? When evidence is
sufficient, how can researchers and public officials avoid delaying action by calls for more research?
Using these questions, the panel will engage in a dialogue on practices that can advance our knowledge of
environmental justice issues and promote protection of all citizens and communities from harm from
environmental exposures.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Plenary 4: Incorporating the Concept of Disproportionate Environmental
Health Impacts in "Regulatory Development" at EPA: Analytical
Challenges and Opportunities
Session Description
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects public health and the environment primarily
through creating and enforcing regulations. EPA regulations include but are not limited to setting
standards to; (1) regulate the levels of pollutants in environmental media; (2) control emissions from '
industry and other sources; and also (3) guide the cleanup of toxic waste sites. The process of developing
regulations, also known as "regulatory development," may include an analytical phase in which EPA
analyzes the problem to inform its options and the decision making process. Depending on statutory
requirements, this analytical phase generally uses one or more of three types of analytical frameworks:
risk analysis, economic analysis, and technological feasibility analysis. Results from these analyses feed
into decision frameworks and, where appropriate, are used to inform the outcomes of the regulatory
process. A core function of these analytical frameworks is that of anticipating/predicting human health
risks (and in some cases ecological system impacts), which are often translated into valuation estimates of
human health and societal benefits of regulations that help to inform EPA decisions. To incorporate
environmental justice concerns in the regulatory process, the analytical step in the regulatory development
process is a critical point for identifying "disproportionality" in exposure, vulnerability, and therefore
health risks and impacts.
This session will provide examples of methods for assessing disproportionality and inequalities, drawing
from the health policy and economics fields. In addition, this session will highlight principles for
incorporating equity in decision making, and explore the application of these principles in health impacts
and benefits analysis. Finally, this session will review an example of a specific regulatory decision
context to generate discussion on opportunities to enhance existing EPA analytical and decision
frameworks to assess disproportionate environmental health impacts and incorporate environmental
justice concerns.
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SPEAKER BIOSKETCHES
Paul Anastas
Paul Anastas, Ph.D., is the Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Science Advisor to the Agency. Known widely as
the "Father of Green Chemistry" for his groundbreaking research on the design, manufacture, and use of
minimally toxic, environmentally friendly chemicals, Dr. Anastas has an extensive record of leadership in
government, academia, and the private sector. At the time he was nominated by President Obama to lead
ORD, Dr. Anastas was the Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, and the
inaugural Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment at
Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to joining the Yale faculty,
Dr. Anastas was the founding Director of the Green Chemistry Institute, headquartered at the American
Chemical Society in Washington, DC. From 1999 to 2004, he worked at the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy, concluding his service there as the Assistant Director for the
Environment. Dr. Anastas began his career as a staff chemist at EPA, where he rose to the positions of
Chief of the Industrial Chemistry Branch, and Director of the U.S. Green Chemistry Program. It was
during his work at EPA that Dr. Anastas coined the term "green chemistry." Trained as a synthetic
organic chemist, Dr. Anastas's research interests have focused on the design of safer chemicals, bio-based
polymers, and new methodologies of chemical synthesis that are more efficient and less hazardous to the
environment. A leading writer on the subjects of sustainability, green chemistry, and green engineering,
he has published 10 books, including Benign by Design, Designing Safer Polymers, Green Engineering,
and his seminal work with co-author John Warner, Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice. Dr. Anastas
has been recognized for his pioneering work with a host of awards and accolades, including the Vice
President's Hammer Award, the Joseph Seifter Award for Scientific Excellence, the Nolan Sommer
Award for Distinguished Contributions to Chemistry, the Greek Chemical Society Award for
Contributions to Chemistry, the Inaugural Canadian Green Chemistry Award, a Scientific American 50
Award for Policy Innovation, the John Jeyes Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, and an Annual
Leadership in Science Award from the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He was a Special
Professor at the University of Nottingham and an Honorary Professor at Queens University in Belfast,
where he also was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. Dr. Anastas earned his B.S. from the University of
Massachusetts at Boston and his M.A. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Brandeis University.
Steve Anderson
Biosketch not available at time of printing.
Sherry Baron
Sherry Baron, M.D., M.P.H., is Coordinator for Occupational Health Disparities at the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She
coordinates NIOSH's portfolio of research and dissemination activities related to the disproportionate
rates of work-related injuries and illnesses among younger, older, immigrant, minority, and lower wage
workers. Her own research includes a community-based participatory intervention project for
English-, Spanish-, and Chinese-speaking home-care workers. She also is examining the work-related
contributors to disparities in cardiovascular diseases. Along with collaborators at the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she
recently co-edited a special issue of the American Journal of Public Health devoted to Environmental and
Occupational Justice, with a focus on community-based participatory research. Included in that special
issue was an article she authored along with EPA and NIEHS that evaluated a 13-year funding initiative
by the three federal agencies called Partnerships for Communication, which supported 54 environmental
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justice projects. She also co-edited a special issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine in
February 2010 on Occupational Health Disparities.
Stanley Barone Jr.
Stanley Barone Jr., Ph.D., was trained as a neuroscientist and came to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) in 1990 as a developmental neurotoxicologist in the neurotoxicology division of what was
to become the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) in the Office
of Research and Development (ORD) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Subsequently,
Dr. Barone moved to Washington, DC, and joined the National Center for Environmental Assessment
(NCEA) in 2004, after 14 years in NHEERL. Since 2006, Dr. Barone has been a Senior Scientist and
Assistant Center Director for Human Health Risk Assessment at NCEA in ORD. Dr. Barone led an effort
to develop and implement a framework for Assessing Health Risks of Environmental Exposures to
Children, which was published by EPA in 2006. Currently, he is working on cross-cutting human health
risk assessment issues, including ongoing Integrated Risk Information System assessments of
tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, methanol, formaldehyde, and ethylene dichloride. He currently
serves on the EPA Human Health Oversight Committee of the Risk Assessment Forum and is the EPA
Project Officer on the World Health Organization cooperative agreements dealing with the International
Programme on Chemical Safety and Protection of Human Health. He has published more than 60 peer-
reviewed papers and six book chapters. Dr. Barone has served on peer-review panels for numerous
government and nongovernmental funding organizations (e.g., the Veterans Administration, National
Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Defense, and Texas A&M
University pilot grants program, Cure Autism Now Investigator-Initiated Research proposals for Jeffress
Research Grant Memorial Trust). He has served on numerous government advisory panels (e.g., National
Toxicology Program's Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction and Member of
Interagency Workgroup on Development and Behavior to National Children's Study).
David Bellinger
David Bellinger, Ph.D., M.Sc., is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and a Professor of
Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he directs the Interdisciplinary
Postdoctoral Training Program in Neurodevelopmental Toxicology. A licensed psychologist, he received
a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at Cornell University and an M.Sc. in Epidemiology at Harvard
School of Public Health. His major areas of research interest are the developmental impact of metabolic
and chemical insults to the nervous system, neuropsychological toxicology, and the neurobehavioral
sequelae of pediatric cardiac surgery. He frequently serves on national and international committees
involving the evaluation of scientific evidence and its use in setting regulatory policies. He also has
served on the Federal Advisory Committee of the National Children's Study, the Human Studies Review
Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Foodborne Disease Epidemiology Reference
Group of the World Health Organization.
Rajiv Bhatia
Rajiv Bhatia, M.D., M.P.H., is the Director of Occupational and Environmental Health for the
San Francisco Department of Public Health and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the
University of California at San Francisco. He has developed and implemented environmental health
policy in San Francisco since 1998, broadening local environmental health practice to extend to labor
rights, working conditions, housing policy, land use and transportation planning, food security, and
pioneering the development of health impact assessment practice in the United States. He teaches a
graduate course on the health impacts of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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co-founder of and a scientific advisor to Human Impact Partners, which is working nationally to bring
health impact assessment into public policy making. He is a founding member of the Health and Social
Justice Team for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Dr. Bhatia earned an M.D.
from Stanford University in 1989.
Paula Braveman
Paula Braveman, M.D., M.P.H., is Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Director of the
Center on Social Disparities in Health at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). She
received her degree in Medicine from UCSF and in Epidemiology from UC Berkeley, and practiced
medicine in a range of settings serving diverse, disadvantaged populations. For more than two decades,
Dr. Braveman has studied and published extensively on social disparities in health and health care and
been actively engaged in bringing attention to this field in the United States and internationally. Her
research has focused on measuring, documenting, and understanding socioeconomic and racial/ethnic
disparities, particularly in maternal and infant health and health care. During the 1990s, she worked with
World Health Organization staff in Geneva to develop and implement a global initiative on equity in
health and health care. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with local, state, federal, and
international health agencies to see research translated into practice with the goal of achieving greater
equity in health. She has been a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences
since her election in 2002.
Jean Brender
Jean Brender, Ph.D., is the Associate Dean for Research at the Texas A&M Health Science Center
(TAMHSC), School of Rural Public Health, and Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of
Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She graduated from Whitworth College (summa cum laude) with a B.S.
in Nursing, and from the University of Washington with a Master of Nursing and a Ph.D. in
Epidemiology. Prior to joining academia full time, she worked as an epidemiologist, program director,
and division director at the Texas Department of Health (now Texas Department of State Health Services)
for 13 years. While there, she served as the State Environmental Epidemiologist and Chair of the State of
Texas Toxic Substances Control Committee. For the past 11 years, she has taught graduate courses in
epidemiology, first at Texas State University and then at TAMHSC School of Rural Public Health. She
has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles on birth defects with an emphasis on Mexican-
American populations and on environmental and occupational epidemiology, including eight articles
within the past 4 years that examine methods of linkage and the relation between residential proximity to
hazardous waste sites and industrial facilities and birth defects in offspring. She currently serves as
Principal Investigator for a National Institutes of Health R01 grant through the National Institute for
Environmental Health Sciences on "Nitrates, Nitrites, Nitrosatable Drugs, and Selected Congenital
Malformations." She also is a member of the TAMU Institutional Review Board and a research
collaborator with the Texas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention.
Joanna Burger
Joanna Burger, Ph.D., is an ecologist specializing in ecotoxicology. She is a Distinguished Professor at
Rutgers University in the Division of Life Sciences and in the Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences Institute, and a professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of
Public Health. During her 30+ years at Rutgers, she has taught undergraduate and graduate students
ecology, ecological risk, and animal behavior. She is one of the founding members of the Consortium for
Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation and has conducted research on stakeholder involvement,
environmental justice, risk perception, ecotoxicology, human exposure, risk, and long-term biomonitoring
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around several Department of Energy sites. A major emphasis of this research has been on fishing
behavior, perceptions, fish consumption, and risk. Her main research has focused on metals and
developmental neurotoxicology, ecological risk, environmental assessment, and biomonitoring at
contaminated sites, as well as the effects of humans on animal behavior. She has authored more than 300
peer-reviewed papers in the biomedical literature as well as several books and book chapters. She has
served on several national and international committees, including the National Academy of Sciences'
Board on Biology and Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and the Scientific Committee on
Problems of the Environment, as well as on advisory committees for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
She has received the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists' Union, the Lifetime Achievement
Award of the Society of Risk Analysis, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska for her
research on radionuclide contamination at Amchitka Island.
Basile Chaix
Basile Chaix received advanced training in epidemiology and public health as a doctoral student at the
University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris, France) and as a post-doctoral student at the University of Lund
(Sweden). Since 2007, he has held a permanent position of researcher at Inserm, the French National
Institute of Health and Medical Research. Dr. Chaix has worked for 9 years in the field of neighborhood
influences on health. He is the Principal Investigator of the RECORD (Residential Environment and
CORonary heart Disease) Cohort Study, in which 7,300 participants were recruited in 2007-2008 in the
Paris metropolitan area and will be followed over time. His particular interest is to develop and apply
innovative strategies for the measurement of neighborhood variables and the modeling of their effects on
health. Dr. Chaix is an Advisory Editor at Social Science and Medicine, the first world journal in social
sciences.
Jayajit Chakraborty
Jayajit Chakraborty, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of
Geography at the University of South Florida, Tampa. He has a Ph.D. in Geography and an M.S. in Urban
and Regional Planning from the University of Iowa, Iowa City. His research focuses on environmental
justice (EJ), environmental health, air pollution, racial/ethnic disparities, vulnerability to environmental
hazards, and urban geography. He is particularly interested in applications of geographic information
science and spatial statistical techniques. He is the author of numerous articles in prominent academic
journals such as The Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Environment and Planning A,
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Risk Analysis, and The Professional Geographer, and a
chapter in the Association of American Geographers' centennial publication, WorldMinds: Geographical
Perspectives on 100 Problems (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004), which showcases 100 significant
contributions made by geographers since 1904. Dr. Chakraborty is the editor of a new book titled Spatial
and Environmental Injustice in an American Metropolis: A Study of Tampa Bay, Florida (Cambria Press,
2010) and also has received several research grants to investigate the EJ implications of transportation
improvement projects in Florida. Additionally, he has served as a Chair of the Association of American
Geographers Hazards Specialty Group (2005-2007), which seeks to promote education, research, and the
application of knowledge on natural, technological, and social hazards.
The Honorable Donna M. Christensen continues to distinguish herself as a leader in the United
States Congress. As a Member serving her seventh term, she is the first female physician in the history of
the U.S. Congress, the first woman to represent an offshore Territory, and the first woman Delegate from
the United States Virgin Islands. She serves as an Assistant Majority Whip.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Donna Christensen
Delegate Christensen is the Second Vice-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and chairs the
Congressional Black Caucus' Health Braintrust, which oversees and advocates minority health issues
nationally and internationally. She is a Member of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues;
Member of the Friends of the Caribbean Caucus; Member of the Coastal Caucus; Member of the
Congressional Fire Caucus, the National Guard and Reserve Caucus and the Coast Guard Caucus.
She was born in 1945 to the late Judge Almeric Christian and Virginia Sterling Christian. She earned a
Bachelor of Science in 1966 at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. She earned an M.D. (Doctor
of Medicine) in 1970 from George
Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. She interned at Pacific Medical Center
in San Francisco, California from 1970 to 1971 and did her residency in
family medicine at Howard University Medical Center from 1973 to 1974. She became a board certified
physician in 1977.
She is the mother of two daughters, Rabiah Green George and Karida Green and the grandmother of Nia
Elena Hamilton, Kobe George and Nealia Williams. She is the granddaughter of the late renowned
Virgin Islands educator Elena Christian. Congresswoman Christensen also gained two new daughters,
Lisa and Esther, and two sons, Bryan and David, through her 1998 marriage to Chris Christensen.
Gail C. Christopher
Dr. Gail Christopher is vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek,
Michigan. In this role, she serves on the executive team that provides overall direction and leadership for
the Kellogg Foundation and provides leadership for Food, Health & Well-Being, and Racial Equity
programming. She is a nationally recognized leader in health policy with particular expertise and
experience in the issues related to social determinants of health and health disparities and public policy
issues of concern to African Americans and other minority populations. A prolific writer and presenter,
she is the author or co-author of three books, a monthly column in the Federal Times, and more than 250
articles, presentations, and publications. Prior to joining the Kellogg Foundation, Dr. Christopher was
vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Office of Health, Women, and
Families in Washington, DC. She holds a doctor of naprapathy degree from the Chicago National College
of Naprapathy in Illinois and completed advanced study in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in holistic
health and clinical nutrition at the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities at Union Graduate
School of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jane E. Clougherty
Jane Clougherty, Sc.D., M.Sc., is the Senior Air Quality Scientist at the New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene, where she manages the New York City Community Air Survey, a large study
of year-round intra-urban variability in multiple air pollutants. She is a Research Associate at the Harvard
School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health, where she completed her Sc.D. and post-
doctoral research. Dr. Clougherty's research focuses on chronic social stress and susceptibility to urban
air pollution. To this end, she has developed epidemiological studies of chronic urban stressors and
susceptibility to air pollution in the etiology and exacerbation of urban asthma in Boston and New York
City (the latter recently funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science To Achieve Results
grant), as well as occupational epidemiological studies of chronic workplace noise exposures and
response to industrial air pollution exposures (currently funded by the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health), and toxicological studies combining chronic social stress exposures among rats and
respiratory response to concentrated ambient fine particulate air pollution.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Aaron J. Cohen
Aaron Cohen, D.Sc., M.P.H., is Principal Scientist at the Health Effects Institute (HEI) in Boston,
Massachusetts, where he has worked since 1990. At HEI, Dr. Cohen manages an international program of
epidemiologic research on the health effects of air pollution and is involved in scientific program
development. Since 1999, he has served as a Temporary Advisor to the World Health Organization
(WHO) on the evaluation of epidemiologic evidence, air pollution health impact assessment, and air
quality guideline development. He co-chairs the Expert Group on Outdoor Air Pollution that produced
estimates of the global burden of disease due to outdoor air pollution for the WHO's Global Burden of
Disease Comparative Risk Assessment in 2002, to be updated in 2010. Dr. Cohen holds a D.Sc. in
Epidemiology (1991) and a Masters in Public Health (1985) from the Boston University School of Public
Health, where he is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Health. He also is a Registered
Respiratory Therapist, and worked for 15 years in newborn intensive care and subsequently as Research
Associate in Perinatal Epidemiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Charlton Coles
Charlton Coles, Ph.D., received his B.S. (1989) in Psychology from Georgia State University and his
M.S. (1993) and Ph.D. (1996) in Clinical Psychology from the University of Florida. He currently is
employed at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry as a behavioral scientist. Recent
research work has included asset mapping to identify the strengths of communities in addressing public
health concerns and helping evaluate continuing medical education curricula for environmental medicine.
Dr. Coles has publications in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, Aggression and Violent Behavior, and
Adolescence, and he has presented at the International Qualitative Health Research Conference, Eastern
Psychological Association Conference, and Urban Educational Expo. Current research projects involve
the development of a working framework for clinicians and responders to more effectively manage
community and family stress from a technological disaster, and the continued development of an obesity
intervention for rural African-American women. Dr. Coles also is assisting colleagues in the development
of an online environmental literacy course geared toward middle school students. Other research interests
include comprehensive anger and anxiety assessments in communities impacted by technological
disasters, family psychology, health psychology, and the elimination of health disparities.
Gwen W. Collman
Gwen Collman, Ph.D., is the Acting Director of the Division of Extramural Research and Training at the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Dr. Collman has served in program
development and management, first as a member and then as Chief of the Susceptibility and Population
Health Branch since 1992. During this time, she directed and managed research on the role of genetic and
environmental factors on the development of human disease, from animal models of genetic susceptibility
to population studies focusing on etiology and intervention. Dr. Collman was responsible for building the
NIEHS grant portfolio in Environmental and Molecular Epidemiology. She developed and managed
several complex multidisciplinary research programs that include involvement of communities in
partnerships with researchers. These include the NIEHS Breast Cancer and the Environment Research
Centers Program; the NIEHS/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Centers for Children's
Environmental Health and Disease Prevention; and the Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative. During
the last year, she led a team to create a vision for the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health
programs for the next decade. Dr. Collman received a Ph.D. in Environmental Epidemiology from the
University of North Carolina, School of Public Health. She has worked at the NIEHS since 1984, first as
a member of the Epidemiology Branch in the Division of Intramural Research, and since 1992 as a
member of the Division of Extramural Research and Training.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Deborah A. Cory-Slechta
Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D., became a faculty member at the University of Rochester Medical School
(URMC) in 1982. She became Chair of its Department of Environmental Medicine and Director of the
National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Environmental Health Sciences Center in
1998, and served as Dean for Research from 2000-2002. She then became Director of the Environmental
and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and Chair of the Department of Environmental and
Community Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School from 2003-2007, before returning to URMC as Professor in Environmental Medicine and
Pediatrics. Dr. Cory-Slechta has served on national review and advisory panels of the National Institutes
of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, the National Center for Toxicological Research, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She currently
serves on the Science Advisory Board of the EPA and on the Advisory Committee for Childhood Lead
Poisoning Prevention of the CDC. In addition, Dr. Cory-Slechta has served on the editorial boards of the
journals Neurotoxicology, Toxicology, Toxicological Sciences, Fundamental and Applied Toxicology,
Neurotoxicology and Teratology, and American Journal of Mental Retardation. She has held the elected
positions of President of the Neurotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology and
President of the Behavioral Toxicology Society, and has been named a Fellow of the American
Psychological Association. Her research has focused largely on the relationships between brain
neurotransmitter systems and behavior, and how such relationships are altered by exposures to
environmental toxicants, particularly the role played by environmental neurotoxicant exposures in
developmental disabilities and neurodegenerative diseases. These research efforts have resulted in more
than 120 papers and book chapters to date.
Stephen R. Couch
Stephen Couch, Ph.D. (Professor of Sociology and Professor of Science, Technology, and Society), is
Director of Academic Affairs at the Schuylkill Campus of the Pennsylvania State University. After
receiving an undergraduate degree in music from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, he
remained at Oberlin College for an M.A. in sociology. His doctorate in sociology is from Binghamton
University. An award-winning teacher and researcher, Dr. Couch is co-author or co-editor of four books
and has written more than 30 published research articles, most of them dealing with environmental
sociology and technological hazards. He has presented the results of his research at conferences
throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Mexico, and Japan. His current research interests are
in community breakdown and recovery from environmental contamination, the relationship of lay and
scientific knowledge concerning environmental risks, popular culture and disasters, and the collective
construction of meaning by groups victimized by modern technology. Dr. Couch has served as an expert
witness in several cases involving environmental contamination. He has consulted in his areas of
expertise for numerous governmental and business organizations, including the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and Borden Chemicals. He is
past Chair of the Environment and Technology Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems,
is former Editor of Social Problems Forum, has been a member of the Board of Directors of the
Sociological Practice Association, and sat on the Council of the Environment and Technology Section of
the American Sociological Association.
Maureen Cropper
Maureen Cropper, Ph.D., is a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, a Senior Fellow at
Resources for the Future, and a former Lead Economist at the World Bank. Dr. Cropper has served as
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chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board Environmental Economics
Advisory Committee and as president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. She
is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of
Economic Research. Her research has focused on valuing environmental amenities (especially
environmental health effects), on the discounting of future health benefits, and on the tradeoffs implicit in
environmental regulations. Her current research focuses on energy efficiency in India, on the impact of
climate change on migration, and on the benefits of collective action in pandemic flu control. Dr. Cropper
received a B.A. in Economics from Bryn Mawr College (summa cum laude, 1969) and a Ph.D. in
Economics from Cornell University (1973).
Sally Perreault Darney
Sally Perreault Darney, Ph.D., serves as the National Program Director for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) Human Health Research Program in the Office of Research and Development
(ORD). In partnership with ORD's Labs and Centers and EPA's Program Offices and Regions, she sets
strategic directions for and coordinates a multidisciplinary health research program. The program's
overarching objective is to inform linkages in the continuum from environmental exposures to human
health outcomes. Major goals include understanding children's unique exposures and vulnerabilities, and
translating chemical risk knowledge to real-world communities where exposures to chemicals and other
stressors are complex. Program outputs include new Web-based mapping tools to help communities
identify environmental problems and develop remediation strategies. She also represents EPA on the
Interagency Coordinating Committee for the National Children's Study and is active in scientific societies
and editorial boards related to reproductive health. After earning a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Reproductive
Biology from the University of Hawaii, Dr. Darney completed postdoctoral research at the Bloomberg
School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. She joined EPA's ORD in 1984 and established a
research program in reproductive toxicology. The author of more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles
and reviews, Dr. Darney also has served as the Director of the Reproductive Toxicology Division in
ORD's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory.
Felicia Eaves
Felicia Eaves, Special Projects Coordinator for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies,
Health Policy Institute, has been a dedicated human rights advocate for nearly 20 years. Ms. Eaves began
her journey into social-political advocacy and activism in San Diego, California, where she obtained a
degree in Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. Since then, she worked in the area
of environmental health justice, beginning in San Diego with the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC),
one of the oldest grassroots organizations in the country. As a result of her work with EHC, she later
moved to Washington, DC, and began work with the Alliance for Healthy Homes (formerly the Alliance
to End Childhood Lead Poisoning) as a project manager to advocacy groups around the country to protect
children at highest risk from environmental health hazards in their housing, schools, neighborhoods, and
communities. As Special Projects Coordinator for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies,
Health Policy Institute, Ms. Eaves continues her commitment to working on behalf of low-income
communities and people of color in the area of health equity. Through the Place Matters initiative, Eaves
serves as project manager to 16 teams responsible for designing and implementing strategies that address
the social determinants of health impacting residents in 21 counties and 3 cities.
Paul English
Paul English, Ph.D., M.P.H., currently is State Environmental Epidemiologist and Branch Scientific
Advisor for the Environmental Health Investigations Branch at the California Department of Public
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Health (CDPH). He has had more than 15 years' experience working in environmental public health for
CDPH, focusing on spatial epidemiology, public health impacts of climate change, environmental health
issues at the U.S./Mexico border, and environmental links to adverse reproductive outcomes and asthma,
in particular exposures to traffic pollution. During the last 7 years, Dr. English has served as Principal
Investigator of the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, which takes a community-based
approach to developing surveillance and biomonitoring systems for environmental hazards, exposures,
and environmentally related chronic disease. He has been dedicated to responding to community needs
and concerns regarding environmentally related disease by integrating environmental epidemiology,
health education, community participation, geographic information systems and spatial methodologies,
and health policy. He received his masters and doctorate degrees from the University of California at
Berkeley.
Laurel Firestone
Laurel Firestone, J.D., co-founded and co-directs the Community Water Center (CWC), a non-profit
environmental justice organization located in Visalia, California. The CWC helps disadvantaged,
primarily farmworker communities gain access to clean and affordable water. She previously served as
the Director of the Rural Poverty Water Project at the Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment in
Delano, under a 2004-2006 Equal Justice Works Fellowship. In 2009, she authored the comprehensive
Guide to Community Drinking Water Advocacy, and in 2010, she was awarded the Carla Bard Advocacy
Award from the Public Officials for Water and Environmental Reform, awarded to one water advocate in
California each year. She currently serves on the Tulare County Water Commission. Ms. Firestone
graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where she focused on environmental poverty law. She
has been a member of the California Bar since 2004. A native of California, she spent her last year of law
school at Boalt Hall through the Berkeley-Harvard Exchange Program. During law school she worked on
a variety of projects combining human rights and environmental law, from working with trash pickers in
the major cities of Brazil, to advising indigenous groups in the Amazon who sought to protect their
traditional knowledge and genetic resources. She also holds a B.A. magna cum laude in Environmental
Studies from Brown University.
Sheila Foster
Sheila Foster, J.D., is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Walsh Professor of Real Estate,
Land Use, and Property Law at Fordham University. Professor Foster is the author of numerous
publications in top law journals, including the California Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review,
Wisconsin Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, Georgetown International Environmental
Law Review, and the Ecology Law Quarterly. Professor Foster is a coauthor (with Luke Cole) of From the
Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement (N.Y.U. Press,
2001; second edition forthcoming 2010) and coeditor of the 2nd edition of The Law of Environmental
Justice (with Michael Gerrard 2008). Professor Foster also has provided legal expertise to a number of
nonprofit environmental organizations in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Maria Franco-Spera
Maria Franco-Spera, M.S., presently serves as the Environmental Justice Coordinator and Policy Advisor
for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). She administers New Jersey's
Environmental Justice Executive Order and the Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the DEP. In
this role, she collaborates and interacts with programs throughout the DEP, sister state agencies, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, other states, public officials, non-profit organizations, community
representatives, and the public to develop and implement New Jersey's environmental justice (EJ)
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policies. For the past 3 years, she has researched and advised on the development of a methodology that
would assist DEP with identifying communities that are disproportionately impacted by environmental
burdens. She joined the DEP in 1989, and her DEP career spans research and practice in EJ, policy
development, brownfield remediation, public outreach, and climate and energy. Ms. Franco-Spera
received her Bachelor of Science in Geology and Chemistry from Hunter College and earned a Master of
Science in Geophysics from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining the DEP, she worked in the
private sector as an oil exploration geophysicist in projects throughout the United States and overseas.
Nicholas Freudenberg
Nicholas Freudenberg, Dr.P.H., is Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the City University of New
York (CUNY) School of Public Health at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, and Director of the
CUNY Doctoral Program in Public Health. Dr. Freudenberg's research focuses on the social determinants
of the health of urban populations. He has worked to develop, implement, and evaluate health programs in
schools, communities, churches, and jails and advocated for municipal policies that promote health. He
has participated in and evaluated several community-based participatory research projects. He is the
author of Not in Our Backyards! Community Action for Health and the Environment (1983), and lead
editor of Cities and the Health of the Public (Vanderbilt Press, 2006), a synthesis of recent scholarship on
how city living affects health, and Urban Health and Society. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research
and Practice (Jossey-Bass, 2009). More recently, Dr. Freudenberg has investigated how the alcohol,
automobile, tobacco, firearms, food, and pharmaceutical industries contribute to socioeconomic and
racial/ethnic disparities in health and the role of public health advocacy in modifying health-damaging
corporate practices.
Howard Frumkin
Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H., is Special Assistant to the Director for Climate Change and Health at
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC's Climate Change program works to
identify and understand the adverse health impacts of climate change, ranging from heat waves to
infectious diseases, and to prevent or control these impacts. Dr. Frumkin is an internist, environmental
and occupational medicine specialist, and epidemiologist. From 2005 to 2010, he directed the National
Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(NCEH/ATSDR) at the CDC. During his tenure, NCEH/ATSDR created its Climate Change program;
launched training programs for college students, doctoral students, and post-docs; expanded its Built
Environment, Biomonitoring, and Environmental Health Tracking programs; and launched its National
Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures. Previously, he was Professor and Chair of the
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University's Rollins School of Public
Health and Professor of Medicine at Emory Medical School. Dr. Frumkin previously served on the Board
of Directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, where he co-chaired the Environment Committee; as
president of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics; as chair of the Science Board of
the American Public Health Association; and on the National Toxicology Program Board of Scientific
Counselors. As a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Children's Health Protection
Advisory Committee, he chaired the Smart Growth and Climate Change work groups. He currently serves
on the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine. In
Georgia, he was a member of the state's Hazardous Waste Management Authority, the Department of
Agriculture Pesticide Advisory Committee, and the Pollution Prevention Assistance Division Partnership
Program Advisory Committee, and is a graduate of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership. In
Georgia's Clean Air Campaign, he served on the Board and chaired the Health/Technical Committee. He
was named Environmental Professional of the Year by the Georgia Environmental Council in 2004. His
research interests include public health aspects of the built environment; air pollution; metal and PCB
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toxicity; climate change; health benefits of contact with nature; and environmental and occupational
health policy, especially regarding minority communities and developing nations. He is the author or co-
author of more than 180 scientific journal articles and chapters, and his books include Urban Sprawl and
Public Health (Island Press, 2004, co-authored with Larry Frank and Dick Jackson; named a Top Ten
Book of 2005 by Planetizen, the Planning and Development Network), Emerging Illness and Society
(Johns Hopkins Press, 2004, co-edited with Randall Packard, Peter Brown, and Ruth Berkelman),
Environmental Health: From Global to Local (Jossey-Bass, 2005 and 2010; winner of the Association of
American Publishers 2005 Award for Excellence in Professional and Scholarly Publishing in
Allied/Health Sciences), Safe and Healthy School Environments (Oxford University Press, 2006, co-
edited with Leslie Rubin and Robert Geller), and Green Healthcare Institutions: Health, Environment,
Economics (National Academies Press, 2007, co-edited with Christine Coussens). Dr. Frumkin received
his A.B. from Brown University, his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, his M.P.H. and Dr.P.H.
from Harvard, his Internal Medicine training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and
Cambridge Hospital, and his Occupational Medicine training at Harvard. He is Board-certified in Internal
Medicine and Occupational Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Collegium Ramazzini, and the Royal
College of Physicians of Ireland.
Lisa F. Garcia
Lisa Garcia joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January, serving as the
Administrator's Senior Advisor on Environmental Justice. Ms. Garcia will help elevate environmental
justice (EJ) issues to the highest levels of the Agency and will work closely with all programs to integrate
and strengthen all of EPA's EJ initiatives. Ms. Garcia's work will promote meaningful working
relationships with EJ communities and build strong partnerships to address some of the country's most
persistent environmental challenges. Ms. Garcia joins EPA after serving as the Chief Advocate for
Environmental Justice and Equity at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In
that position, she developed statewide EJ initiatives to tackle critical environmental challenges and served
as co-chair of the Governor's Environmental Justice Interagency Task Force. Ms. Garcia also served as
Assistant Attorney General for the New York State Attorney General, where she represented various state
agencies in environmental litigation matters and defended New York's Brownfields Cleanup Program.
Ms. Garcia also served as Senior Attorney at the New York Public Interest Research Group. Ms. Garcia
has a long and impressive history of using her legal, policy, and legislative experience to promote EJ.
Cynthia Giles
Prior to her confirmation as the Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Cynthia Giles, J.D., M.P.A., served as the
Director of the Conservation Law Foundation's Advocacy Center in Rhode Island, where she drafted
legislation to control greenhouse gases, influenced the state to adopt stringent emission standards for cars,
and defended those standards in court. In her 30-year career, Ms. Giles has prosecuted environmental
laws as an Assistant United States Attorney, led the Bureau of Resource Protection in Massachusetts, and
served as Director of Enforcement Coordination for EPA Region 3 in Philadelphia. Ms. Giles has a B.A.
from Cornell University, a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.P.A. from the
Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.
Gary L. Ginsberg
Gary Ginsberg, Ph.D., is a toxicologist at the Connecticut Department of Public Health, within the
Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Assessment. He has responsibility for human health
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risk assessments conducted in the state. Dr. Ginsberg serves as adjunct faculty at the Yale School of
Public Health and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
He recently finished serving on the National Academy of Sciences Panels on Biomonitoring and
Improving U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) risk methods (Science and Decisions). He is a
member of EPA's Science Advisory Panel and has served on the Children's Health Protection Advisory
Committee. He received a Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Connecticut and was a post-doctoral
fellow in carcinogenesis/mutagenesis at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research. Dr. Ginsberg's
toxicology experience has involved a variety of settings: basic research, teaching, working within the
pesticide and consulting industries, and now working in public health. He has published in the areas of
toxicology, carcinogenesis, physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, inter-individual variability,
and children's risk assessment.
Thomas A. Glass
Thomas Glass, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
He is broadly trained in social science and holds a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology from Duke University. He
completed post-doctoral training in epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. He has held teaching
positions at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health, and the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Glass primarily is interested in understanding the impact of
social and behavioral factors on health and functioning across the lifespan. His previous work has
explored the role of social support, social networks, and social engagement on outcomes ranging from
stroke recovery to alcohol consumption and cognitive decline. He teaches, directs graduate students, and
conducts research in social epidemiology and gerontology. In addition to observational studies, he has
done intervention studies to improve function in older persons. More recently, his work has centered on
unraveling the impact of factors in the built and social environments on a range of health and behavioral
outcomes. He directs the Baltimore Neighborhood Research Consortium at Johns Hopkins. He is
Co-Principal Investigator of the Baltimore Memory Study, a large cohort study of the multilevel
determinants of cognitive decline in older persons. Among his current projects, Dr. Glass is leading a
team to develop and test an integrated sensor system to improve the measurement of social, physical, and
cognitive function in population studies. He also has done work related to the role of theory in public
health science.
Michael Gochfeld
Michael Gochfeld, M.D., Ph.D., is an environmental toxicologist and occupational physician who is a
Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in the Environmental and
Occupational Health Sciences Institute (Piscataway, New Jersey). He is one of the founding members of
the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, which provides a variety of research
endeavors supporting the Department of Energy's management of nuclear and chemical contamination
from the manufacture and testing of nuclear weapons. His research has focused on ecological and human
health consequences of occupational and environmental exposure to heavy metals, particularly mercury.
From 1999 to 2001, he chaired New Jersey's Mercury Task Force. His work on mercury included
investigating cultural practice resulting in exposure to elemental mercury. He has been active in exploring
unique environmental exposure pathways and environmental justice. He also has chaired the international
Cadmium Working Group for and the Scientific Group on Methodology for Safety Evaluation of
Chemicals for the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment. He also is a clinician seeing
patients exposed to heavy metals and other contaminants in their home, community, or workplace
environments, one aspect of which is evaluation of high-end fish consumers exposed to methylmercury.
He received the Health Achievement Award from the American College of Occupational and
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Environmental Medicine. He is author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers on environmental and
occupational health and has contributed book chapters on toxicology and risk assessment.
Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg III
Richard Schulterbrandt Gragg III, Ph.D., serves as Associate Director and Associate Professor of the
Environmental Sciences Institute and Director of the Florida Center for Environmental Equity and Justice
at Florida A&M University (FAMU). His research and professional interests include: the impact of
environmental contaminants on human health and aquatic ecosystems; environmental health disparities;
environmental equity and justice; community-based participatory research; and public health policy.
Dr. Gragg has numerous refereed publications, professional presentations, and reports, including serving
as guest editor for the Environmental Justice journal. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in
environmental toxicology, environmental ethics, environmental toxicology and human health, and
environmental justice, and directs undergraduate and graduate students in thesis and dissertation research.
He is the Chair of the FAMU Environment and Sustainability Council and serves as a member of the
Audubon of Florida Board of Directors, the Gadsden County Community Health Council, and the
National Council of Science and the Environment, Council of Environmental Deans and Directors. He is
a former member of the Florida Environmental Regulations Commission, and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and Health and Research
Subcommittee.
Gary R. Grant
Gary Grant is the Executive Director of the internationally acclaimed Concerned Citizens of Tillery and is
the founding president of the national Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, the director of the
National Land Loss Fund, and director of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. The son of
the late Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant, Grant was reared on a family farm in the New Deal
Community of Tillery Farms, Halifax County, North Carolina. Holder of a B.A. degree from North
Carolina College (now NC Central University), Durham, he was a teacher in the Halifax County School
System and worked with the New York City Department of Human Services. Mr. Grant has appeared on
CBS's 60 Minutes "Pork Power" 1996, on NC Public Television "Now," and numerous other media. He
has authored and co-authored several papers on the destruction of the environment by corporate hog
growing facilities and the decline of black farmers in America. He also gave the commencement address
at the 2009 graduation of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill.
Peter Grevatt
Peter Grevatt, Ph.D., is the Director of the Office of Children's Health Protection and Environmental
Education and the Senior Advisor to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator
Jackson for Children's Environmental Health. He is responsible for ensuring that all EPA decisions are
protective of children's health and that EPA is an international leader on children's environmental health
issues. Dr. Grevatt served as the Senior Science Advisor in EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency
Response and as the senior health scientist in EPA's Region 2 office. In these roles, he was responsible
for ensuring that science, public health, risk assessment, environmental justice, and children's health were
fully considered for a range of critical issues such as asbestos, PCBs, lead, and arsenic. Dr. Grevatt led the
national water quality monitoring program in EPA's Office of Water, and more recently, as Director of
the Economics, Methods and Risk Analysis Division in EPA's Office of Resource Conservation and
Recovery. He provided leadership to the Regions and States on Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
implementation, and provided health risk assessments and economic cost-benefit analyses on major
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rulemakings. He received his B.A. degree in Biology from Earlham College and his M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees in Basic Medical Sciences from New York University Medical Center.
Charles Griffiths
Charles Griffiths, Ph.D., is an Economist in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Center
for Environmental Economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland and a
Masters in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe. His current areas of research include work on
climate change and the social cost of carbon, environmental justice, valuation of water quality
improvements, risk and benefits assessment, evaluation of voluntary programs, and air pollution and
health impacts. He has worked on a number of regulatory actions, including the proposed and final rule
for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and the Clean Air Mercury Rule. Prior to joining the EPA,
Dr. Griffiths worked at a macroeconomic forecasting group at the University of Maryland and for the
World Bank's Development Economic Research Group and taught at Gettysburg College. He recently
worked as a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers and currently teaches evening and
summer classes at Johns Hopkins University.
Monique C. Harden
Monique Harden, J.D., is the co-director and attorney of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
(AEHR), a nonprofit, public interest law firm in New Orleans, Louisiana, that she co-founded with
attorney Nathalie Walker in 2002. AEHR is dedicated to upholding the human right to live in a healthy
environment. The organization works to transform legal systems that make communities vulnerable to
environmental disaster and displacement. AEHR provides human rights-based legal services, community
organizing support, and public advocacy campaigns. On behalf of African Americans living in the historic
community of Mossville, Louisiana, Ms. Harden and AEHR legal staff filed the first-ever human rights
petition that seeks fundamental change of the United States environmental regulatory system. The
Mossville human rights/environmental justice case currently is pending with the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States. In the aftermath of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, AEHR is spearheading advocacy and organizing efforts aimed at establishing recovery as a
legal right, not an empty promise, in accordance with the United Nations' Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement. Ms. Harden has coordinated international coalitions advocating for human rights.
Sam Harper
Sam Harper, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and
Occupational Health at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He received his training in epidemiology
at the University of South Carolina and the University of Michigan, and was a research fellow at the
National Center for Health Statistics. His research interests are in social epidemiology and population
health, health demography, and public health ethics. He currently is working in three principal areas:
methods for measuring and monitoring health inequalities, the analysis of global inequalities in health and
risk factors, and the use of microsimulation models for evaluating population health interventions. He is
currently working with the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization on the
development of indicators for monitoring social inequalities in health.
Reginald F. Harris
Since coming to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Office
located in Philadelphia in 1990, Reginald Harris, M.A., has served as a Toxicologist in the Superfund
Program, as Special Assistant to the Deputy Regional Administrator, and as the Regional Environmental
Justice (EJ) Coordinator. He currently is a Senior Toxicologist and the Regional EJ Coordinator. From
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1990 through 1995, he served as a Toxicologist in the Superfund Program. From 1995 to 1997, he also
served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Regional Administrator. Mr. Harris's duties and
responsibilities have included serving as the co-chair of the Cleanup and Remediation EJ review Protocol
Development Team for EPA, Chair of the All States EJ Work Group, and the Designated Federal Official
to the South Africa Working Group for the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council's
International Subcommittee. He also has held management responsibilities for various EJ initiatives;
written and reviewed risk assessments; worked as the Lead Toxicologist for the Chester Risk Study and
as Technical Advisor to the South/Southwest Philadelphia Environmental Risk Study, Regional Toxics
Integration Coordinator, co-chair of the EPA Risk Assessors Teleconference Calls; participated in the
Greater Leadership Opportunities Program; and served as facilitator for the EPA Environmental
Assessment course in Hong Kong and Principles of Solid Waste Management Planning course in Poland,
Hungary, and South Africa. Mr. Harris makes numerous presentations at colleges, universities, national
forums, and other meetings and symposia. He serves as an adjunct lecturer at the University of
Pennsylvania in the Masters of Environmental Studies Program. Additionally, Mr. Harris served as an
instructor of Secondary Science Education in the Baltimore City Public Schools, conducted
immunochemistry research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and for the Department
of the Army, and served as an Industrial Hygienist and Program Manager in the Lead Poisoning
Prevention Program with the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Earl L. Hatley
Earl Hatley, M.A., is a co-founder of LEAD Agency, Inc., a grassroots group in northeastern Oklahoma,
and served as the Board President from 1997-2003. LEAD's original focus was the Tar Creek Superfund
Site. The Site is a 40-square-mile area of abandoned lead and zinc mines impacting the subsistence and
cultural resources of the 10 tribes located in the area. LEAD Agency is predominantly of Native
American membership. LEAD Agency is a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, founded by Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., and Mr. Hatley serves as the Grand Riverkeeper, patrolling the Grand Lake O' the
Cherokees and feeder streams of the upper Grand River watershed. Mr. Hatley was appointed by
Oklahoma's Governor to serve on the Hazardous Waste Management Advisory Council for the Oklahoma
Department of Environmental Quality in March 2007, representing the State's environmental community.
Since October 2007, Mr. Hatley serves on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Sustainability
Network and serves on the Steering Committee for the Western Mining Action Network, including the
Indigenous Environment Network's tribal caucus. Mr. Hatley also works as an environmental consultant
to Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages, as well as indigenous grassroots groups around the country.
He works with tribal governments to develop environmental programs and water and air quality
monitoring projects; write quality control instruments; write grants; conduct culturally based risk
assessments; and conduct hazardous waste site investigations. Mr. Hatley also serves as an organizing
consultant to national and statewide non-profit groups, including the Indigenous Environmental Network.
He served as a consultant and co-leader on a $5 million grant as a partner with Harvard School of Public
Health and LEAD Agency. In this capacity, he developed the Tribal Subcommittee of the grant's
Community Advisory Board. Mr. Hatley served as a Special Consultant to the Community-Tribal
Subcommittee for the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR), and served as a member of the Ad Hoc Tribal Working Group of the Office of Tribal
Affairs at ATSDR. In addition, Mr. Hatley served as an advisor to the Tribal Environmental Coalition in
Oklahoma (TECO), a coalition of all 39 federally recognized tribes in the state, and served as a TECO
representative on the Oklahoma Water Monitoring Council, organized under the office of the Oklahoma
Secretary of the Environment. From August 2000 to January 2003, Mr. Hatley served as the Director for
the office of Tribal Environmental Management Services (TEMS) at the University of Tulsa College of
Law-National Environmental Law and Policy Institute (NELPI). TEMS provides technical, legal, and
organizing assistance to tribes, tribal consortia, and inter-tribal environmental organizations that represent
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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tribal government. Activities included: (1) conducting a 2-year research project, as a contractor, for the
Tribal Association on Solid Waste and Emergency Response, funded by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose of the project was to identify abandoned and active industrial sites
located on or near tribal lands that may impact human health and the environment, and develop a model
for conducting risk assessments that are sensitive to tribal, cultural, and subsistence practices; (2) assisting
tribes with development of air, water, Superfund, and solid waste programs or projects; (3) representing
tribes on Superfund activities, including Natural Resource Damage Assessment Actions;
(4) environmental program development, including grant writing, project development, and development
of Quality Control/Quality Assurance instruments; and (5) writing water quality standards specific for
tribal clients. Prior to coming to Tulsa University, Mr. Hatley served as the Environmental Program
Director for the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma. As founding director for that department, he built the
program to a staff of five. The Tar Creek Superfund Site is the key environmental issue for the tribe.
During Mr. Hatley's tenure, the Tribe received the first Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study ever
provided to a Tribe by the EPA. In, addition, the tribe was approved for Program Authority under the
Clean Water Act and began an aggressive water monitoring program of the three streams in the Tribe's
jurisdiction (including Tar Creek). The Tribe developed an air program that includes regional stations for
PM 10, PM 2.5, and mezonet. The Tribe also began an emergency response program. He also has served
as Regional Organizer for the national non-profit organization National Toxics Campaign (1990-1993),
and as Director of the statewide group Oklahoma Toxics Campaign (1993-1997). His degrees include:
ABD, Environmental Science Ph.D. Program, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater; M.A., Political
Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater; and B.A., Human Development, Flaming Rainbow
University/Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, and Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He is a Mentor in the
Prescott College off-campus degree program and served as Adjunct Faculty at Oklahoma State
University-Oklahoma City, teaching courses on social ecology and environmental policy. Mr. Hatley has
extensive research and grant management experience. His Political Science training included conducting
demographic research, developing qualitative survey techniques, and developing quantitative survey
instruments. He has utilized these techniques in the political and environmental science arenas.
Mr. Hatley is Cherokee/Delaware and belongs to the Long Hair Clan of the Cherokee.
Lisa Heinzerling
Lisa Heinzerling, J.D., is the Associate Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation. Prior to this, she was a member of the Presidential
Transition Team for EPA and served as Senior Climate Policy Counsel to Administrator Jackson.
After finishing law school, where she served as editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review,
Ms. Heinzerling clerked for Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
and Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was a Skadden Fellow at Business and
Professional People for the Public Interest in Chicago and, for 3 years, practiced environmental law in the
Massachusetts Attorney General's office. She has served as a law professor at Georgetown University
Law Center since 1993, and has been a visiting professor at the Harvard and Yale Law Schools. Her
scholarship in environmental law has been published in, among other places, the Yale Law Journal,
Harvard Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, and Georgetown Law Journal. She is the
author, with Frank Ackerman, of Priceless: On Knowing the Price of Everything and the Value of
Nothing (The New Press, 2004). She was the lead author of the winning briefs for petitioners in
Massachusetts v. EPA, in which the Supreme Court held that the Clean Air Act gives EPA the authority
to regulate greenhouse gases.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Jonathan Heller
Jonathan Heller, Ph.D., co-founded Human Impact Partners (HIP) in 2006. HIP believes that health
should be considered in all decision making. It raises awareness of and collaboratively uses innovative
data, processes, and tools that evaluate health impacts and inequities to transform the policies, institutions,
and places people need to live healthy lives. Through training and mentorship, HIP also builds the
capacity of impacted communities and their advocates, workers, public agencies, and elected officials to
conduct health-based analyses and use them to take action. Dr. Heller has worked on more than a dozen
Health Impact Assessments (HIA), conducted many HIA trainings, and provided technical assistance to
others conducting HIAs. Prior to HIP, he worked for 9 years in the biotechnology industry, where his
focus was on data analysis for projects utilizing innovative technologies for cancer and diabetes detection
and treatment. Dr. Heller received his bachelor's degree with Honors in Applied Mathematics from
Harvard University in 1989. He then spent 1990 and 1991 in the Peace Corps in Papua, New Guinea.
Upon his return, he earned his doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley in Biophysics, where
he was a Howard Hughes Pre-doctoral Fellow. Dr. Heller currently serves on the board of the Center for
Community Change.
Barbara A. Israel
Barbara Israel, Dr.P.H., is a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the
School of Public Health, University of Michigan. She received her M.P.H. and Dr.P.H. degrees in Health
Behavior and Health Education at the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Dr. Israel has published widely in the areas of: the social and physical environmental determinants
of health and health inequities; the relationship among stress, social support, control, and physical and
mental health; community empowerment and health; and community-based participatory research
(CBPR). Dr. Israel has extensive experience conducting CBPR in collaboration with partners in diverse
communities. Since 1995, she has worked together with academic and community partners to establish
and maintain the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center, initially funded by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. The Center involves multiple National Institutes of Health and
foundation-funded basic etiologic research and intervention research projects aimed at increasing
knowledge and addressing factors associated with health inequities and the quality of life of residents in
Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Israel is actively involved in several of these CBPR projects examining and
addressing, for example, the social and physical environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease,
the environmental triggers of childhood asthma, access to food and physical activity spaces, diabetes
management and prevention, and capacity building for and translating research findings into policy
change.
Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator Lisa Jackson leads the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to protect
the health and environment for all Americans. She and a staff of more than 17,000 professionals are
working across the nation to usher in a green economy, address health threats from toxins and pollution,
and renew public trust in EPA's work. As Administrator, Ms. Jackson has pledged to focus on core issues
of protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination in our communities, and
reducing greenhouse gases. She has promised that all of EPA's efforts will follow the best science, adhere
to the rule of law, and be implemented with unparalleled transparency. Ms. Jackson is the first African
American to serve as EPA Administrator. She has made it a priority to focus on vulnerable groups,
including children, the elderly, and low-income communities that are particularly susceptible to
environmental and health threats. In addressing these and other issues, she has promised all stakeholders a
place at the decision-making table. Before becoming EPA's Administrator, Ms. Jackson served as Chief
of Staff to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine and as Commissioner of the State's Department of
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Environmental Protection (DEP). Prior to joining DEP, she worked for 16 years as an employee of the
EPA. Ms. Jackson is a summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University and earned a master's degree in
chemical engineering from Princeton University.
David Jacobs
David Jacobs, Ph.D., C.I.H., is the Director of Research at the National Center for Healthy Housing. He
has published numerous articles in the peer-reviewed literature on the association between housing and
health, including work on asthma, lead poisoning, green building health outcomes, energy conservation,
and other areas. He has testified before Congress on several occasions and has collaborated with the
World Health Organization. Dr. Jacobs is the former Director of the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead
Hazard Control at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also is an adjunct
professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Johns Hopkins University.
Daniel Kass
Daniel Kass, M.S.P.H., is the Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and
Policy (BESP) at the New York City (NYC) Department of Health. The Bureau provides epidemiologic,
analytic, and policy analysis and other services; promotes public awareness of environmental health; and
works on a variety of urban environmental concerns. The Bureau led the environmental biomonitoring
component of the NY C Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which evaluated adult population
exposures to heavy metals and pesticides. Mr. Kass also serves as the Principal Investigator on the
agency's Environmental Public Health Tracking grant, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-
funded effort to enhance environmental surveillance. Mr. Kass oversees NYC's pesticide use reduction
program and is an appointed member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Pesticide
Program Dialogue Committee. Before joining the Department, he directed the Hunter College Center for
Occupational and Environmental Health. He earned an Sc.B. degree from Brown University and an
M.S.P.H. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health, and
completed doctoral studies at New York University's Wagner School. In 2008, he and other staff at BESP
received the EPA Regional Children's Environmental Health Champion Award for their work in
understanding and preventing exposures to methylmercury. Mr. Kass currently serves as the Acting
Deputy Commissioner for Environmental Health, overseeing the programs in food safety, child care, pest
control, public health engineering, poison control, environmental disease prevention, and emergency
preparedness.
Martha H. Keating
Martha Keating, M.S., is Director of Research Translation at the Children's Environmental Health
Initiative, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University. Her work focuses on addressing health
disparities through regulatory and policy change. Her research includes risk communication, impacts of
environmental exposures on vulnerable populations, environmental justice, and regulatory policy
development. Ms. Keating's prior experience includes policy analysis at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and as a consultant to national advocacy groups. She has recently served as Project
Manager for a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences funded project focusing on
communicating complex environmental health messages to the Latino population. Ms. Keating also is a
member of the Southern Center on Environmentally Driven Disparities in Birth Outcomes and serves as
Principal Investigator of the Community Outreach and Translation Core.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Roger Kim
Roger Kim is the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN). APEN
organizes and builds the leadership of Asian immigrant and refugee communities to achieve
environmental and social justice. APEN has successfully developed cutting-edge community organizing
models in the Laotian refugee community in Richmond and the Chinese immigrant community in
Oakland. APEN's grassroots members have won several significant environmental justice campaigns and,
through APEN's Vote Action program, have educated and turned out thousands of Chinese and Laotian
voters in their native languages on key ballot issues. APEN is a nationally recognized leader in the fields
of environmental and social justice, environmental health, and civic participation. Mr. Kim brings his
background in the social justice, environmental, and philanthropic sectors to the environmental justice
mission of APEN. Before becoming APEN's executive director, he was previously the organization's
associate director and policy director. He also worked at the San Francisco Foundation as the
Environment Program Fellow and at Global Green USA on advancing energy-efficient and green building
practices in affordable housing developments. Mr. Kim is currently on the board of the Center for
Environmental Health and the Advisory Committee to Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Amy D. Kyle
Amy Kyle, Ph.D., M.P.H., is on the faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of California
at Berkeley. She leads a multidisciplinary team working on cumulative impacts and conducted a
December symposium on "Assessing and Addressing Cumulative Impacts in California Communities."
She works on policies to promote environmental health at the community level, environmental justice,
and protection for infants and children. She leads research translation for the largest program in
environmental health research at Berkeley and is a co-investigator at the Center for Excellence in
Environmental Public Health Tracking and the Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia
and the Environment. She teaches graduate students about public policy and how to participate in and
learn from discussions with people of different backgrounds. She works with community-based and
non-governmental organizations, executive and legislative agencies, and academic partners. She was a
founding member of the State Environmental Health Indicators Collaborative and works with many state
environmental protection and public health agencies. She spent her formative years in public service,
serving for 5 years as Deputy Commissioner for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
and, before that, working for three governors on a variety of environmental, health, and natural resource
issues. Her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences and Policy are from the University of
California at Berkeley and her B.A. in Environmental Sciences is from Harvard College. She was elected
Councilor to the Environment Section of the American Public Health Association and serves on the
federal Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee.
Peter Langlois
Peter Langlois received his Ph.D., in community health sciences from the University of Texas School of
Public Health, with concentrations in epidemiology and environmental health. For the past 15 years, he
has worked as the senior epidemiologist for the Birth Defects Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch of
the Texas Department of State Health Services and has conducted several birth defect cluster
investigations and small area analyses. He is also the Co-Principal Investigator for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention-funded Texas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention. Dr. Langlois's
research interests include the environmental and occupational causes of birth defects. He has co-authored
several papers on the association of selected birth defects with maternal residence near hazardous waste
sites and industrial facilities, and on urban-rural patterns of birth defect occurrence.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Jonathan I. Levy
Jonathan Levy, Sc.D., is the Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Health
and Risk Assessment in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health
in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his Sc.D. from the Harvard School of Public Health in
Environmental Science and Risk Management, with a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard
College. His primary research interests involve methods and applications related to air pollution exposure
assessment and health risk assessment, with a focus on urban environments and issues of heterogeneity
and equity. He recently served as Principal Investigator on a grant involving development of quantitative
indicators of equity for use in risk assessment and benefit-cost analysis, and he has been involved in
multiple case studies demonstrating the application and interpretation of these indicators. Current research
efforts include evaluating spatial patterns of air pollution in urban settings with complex terrain and
developing discrete event simulation models of the influence of indoor environmental exposures on
pediatric asthma in low-income housing. Dr. Levy was the recipient of the Walter A. Rosenblith New
Investigator Award from the Health Effects Institute in 2005. He recently served on the National Research
Council (NRC) Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Methods Used by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, and he currently serves on the NRC/Institute of Medicine Committee to Develop
Framework and Guidance for Health Impact Assessment. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses
at Harvard related to risk assessment and the urban environment.
Corine Li
Corine Li is Manager of the Drinking Water Office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
Pacific Southwest Region in San Francisco, California. In this capacity, she works with a complement of
engineers and scientists responsible for overseeing delegated drinking water programs in Arizona,
California, Hawaii, Nevada, Navajo Nation, and the outer Pacific islands of American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, and Guam. Her office also works closely with 147 federally
recognized Native American Tribes and the 530 tribal water systems to meet federal drinking water
requirements pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Many of the underserved communities (tribes,
territories, rural) in the United States are vulnerable to serious public health and environmental problems
as a result of limited access to safe drinking water supplies; ineffective or nonexistent systems for
collecting and managing residential and municipal wastewater; and impacts from water supply
contamination due to current and past agricultural, industrial, and mining practices. Current regional
efforts are underway on tribal lands and in the Pacific Islands to address and mitigate exposure to
microbial and chemical contamination from the water supply and to improve collection and management
of wastewater. The challenges are further exacerbated by the lack of technical, managerial, and financial
capability of the utility; jurisdictional issues and misconception over the true costs for providing safe
drinking water; and basic sanitation. She is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California
and has been with EPA for more than 25 years.
Debbie Lowe Liang
Debbie Lowe Liang, M.P.H., is an environmental scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 9 in San Francisco. She currently is working in the Environmental Justice Program, which works to
better protect public health and the environment for the most vulnerable and most heavily impacted
communities. Her current projects are geographically focused on the San Joaquin Valley in California and
Hawaii. She also works on science issues relevant to environmental justice, such as cumulative impacts and
community vulnerability. Ms. Liang received her Masters in Public Health from the University of California
(UC) at Berkeley, where she conducted research on schistosomiasis in rural China. She also holds a Masters
in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. from UC Berkeley in
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Environmental Sciences. In addition, she recently completed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute.
Stephen H. Linder
Stephen Linder, Ph.D., currently is a Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, with
appointments in three Divisions at the School—Management, Policy, and Community Health; Health
Promotion and Behavioral Science; and Environmental and Occupational Health. He also is the Associate
Director of the Institute for Health Policy. He received his doctorate in political science from the University
of Iowa and was trained in conflict resolution at the University of Texas Law School. He was on the faculty of
the University of California at Los Angeles and Tulane University before coming to the School of Public
Health in 1984. In 2004, he was named a Piper Professor by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation for
excellence in teaching. He has served on the Texas Public Utility Commission's Study Panel on Electric and
Magnetic Field Effects, on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Electric Power Research Institute, and on the
Environmental Advisory Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership. His environmental research has
focused on risk theory and risk communications, electric and magnetic field mitigation, regulatory
enforcement, adaptation to climate change, and most recently on the assessment of air toxics and cumulative
risk in the Greater Houston Area.
Kathryn R. Lundquist
Kathryn Lundquist, M.S., is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Environmental Engineering program in the
Civil Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ms. Lundquist earned an A.B. in Engineering Sciences and Russian Language and Literature and a B.E.
in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College, and an M.S. in Civil Engineering with a minor in
Public Health from the University of Minnesota. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Ms. Lundquist worked for
an environmental consulting firm as a human health risk assessor. Her responsibilities included
characterizing risks for various sites, drafting reports, and developing a Geographic Information System-
based method of evaluating large sites for potential hazards to residents, workers, and citizens.
Ms. Lundquist's dissertation research uses air dispersion modeling and time-activity information to model
exposure and the effects of emission reductions on that exposure. One key objective of the research is to
be able to prioritize pollution prevention from those sources that have the greatest effect on exposure and
environmental justice. She plans to continue pursuing an interdisciplinary approach to her research and
produce results that are relevant to engineering, public health, ethical, and political challenges.
Juliana A. Maantay
Juliana Astrud Maantay, Ph.D., is Professor of Urban and Environmental Geography and Acting Chair in
the Department of Environmental, Geographic, and Geological Sciences at Lehman College, City
University of New York (CUNY), and Director of Lehman's Geographical Information Science (GISc)
Program, and the Urban GISc Lab. She also is a faculty member in Lehman's M.P.H. program, the Earth
and Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program at the CUNY Graduate Center, and the doctoral program in
Public Health (D.P.H.), as well as a research scientist with NOAA-CREST, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Center of Remote Sensing Science and Technology at City College, CUNY.
Dr. Maantay has more than 20 years' experience as an urban and environmental planner and policy
analyst with governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and private sector consulting firms, and has
been active in environmental health justice research and advocacy for more than 15 years. Her research
interests include using GISc for spatial analyses of environmental health justice issues; environmental
modeling; land use, the built environment, and health impacts; urban hazards and risk assessment; and
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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community-based participatory research. She currently is Co-Principal Investigator in grant-funded
projects with NOAA, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities,
conducting research on the relationship between air pollution and respiratory and cardiovascular disease,
diabetes/obesity and location of active recreational spaces and healthy food choices, urban agriculture and
health, segregation and disease, and geovisualization of health data. Her research on environmental health
justice has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Environmental
Health Perspectives, Health and Place, International Journal of Health Geographies, Applied
Geography, Urban Geography, and the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, and her work also appears
in a number of edited volumes on urban public health issues and environmental health justice. Her book,
GIS for the Urban Environment (2006), promotes the ethical use of GIScience for environmental
awareness and community empowerment. She is co-authoring a new book, Geospatial Analysis of
Environmental Health, with Dr. Sara McLafferty (forthcoming, 2010). Dr. Maantay has been invited to
present her environmental health justice research at the New York Academy of Sciences, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences,
NIEHS, and the United Nations, among others. Dr. Maantay has a Ph.D. in Urban Environmental
Geography from Rutgers University, a Master of Urban Planning (M.U.P.) from New York University, an
M.A. in Environmental Geography/Geographic Information Systems from Hunter College/CUNY, and a
B.Sc. in Environmental Analysis from Cornell University.
Kelly Maguire
Kelly Maguire, Ph.D., is an Economist in the National Center for Environmental Economics within the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation. Her work has
focused on a developing technical guidance for conducting environmental justice (EJ) analysis in a rule-
making setting, as well as EJ issues related to municipal solid waste host fees and hazardous waste taxes.
She also provides technical assistance within the Agency and conducts research on valuing mortality risk
reductions from environmental policy. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester
(1991) and a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University (1999).
Bruce S. McEwen
Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D., is the Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and Head of the Harold and Margaret
Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University. He is a member of the
U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He served as Dean of Graduate Studies
from 1991-1993 and as President of the Society for Neuroscience in 1997-1998. As a neuroscientist and
neuroendocrinologist, his laboratory combines molecular, anatomical, pharmacological, physiological,
and behavioral methodologies and relates their findings to human clinical information. His current
research focuses on stress effects on the amygdala and prefrontal cortex as well as hippocampus, and his
laboratory also investigates sex hormone effects and sex differences in these brain regions. In addition, he
served on the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health, for which
he helped to reformulate concepts and measurements related to stress and stress hormones in the context
of human societies. This led to the concept of "allostatic load," which describes the wear and tear on the
body and brain from chronic stress and related lifestyle behaviors that lead to dysregulation of
physiological stress pathways that normally are protective. He also is a member of the National Council
on the Developing Child, which focuses on healthy brain development as a key to physical and mental
health. He is the co-author of a book with science writer Elizabeth Lasley for a lay audience called The
End of Stress as We Know It, published in 2002 by the Joseph Henry Press and the Dana Press, and
another book with science writer Harold M. Schmeck Jr. called The Hostage Brain, published in 1994 by
The Rockefeller University Press.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Michael Metzger
Michael Metzger currently is the chief of Risk Assessment Branch 7 in the Health Effects Division
(HED) of the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Mr. Metzger came to EPA in 1985 and worked as a chemist in the Office of Toxic Substances (now
OPPT) for a short time, then moved to OPP in 1986. He became chief of the Chemistry Branch in OPP in
1995, then chief of the Risk Characterization and Analysis Branch shortly after. Most of his career at EPA
has been as chief of multidisciplinary science branches performing risk assessments for pesticides. He
authored the first guidance document on conducting aggregate exposure assessments for pesticides and
has been involved in much of the policy development related to implementation of the requirements of the
Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). He currently is a member of the Environmental Justice Training
team in OPP.
Vernice Miller-Travis
Vernice Miller-Travis is a policy consultant to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and
is a co-author of their forthcoming report Now Is the Time. A seasoned urban planner focusing on the
interrelationship between racial segregation, land use, and environmental protection, as well as on
environmental policy and civil rights advocacy, Ms. Miller-Travis is the Principal of Miller-Travis &
Associates, an environmental consulting firm. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Maryland State
Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities. Ms. Miller-Travis launched the
Ford Foundation's U.S. environmental justice (EJ) portfolio while serving as a program officer in the
Community and Resource Development Unit. Prior to that, she was the Director of the Environmental
Justice Initiative of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for 6 years. While at NRDC,
Ms. Miller-Travis was on the front lines, advocating for EJ reform under the Clinton Administration,
which ultimately led her to participate in the Oval Office signing ceremony for the Executive Order on
Environmental Justice on February 11, 1994, with President Bill Clinton and other political leaders.
Ms. Miller-Travis' many achievements in the field of EJ include co-founding West Harlem
Environmental Action (currently known as We ACT for Environmental Justice), and her work while
serving as a research assistant for the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, where she
helped to research, write, and publish, in 1987, the landmark report, Toxic Wastes and Race in the United
States. She also served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council (NEJAC) from 1996 until 2001, and chaired its Waste and Facility Siting
Subcommittee. She continues to work with NEJAC, currently as Co-Chair of the Working Group on
School Air Toxics Monitoring.
Marie Lynn Miranda
Marie Lynn Miranda, Ph.D., is an associate professor in Duke University's Nicholas School of the
Environment and Department of Pediatrics and serves as the founding Director of the Children's
Environmental Health Initiative. Dr. Miranda's educational background is rooted in economic and
mathematical modeling; her professional experiences integrate environmental health sciences with sound
social policies. She has taught courses and conducted research on children's environmental health, with a
particular emphasis on reproductive and developmental toxicants, childhood lead exposure, and allergen
and asthma triggers. Dr. Miranda has applied spatial analytic approaches to a wide range of
environmental issues. She also has extensive experience running training, research translation, and
outreach programs, especially as they relate to disadvantaged populations. Dr. Miranda has an active
research portfolio, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of
Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, State of North Carolina, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, and The Duke
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Endowment. She maintains a deep and abiding personal and professional interest in environmental and
social justice.
Mark Mitchell
Mark Mitchell, M.D., is a physician specializing in epidemiology and public health, including
environmental health. He grew up in St Louis, MO, and earned his M.D. degree at the University of
Missouri at Kansas City and his Masters Degree in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University. He
also completed his Preventive Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Mitchell served as Deputy
Director of the Kansas City, MO, Health Department for 7 years, before coming to Hartford, where he
was Director of Health for 4 years. He is also founder and President of the Connecticut Coalition for
Environmental Justice. He has been a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, in addition to serving on the Board of Directors of
the American Lung Association of Connecticut and the Hispanic Health Council. He chairs the Hartford
Advisory Commission on the Environment. His work is focused on environmental justice, asthma, and air
pollution.
Rachel Morello-Frosch
Rachel Morello-Frosch, Ph.D., teaches at the University of California at Berkeley's Department of
Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and the School of Public Health. Her research examines
race and class determinants of environmental health among diverse communities in the United States. A
focus of her current work is on the relationship between segregation and environmental health
inequalities; air pollution and children's health; community-based participatory research; and the
intersection between climate change, economic restructuring, and community environmental health.
Dr. Morello-Frosch examines links between community- and individual-level stressors and environmental
health disparities, and conducted the first study to examine the relationship between racial residential
segregation and the estimated cancer risks associated with ambient air toxics exposures in the United
States. She is collaborating with Silent Spring Institute in Massachusetts, Brown University, and
Communities for a Better Environment in Northern California on a household exposure study in
Richmond, California, that examines indoor and outdoor sources of exposure to probable endocrine-
disrupting chemicals and particulates. As part of this work, she is exploring the scientific challenges and
bioethical considerations of exposure assessment and chemical biomonitoring research in economically
and racially marginalized communities. In collaboration with academic and community colleagues,
Dr. Morello-Frosch is developing methods for assessing the cumulative impacts of chemical and non-
chemical stressors to advance decision-making in the policy and regulatory arenas. She is assessing the
application of these methods for implementation of climate change policies. Her work is funded by the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Science Foundation, California Air
Resources Board, California Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Wellness Foundation, and California Endowment, among others. She has published widely in
the environmental health, social science, public health, and risk assessment fields. She is the lead author
of a recent report, The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans and How to
Close the Gap.
Mahasin Mujahid
Mahasin Mujahid, Ph.D., M.S., is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health
at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Mujahid received her B.S. in Mathematics from Xavier
University, New Orleans, Louisiana, and her M.S. in Biostatistics/Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. She also was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society
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Scholar at Harvard University. Dr. Mujahid's primary area of research is social epidemiology, with a
particular focus on the multi-level determinants of chronic disease and chronic disease health disparities.
She has a particular interest in understanding how features of neighborhood environment impact
cardiovascular disease and subsequent race/ethnic differences in cardiovascular disease over the
lifecourse. This work allows her to address methodological and theoretical challenges related to the study
of upstream health determinants. Dr. Mujahid also is interested in racial/ethnic differences in breast
cancer treatment and survivorship-related outcomes.
Keeve E. Nachman
Keeve Nachman, Ph.D., M.H.S., is the Science Director for Food Production, Health, and Environment
and the Director of the Farming for the Future Program at the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research focuses on characterizing the
environmental, public health, and social consequences of industrial food animal production and animal
waste management. Prior to joining the CLF, Dr. Nachman was an environmental health scientist and
postdoctoral fellow in the National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dr. Nachman's research at NCEE involved linking nationally
representative air quality and health datasets to investigate the relationship between exposures to fine
particulate matter and asthma and other respiratory conditions in adults. Dr. Nachman was a member of
the EPA Probabilistic Risk Assessment Workgroup and a participant in Agency efforts to establish the
incorporation of probabilistic methods and uncertainty analyses into Agency assessments of
environmental risks. As an Agency scientist, Dr. Nachman served as a peer reviewer for chemical toxicity
assessments (for the Integrated Risk Information System) and regulatory technical and policy documents.
Ngozi T. Oleru
Ngozi Oleru, Ph.D., currently is the Director of the Environmental Health Services Division for Public
Health, Seattle and King County, Washington. In this leadership role, she is responsible for leading and
managing environmental health programs serving a population of more than 1.9 million residents, which
encompass Food Protection, Water and Wastewater, Solid and Hazardous Wastes, Chemical/Physical
Hazards, Vector Control, and all issues related to the living environment, including the health effects and
relationships of land use/built environment decisions. Prior to coming to Seattle, Dr. Oleru served in
various capacities on the East Coast: as the Director of Environmental Health for the Boston Public
Health Commission, Chief of Toxicology for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and
Region 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Coordinator. Dr. Oleru leads the
team that developed and launched King County's Equity and Social Justice Initiative. She is a member of
the National Association of County and City Health Officials Health and Social Justice Committee and
serves on its Health Equity Workgroup. She also served multiple terms on the Board of Scientific
Counselors to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for
Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. In these different roles,
Dr. Oleru has provided leadership in establishing partnerships, initiating and implementing new
programs, and advocating for community revitalization, equity, and social justice. She has graduate
degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of Oklahoma in Public
Health.
Theresa L. Osypuk
Theresa Osypuk, S.D., S.M., is a social epidemiologist researching racial, socioeconomic, and nativity
disparities in health, their geographic patterns, and their causes. Dr. Osypuk has a previous record of
published research on neighborhood environment, residential segregation, and housing policy influences
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on health and racial/ethnic health disparities, as well as on tobacco use and smoking ban inequality. She is
a Co-Investigator on a Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development-funded cohort study in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area focused on racism,
neighborhoods, and preterm birth (R01 HD058510). Her research has appeared in leading epidemiology,
social epidemiology, public health, and urban studies journals, including American Journal of
Epidemiology, Social Science & Medicine, and American Journal of Public Health. To stimulate
translation of research into policy, she and her collaborators have developed a data-driven indicator Web
site that illustrates racial/ethnic inequality in social, economic, political, and health domains across U.S.
metropolitan areas at www.diversitydata.org. Dr. Osypuk received her doctorate and master's degrees
from Harvard University School of Public Health, and training in the University of Michigan Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar postdoctoral fellowship. She currently is an
Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, Bouve College of Health Sciences, in Boston,
Massachusetts.
Jennifer D. Parker
Jennifer Parker, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. She received her doctorate in Biostatistics from the University of
California at Berkeley and did postdoctoral training at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the
University of California at San Francisco. Currently, Dr. Parker's research focuses on the linkage of
national health and environmental data for environmental health research, with emphases on pregnancy
and children's health outcomes and measures of traffic, air quality, and climate environmental indicators.
These research activities follow from many years examining disparities in pregnancy outcomes and
children's health. Dr. Parker participated in the transition from single to multiple race data collection and
dissemination within the federal statistical system and has presented summaries of data suppression
standards for National Center for Health Statistics data systems.
Romel Pascual
Romel Pascual currently serves as the Interim Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment and also
served as the Director of Environment for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, California. He is
responsible for developing and implementing the Mayor's environmental and energy agenda. He is an
advisor on environmental priorities for the Mayor, including climate change, environmental justice (EJ),
green economy, open space, Brownfields redevelopment, and sustainability. Mr. Pascual was one of the
principal authors of the Mayor's GreenLA Climate Change Action Plan, released in 2006. He represents
the City of Los Angeles on the steering committee for the C40 Large Cities Climate Group. Prior to
coming to the Mayor's office, Mr. Pascual served as California's first Assistant Secretary for
Environmental Justice from 2000-2004, where he led efforts in developing the State's inaugural EJ
program—spearheading the State Advisory Committee on EJ; establishing the EJ Community Grant
Program; and assisting in the passing of several key pieces of EJ legislation. Mr. Pascual also was the
Regional Coordinator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Region 9 Environmental
Justice Program, where he led regional efforts to advance the Agency's EJ agenda. His involvement with
environmental issues began in community organizations and grassroots leadership. Mr. Pascual worked
with the Urban Habitat Program, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco whose focus is to build
multicultural urban environmental leadership. He was the Program Director of the Brownfields
Leadership and Community Revitalization Project. He also worked with the Asian Pacific Environmental
Network,where he conducted research on the impacts of environmental pollution on communities.
He has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California (UC) at Los Angeles, and a Master's
in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. He has served on several environmental organization
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boards, and currently serves as vice-chair of the board of directors for Urban Habitat, a non-profit
environmental organization based in Oakland, California.
Manuel Pastor
Manuel Pastor, Ph.D., is Professor of Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of
Southern California (USC). Dr. Pastor currently directs the Program for Environmental and Regional
Equity at USC and is Co-Director of USC's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. He holds a
Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has received fellowships from
the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations and grants from the Irvine Foundation, Rockefeller
Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, MacArthur Foundation,
California Environmental Protection Agency, W.T. Grant Foundation, California Air Resources Board,
and many others. Dr. Pastor's research generally has focused on issues of environmental justice (EJ),
regional inclusion, and the economic and social conditions facing low-income urban communities. His
most recent EJ academic publication is The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts
Americans & How to Close the Gap (co-authored with Rachel Morello-Frosch, Jim Sadd, and Seth
Shonkoff), which helps to document the Climate Gap, connecting the dots between research on heat
waves, air quality, and other challenges associated with climate change. Previous EJ reports include:
Justice in the Air: Tracking Toxic Pollution from America's Industries and Companies to Our States,
Cities, and Neighborhoods (co-authored with Michael Ash, James K. Boyce, Grace Chang, Justin
Scoggins, and Jennifer Tran), and Still Toxic After All These Years: Air Quality and Environmental
Justice in the San Francisco Bay Area (co-authored with Rachel Morello-Frosch and James Sadd).
Zachary Pekar
Zachary Pekar holds an M.S.P.H. and a Ph.D. in Environmental Management and Policy from the
University of North Carolina's School of Public Health. His areas of specialization include exposure
analysis and human health risk assessment, with an emphasis on modeling population health impacts
through the use of Geographic Information Systems. Dr. Pekar has been at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) since 2003 and currently works in the Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards. While at EPA, Dr. Pekar has led the design and implementation of a number of complex
human health risk assessments, including analyses supporting the Agency's review of National Ambient
Air Quality Standards for lead and particulate matter (PM), as well as a national-scale assessment of
recreational and subsistence fisher exposure to methylmercury associated with power plant emissions.
Dr. Pekar also has participated in several international training and collaboration initiatives focused on
demonstrating the use of health impact analysis and cost-benefit analysis as potential tools in regulatory
decision-making involving ambient air pollution.
James W. Ransom
James Ransom is Tribal Chief for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, located in northern New York State along
the St. Lawrence River. Chief Ransom has more than 30 years' experience working on environmental
issues in Indian Country. In 1978, he established the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's Environment Division,
and he served as its Director until 1990. From 1992 to 1997, he served as the Director, Environment Unit,
for the Assembly of First Nations, the largest Aboriginal organization in Canada. From 1997 to 2003, he
served as the Director of the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, helping the Cayuga, Tuscarora,
and Tonawanda Seneca Nations develop environmental programs. Chief Ransom was appointed last year
by the Governor of the State of New York to the New York Environmental Board, a statewide board that
oversees the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He also previously served on
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-Tribal Science Council. He currently holds the portfolio for
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Environment on behalf of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council. Chief Ransom has a Bachelor of Science
degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Clarkson University and an associate degree in
Applied Science from Canton Agricultural and Technical College in Civil Technology.
Henry Roman
Henry Roman, M.S., is a Principal with Industrial Economics, Incorporated. He specializes in regulatory
benefits analysis, human health risk assessment, and uncertainty analysis and is particularly interested in
the intersection between risk assessment and economic analysis. Mr. Roman has employed these skills for
clients including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Health Canada, the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. For EPA, his work has included benefits
and uncertainty analysis in support of the Section 812 analyses of the Clean Air Act for both criteria
pollutants and air toxics, benefits analysis for the recent lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards
rulemaking, and most recently, an expert workshop on the cardiovascular impacts of methylmercury
exposure. Mr. Roman holds an M.S. in Environmental Health Management from the Harvard School of
Public Health.
Ana Diez Roux
Ana Diez Roux, Ph.D., M.P.H., is Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Social
Epidemiology and Population Health at the University of Michigan. Dr. Diez Roux received her medical
degree from the School of Medicine of the Universidad de Buenos Aires and subsequently completed
clinical training in pediatrics at the National Children's Hospital in Buenos Aires. She obtained an M.P.H.
and a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, where she also
completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Epidemiology. After working as a consultant for the
Pan American Health Organization on the surveillance of chronic diseases, she joined the faculty at the
Schools of Medicine and Public Health of Columbia University in New York City. Since 2003, she has
been on the faculty of the Department of Epidemiology of the University of Michigan School of Public
Health, where she also is Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars' program.
Dr. Diez Roux's research areas include social epidemiology, environmental health effects, urban health,
psychosocial factors in health, health disparities, and cardiovascular disease epidemiology. She has been
an international leader in the investigation of neighborhood health effects and the application of
multilevel analysis in public health. Other areas of research include the integration of social and biologic
factors in health research, complex systems approaches to population health, the impact of stress on
cardiovascular disease, and air pollution effects on health. She has been Principal Investigator of several
National Institutes of Health-funded projects and is a frequent invited speaker at international conferences
on the social determinants of health, neighborhood health effects, and multilevel analysis. Dr. Diez Roux
is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and serves on numerous national review and advisory
committees. She recently was awarded the Wade Hampton Frost Award for her contributions to public
health by the American Public Health Association.
John Ruffin
John Ruffin is the Director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD).
He oversees the NCMHD budget of approximately $210 million. In addition, he provides leadership for
the minority health and health disparities research activities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
which constitutes an annual budget of approximately $2.8 billion. He is a well-respected leader and
visionary in the field of minority health and health disparities. As an academician and a scientist, he has
devoted his professional career to improving the health status of racial and ethnic minorities and other
medically underserved populations in the United States. He has an impressive track record of developing
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and supporting programs to increase the cadre of minority scientists, physicians, and other health
professionals, as well as in attracting a diverse group of researchers to the health disparities field.
His success has been due in large part to his ability to motivate others and gain the support of key
individuals and organizations, as well as to his expertise in strategic planning, administration, and the
development of numerous collaborative partnerships. For almost 20 years, he has led the transformation
of the NIH minority health and health disparities research agenda from a programmatic concept to an
institutional reality. He has served as the Associate Director for Minority Programs, Office of Minority
Programs; and the Associate Director for Research on Minority Health, Office of Research on Minority
Health. As the NIH federal official for minority health disparities research, through multifaceted
collaborations, he has planned and brought to fruition the largest biomedical research program in the
nation to promote minority health and other health disparities research and training. In his quest to
eliminate health disparities, the hallmark of his approach is to foster and expand strategic partnerships in
alliance with the NIH Institutes and Centers, various federal and state agencies, community organizations,
academic institutions, private sector leaders, and international governments and non-governmental
organizations. Under his leadership, the NIH convened its first summit on health disparities, "The NIH
Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit," in December 2008. The summit showcased the work,
progress, and challenges of the NIH Institutes and Centers and many of their federal and non-federal
government partners involved in minority health and health disparities research around the theme of
Integrating Science, Practice, and Policy. The summit attracted more than 4,000 individuals from around
the world representing various disciplines and sectors. Dr. Ruffin is committed to conceptualizing,
developing, and implementing innovative programs that create new learning opportunities and exposure
for individuals, communities, and academic institutions interested in eliminating health disparities. His
efforts have impacted local, regional, national, and international communities. He has established and
continues to expand a growing portfolio of research, training, and capacity-building programs to train
health professionals and scientists from health disparity populations; conduct cutting-edge health
disparities research; and build the capacity at academic institutions and within the community to support a
promising health disparities research enterprise. His life-long commitment to academic excellence,
improving minority health, and promoting training and health disparities research has earned him
distinguished national awards. Dr. Ruffin has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from
Spelman College, Tuskegee University, the University of Massachusetts in Boston, North Carolina State
University, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Meharry Medical College. He has been recognized by
various professional, non-profit, and advocacy organizations, including: the National Medical
Association, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, the
Association of American Indian Physicians, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the
Society of Black Academic Surgeons, and the National Science Foundation. The John Ruffin Scholarship
Program is an honor symbolic of his legacy for academic excellence bestowed by the Duke University
Talent Identification Program. He also has received the Martin Luther King Jr., Legacy Award for
National Service, the Samuel L. Kountz Award for his significant contribution to increasing minority
access to organ and tissue transplantation, the NIH Director's Award, the National Hispanic Leadership
Award, the Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society Award, the Department of Health and Human
Services' Special Recognition Award, and the U.S. Presidential Merit Award. Dr. Ruffin received a B.S.
in Biology from Dillard University, an M.S. in Biology from Atlanta University, and a Ph.D. in
Systematic and Developmental Biology from Kansas State University, and completed post-doctoral
studies in Biology at Harvard University.
B. Suzi Ruhl
B. Suzi Ruhl, J.D., M.P.H., currently is Senior Attorney Advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice. Prior to this position, she was the Director of the Public
Health and Law Program for the Environmental Law Institute. She also is the founder and former
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President of the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation, Inc. Ms. Ruhl has been an Assistant
Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the New York State University School of
Optometry and has had a Courtesy Faculty Appointment to the Institute of Public Health at Florida A&M
University. In addition to her law degree, Ms. Ruhl has a master's degree in Public Health Epidemiology.
Throughout her career, Ms. Ruhl has provided legal and health expertise on a variety of environmental
issues including EJ, community health, Brownfields redevelopment, contaminated site response, and
drinking water protection, among other issues. She has provided legal assistance to citizens throughout
the nation, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Australia; engaged in policy development at the local, state, and
federal levels of government; and authorized legislation on EJ, community environmental health,
Brownfields and public health, and other issues that has been adopted into law in Florida.
James L. Sadd
James Sadd, Ph.D., is Professor of Environmental Science at Occidental College, Los Angeles,
California. He earned his doctorate in Geology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. His
research focuses on evaluating questions related to environmental exposure, health risk, and
environmental justice, primarily through the use of spatial analysis using geographic information systems
and remote sensing tools. He is part of a three-person research team whose research currently is supported
by contracts and grants from the California Environmental Protection Agency; California Air Resources
Board; California Energy Commission; Hewlett, Annenberg, and Energy Foundations; and California
Endowment.
William H. Sanders III
William Sanders III, Dr.P.H., serves as Director of the National Center for Environmental Research
(NCER) in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development (ORD).
NCER's mission is to support high-quality research by the nation's leading scientists that will improve
the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues. NCER supports leading-edge,
extramural research in all aspects of the National Academy of Sciences' risk assessment paradigm by
focusing on exposure, effects, risk assessment, and risk management—all the areas of national
environmental concern. NCER technical employees have backgrounds in engineering, ecological and
health sciences, communications, and information management. Dr. Sanders holds a Dr.P.H. in
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of
Public Health; an M.S. in Management of Public Service, Quantitative Methods, from DePaul University,
Chicago; and a B.S. in Civil Engineering, Structural Design, from the University of Illinois at Chicago;
and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional. Prior to his current
assignment, Dr. Sanders served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Office of Prevention, Pesticides,
and Toxic Substances. The office is responsible for implementation of the country's laws governing
pesticides, industrial chemicals, and pollution prevention, and works in multiple international venues to
ensure harmonization and coordination of our domestic activities. Dr. Sanders also served as the Acting
Director, Office of Children's Health Protection and Environmental Education.
Erika N. Sasser
Erika Sasser, Ph.D., is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Health and Environmental Impacts Division within
the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
Office of Air and Radiation (OAR). She has worked on a range of policies and initiatives related to the
health and environmental impacts of air pollution, including the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
for particulate matter, ozone, and lead. In this capacity, she participates actively in helping to design
environmental justice analyses appropriate for different regulatory contexts for both criteria pollutants and
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air toxics. She also is concerned with the linkages between air quality and climate, including the roles of
black carbon and ozone as short-lived climate forcers, and the development of policies and strategies that
integrate traditional public health and environmental goals with climate mitigation efforts. She holds a
B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University (1993)
and a Ph.D. from the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University (1999).
Andrew E. Schulman
Andrew Schulman, Ph.D., is a statistician in the Office of Compliance in the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). He has helped to develop EJSEAT, a screening tool for environmental justice
concerns, since 2005. He develops online tools for enforcement targeting and public access for Online
Tracking Information System and Enforcement and Compliance History Online, EPA's primary
Web sites for searching and reporting on regulated facilities.
Alex Scott-Samuel
Alex Scott-Samuel, M.B., Ch.B., M.Comm.H., graduated in medicine at the University of Liverpool in
1971 and took his Master's in Public Health there in 1976. He is Senior Clinical Lecturer in Public Health
at the University of Liverpool, where he teaches health promotion on the M.P.H. course and does research
on health politics and policy, health and gender inequalities, and health impact assessment. He is Director
of IMPACT, the International Health Impact Assessment Consortium; Liverpool Public Health
Observatory; and EQUAL, the Equity in Health Research and Development Unit. Mr. Scott-Samuel was a
member of the Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network of the World Health Organization's
(WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and is a member of the WHO Scientific Resource
Group on Equity Analysis and Research. He founded the journal Radical Community Medicine (now
Critical Public Health) in 1979. He co-founded the Public Health Alliance (now the United Kingdom
Public Health Association) in 1986, and the Politics of Health Group in 2002.
Joel Schwartz
Biosketch not available at time of printing.
Peggy M. Shepard
Peggy Shepard is executive director and co-founder of WE ACT For Environmental Justice, also known
as West Harlem Environmental Action. Founded in 1988 in West Harlem, WE ACT works to build
community power to fight environmental racism and improve environmental health, policy, and
protection in communities of color. Ms. Shepard is a recipient of the 2008 Jane Jacobs Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Rockefeller Foundation. Ms. Shepard received the Calver Award from the
Environmental Division of the American Public Health Association in November 2007, the 10th Annual
Heinz Award For the Environment in 2003, and the Dean's Distinguished Service Award from the
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in 2004. WE ACT is a nationally recognized organization in
the field of community-based participatory research in partnership with the Mailman School of Public
Health at Columbia University. Ms. Shepard is a member of the National Academy of Sciences
Committee on America's Climate Choices that is drafting a report of recommendations to Congress. A
member of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Public Interest Partners, she
served as chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is co-chair of the Northeast Environmental Justice
Network. She is a member of the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee to the New York State
(NYS) Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City (NYC) Mayor's Sustainability
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Advisory Board. She is a former member of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences
Council of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Children's Study Federal Advisory
Committee to the NIH. Ms. Shepard served as guest editor of an Environmental Health Perspectives
monograph, Advancing Environmental Justice Through Community-Based Participatory Research, April
2002; and is co-author of Promoting Environmental Health Policy Through Community Based
Participatory Research: A Case Study from Harlem, New York, published January 2006, Journal of
Urban Health, Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. She served on the Committee on Ethical
Issues in Housing-Related Health Hazard Research Involving Children, Youth, and Families, a project of
the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, which published its report in 2006.
Ms Shepard is co-author of The Challenge of Preventing Environmentally Related Disease in Young
Children: Community-Based Research in New York City; Airborne Concentrations of PM (2.5) and
Diesel Particles on Harlem Sidewalks: A Pilot Study; and Diesel Exhaust Exposure Among Adolescents
In Harlem: A Community-Driven Study; and a contributor to Urban Air Pollution and Health Inequities:
A Workshop Report, all articles that were published in Environmental Health Perspectives between 1999
and 2002. She also has authored Issues of Community Empowerment, and The Federal Advisory
Committee's Proposal For Justice, Fordham Environmental Law Journal, 1996 and 1999. Ms. Shepard is
a board member of the NYS League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense, NY Earth Day,
Audubon NY, the Children's Environmental Health Network, and the Public Health Association of NYC.
She is an advisory board member of the Environmental Leadership Project; Mt. Sinai's Children's
Environmental Health Center; the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins; the Harvard/MGI
Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities; and the NIEHS Public Interest
Liaison Group. A lecturer on issues of environmental justice and community-based health research, she
graduated from Howard University and Solebury and Newtown Friends Schools.
Carol Ann Siciliano
Carol Ann Siciliano, J.D., is the Associate General Counsel of the Cross-Cutting Issues Law Office,
within Office of General Counsel. Under her direction, the Cross-Cutting Issues Law Office provides
legal counsel to all EPA programs and offices on environmental justice, Indian law, and other issues.
Ms. Siciliano also directs attorneys with expertise in international environmental law, Administrative
Procedure Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act, and in a wide
array of legal matters related to rulemaking. She began her EPA career in the Office of General Counsel's
Water Law Office, where she acquired expertise in Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act
matters. Ms. Siciliano clerked for the Honorable Charles L. Brieant of the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York. She obtained her J.D. from Fordham Law School, where she served on
the editorial board of the Fordham Law Review. Ms. Siciliano obtained her undergraduate degree with
honors from Princeton University.
Patrice L. Simms
Patrice Simms, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, joined the Environment and Natural Resources
Division (ENRD) as an accomplished environmental attorney, most recently serving on the law faculty at
Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC. Prior to this, Mr. Simms served as a government
attorney and as an environmental advocate in many high-profile environmental cases and other matters
involving important legal, technical, and policy issues. His experience includes more than 5 years as a
staff attorney in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of General Counsel, and stints as a
legal counsel to the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board and as a senior attorney with the Natural
Resources Defense Council. His career has focused on issues regarding the implementation and
enforcement of the Clean Air Act and issues related to clean water, solid waste, public health, climate
change, and environmental justice (EJ). Mr. Simms has received many professional awards, including the
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EPA Office of General Counsel Award for Excellence. In 2009, he was elected to serve on the Steering
Committee for the D.C. Bar's Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Section. Mr. Simms is a
graduate of Howard University School of Law.
Ron Sims
Ron Sims was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 6, 2009, and sworn in as the Deputy
Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on May 8, 2009. As the second
most senior official at HUD, Sims is responsible for managing the Department's day-to-day operations, a
nearly $40 billion annual operating budget, and the agency's 8,500 employees.
Sims previously served as the Executive for the King County, Washington, the 13th largest county in the
nation in a metropolitan area of 1.8 million residents and 39 cities including the cities of Seattle, Bellevue
and Redmond.
While serving three terms, Sims was nationally recognized for his work on transportation, homelessness,
climate change, health care reform, urban development and affordable housing. His leadership in
affordable housing and multiple community and housing partnerships have funded 5,632 units of housing
during his 12 years.
One of the hallmarks of the Sims Administration in King County was the integration of environmental,
social equity and public health policies that produced groundbreaking work on climate change, health
care reform, affordable housing, mass transit, environmental protection, land use, and equity and social
justice.
Sims is also a proponent of Smart Growth programs and the preservation of green space before it is lost to
development. The policies he implemented in King County stopped costly sprawl and resulted in 96
percent of new construction being concentrated in urban areas with only 4% in rural areas.
Over the years Sims developed a reputation as a tireless legislator, working on a diverse palette of issues
that led to advances in the areas of the environment, education, public safety and the protection of
workers' rights. He credits his drive in part with marching alongside his politically active parents in the
1950's and 1960's during the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Those experiences
honed in him a passion for civil rights issues that has been a guidepost throughout his career.
Sims was named Leader of the Year by American City and County Magazine in July, 2008 and was
recognized as one of Governing Magazine's Government Officials of the Year in 2007. He has been
honored with national awards from the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Agency and the
National Committee for Quality Assurance. Sims joined Senator Edward Kennedy and California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as recipients of the 2008 Health Quality Award from the National
Committee for Quality Assurance. Sims and King County are also recipients of HUD's prestigious Robert
L. Woodson Jr. Affordable Communities Award for 2005.
Matthew C. Small
Matthew Small, Ph.D., P.G., is the Regional Science Liaison (RSL) for the Office of Research and
Development (ORD) in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 (R9), San Francisco, California.
As RSL, Dr. Small works to facilitate communication, collaboration, and technical support between ORD
and R9. He is one of the Region's hydrogeology experts, and led the effort to create national EPA Office
of Solid Waste and Energy Response directives and ASTM standards for remediation by natural
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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attenuation. Dr. Small spent 5 years in private consulting before joining EPA. He has a B.S. in Geology
from CSU Hayward, an M.Eng. in Mineral Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental
Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He also is a licensed professional geologist in
the State of California.
Brian D. Smedley
Brian Smedley, Ph.D., is Vice President and Director of the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for
Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC. In this position, Dr. Smedley oversees all of the
operations of the Institute, which was started in 2002 with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The
Institute has a dual focus: to explore disparities in health and to generate policy recommendations on
longstanding health equity concerns. Formerly, Dr. Smedley was Research Director and co-founder of a
communications, research, and policy organization, The Opportunity Agenda (www.opportunityagenda.org),
where he led the organization's effort to center equity in state and national health reform discussions and to
build the national will to expand opportunity for all. To that end, Dr. Smedley is a co-editor, along with Alan
Jenkins, of a book, All Things Being Equal: Instigating Opportunity in an Inequitable Time. Prior to helping
launch The Opportunity Agenda, Dr. Smedley was a Senior Program Officer in the Division of Health
Sciences Policy of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), where he served as Study Director for the IOM reports,
In the Nation's Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce and Unequal
Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, among other reports on diversity in
the health professions and minority health research policy. Dr. Smedley came to the IOM from the American
Psychological Association (APA), where he worked on a wide range of social, health, and education policy
topics in his capacity as Director for Public Interest Policy. Prior to working at the APA, Dr. Smedley served
as a Congressional Science Fellow in the office of Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-VA), sponsored by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. Among his awards and distinctions: in 2004, Dr. Smedley was
honored by the Rainbow/PUSH coalition as a "Health Trailblazer" award winner; in 2002, he was awarded
the Congressional Black Caucus "Healthcare Hero" award; and in August 2002, he was awarded the Early
Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest by the APA.
Dr. Smedley holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the
University of California at Los Angeles.
Mathy Stanislaus
Mathy Stanislaus began work as Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) after being confirmed by the U.S.
Senate on June 8, 2009. As Assistant Administrator for OSWER, Mr. Stanislaus is responsible for EPA's
programs on hazardous and solid waste management; hazardous waste cleanup, including Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act corrective action; Superfund and federal facilities cleanup and
redevelopment; Brownfields; oil spill prevention and response; chemical accident prevention and
preparedness; underground storage tanks; and emergency response. Prior to assuming the position of
Assistant Administrator for EPA's OSWER, Mr. Stanislaus co-founded and co-directed the New Partners
for Community Revitalization, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to advance the renewal of
New York's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and communities of color through the
redevelopment of Brownfields sites. In collaboration with community, commercial, government, and
nonprofit partners, Mr. Stanislaus led the development of policies, programs, and projects aimed at
achieving the remediation and sustainable reuse of Brownfields sites in New York. He is a former counsel
for EPA's Region 2, senior environmental associate in the environmental department of the law firm
Huber Lawrence & Abell, and director of environmental compliance for an environmental consulting
firm. He has served on the board of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Mr. Stanislaus
also has been an advisor to other federal government agencies, Congress, and the United Nations on a
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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variety of environmental issues. He chaired an EPA workgroup in 1997 that investigated the clustering of
waste transfer stations in low income and communities of color throughout the United States. In June
1994, as a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Advisory Council, he
served as counsel to the United Nations' summit that examined environmental issues affecting New
York's indigenous communities of the Haudaunosaunee Confederacy, as part of the United Nations'
International Year of the Indigenous Communities.
Dean B. Suagee
Dean Suagee, J.D., L.L.M., is Of Counsel to the law firm of Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP,
Washington, DC, a firm that specializes in serving as legal counsel for American Indian and Alaska
Native tribal governments and tribal organizations. His practice emphasizes environmental law and
cultural resources law, and he has worked with a number of tribes in developing tribal legislation and
regulations. Mr. Suagee is the author of a number of law journal articles on environmental and cultural
resources law in Indian country and is a contributing author of the 2005 edition of Cohen's Handbook of
Federal Indian Law. His published work in the field of environmental justice includes Dimensions of
Environmental Justice in Indian Country and Native Alaska, a commissioned paper for the Second People
of Color Environmental Leadership Summit (EJ Summit II), Washington, DC, October 2002 (available
on the Web Site of the Clark Atlanta University Environmental Justice Resource Center:
www.ejrn.cau.edu). As a member of the American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy &
Resources, he serves as a vice-chair of the Native American Resources Committee and as an Assistant
Editor for Natural Resources & Environment, a quarterly journal. He received his B.A. from the
University of Arizona in 1972, J.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1976, and LL.M. in
International Legal Studies from the American University in 1989. He is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
Wilma Subra
Committed to protecting the environment and the health and safety of citizens, Wilma Subra started the
Subra Company in 1981. Subra Company is a chemistry laboratory and environmental consulting firm in
New Iberia, Louisiana. Mrs. Subra provides technical assistance to citizens across the United States and in
foreign countries concerned with their environment by combining technical research and evaluation. This
information then is presented to community members so that strategies may be developed to address their
local struggles. Utilizing the information gained from community involvement, the needs identified are
translated into policy changes at the State and Federal level through service on multi-stakeholder
committees. She just completed a 7-year term as Vice-Chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, a 5-year term on
the National Advisory Committee of the U.S. Representative to the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation; and a 6-year term on the EPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC),
where she served as a member of the Cumulative Risk and Impacts Working Group of the NEJAC
Council and chaired the NEJAC Gulf Coast Hurricanes Work Group. Mrs. Subra holds degrees in
Microbiology/Chemistry from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. She received the MacArthur
Fellowship "Genius" Award from the MacArthur Foundation for helping ordinary citizens understand,
cope with, and combat environmental issues in their communities and was one of three finalists in the
Environmental Category of the 2004 Volvo for Life Award.
Diane Takvorian
Diane Takvorian, M.S., has led the struggle for social and environmental justice (EJ) for more than 30
years. She is Executive Director and a Founder of Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), an EJ
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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organization based in the San Diego/Tijuana region. Founded in 1980, EHC works to protect public
health and the environment threatened by toxic pollution through efforts that create a just society. Under
Ms. Takvorian's direction, EHC's community organizing and policy advocacy work with disenfranchised
communities has eliminated many health risks and enabled thousands of residents to develop into
community leaders. EHC successfully advocated for one of the first community Right-to-Know laws in
the nation (1982) when local communities lacked information about chemicals used and stored at nearby
businesses. That law led to a report identifying communities at highest risk (1990) and decades of
community health victories, including: the stoppage of fruit cargo fumigation with the toxic pesticide
methyl bromide at the Barrio Logan port terminal (1997), the shutdown of a chrome-plating business
operating next to homes in Barrio Logan (2002), and approval of an ordinance to phase polluting business
operations out of the residential areas of National City (2006). Another EHC-sponsored law made
California the first state to ban the sale of lead-contaminated candies imported from Mexico (2005).
EHC's advocacy also led to $22 million in federal funding for San Diego for programs to reduce lead
hazards in almost 1,500 neighborhood homes (2001-2009). Ms. Takvorian served as Co-Chair of the
California Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Justice Advisory Committee from 2001-
2005. In 2003, this committee adopted historic recommendations to address community EJ issues. She is
a co-founder of the California Environmental Justice Alliance—a coalition of organizations working to
address EJ issues throughout California—and was appointed to the California Global Warming
Environmental Justice Advisory Committee in 2007. In 2008, the James Irvine Foundation honored
Ms. Takvorian with its Leadership Award, which recognizes individual leaders who are advancing
innovative and effective solutions to significant state issues. The Environment Section of the American
Public Health Association honored Ms. Takvorian with the Calver Award in 2008. Ms. Takvorian holds a
master's degree in Social Work, with an emphasis in public policy and community organization. She
served on the faculty at the San Diego State University School of Social Work, teaching graduate and
undergraduate courses on community organization and administration.
Heather J. Tanana
Heather J. Tanana is a third-year law student at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of
Utah. She is the Secretary of the Native American Law Student Association and an Article Editor for the
Journal of Land Resource and Environmental Law. As a Quinney fellow, Mrs. Tanana conducts legal
research on environmental issues, including watershed planning, children's environmental health, and
waste management. Mrs. Tanana also concurrently is pursuing her M.P.H. at the Bloomberg School of
Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where she received advanced training in American Indian
Health as an American Indian Scholar. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth College in Biology
modified with Psychology.
Nicholas Targ
Nicholas Targ is a Partner in Holland & Knight's Public Policy and Regulation Group. His practice
concentrates on land use, environmental law, and natural resources. He represents private- and public-
sector project proponents in land use and environmental permitting, compliance, and due diligence
matters for complex land use, acquisition, and natural resources projects. Before joining Holland &
Knight, Mr. Targ served with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance, including as Counsel and Associate Director to the Office of Environmental
Justice in Washington, DC. He also served in the Solicitor's Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior,
representing the Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Land Management on a wide range of natural
resources and hazardous materials issues. Committed to service, Mr. Targ co-founded the Howard
University Environmental Law and Sustainability Program and taught environmental law as an adjunct
professor for five semesters. Presently, he serves as Chair of the National Brownfields Association's Bay
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Area Council and Co-chair of the American Bar Association's Taskforce on Diversity and Environmental
Justice. He also serves on the Board of the Rosie the Riveter Trust in Richmond, California. Mr. Targ was
named as a fellow to the American Bar Foundation in 2008.
Kevin Teichman
Dr. Kevin Teichman, is the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development (ORD). In this
capacity, he is responsible for planning EPA's research program, striving to ensure the research
program both responds to the needs of EPA's Program and Regional Offices and maintains its
leadership role in the environmental research community. In addition, he is responsible for
coordinating ORD's participation in EPA's policymaking in all media (air, water, waste,
pesticides and toxics) to ensure the Agency's policies are based on sound science.
Dr. Teichman has B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a
Ph.D. degree from the University of California at Berkeley, all in mechanical engineering. He
lives in Derwood, Maryland with his wife Marsha and has three children - and cites this as his
most important accomplishment.
Pamela Tucker
Pamela Tucker, M.D., is a medical officer for the Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine at
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in Atlanta, Georgia. She originally
trained as a psychiatrist at the University of South Alabama, College of Medicine, in Mobile, but has
worked in the new field of environmental public health for the last 15 years. Her area of expertise is in the
psychosocial effects of hazardous waste sites, and she is the leader of community stress activities for
ATSDR. Since 1995, she has conducted an expert panel workshop on the Psychological Effects of
Hazardous Substances and been involved in numerous field responses involving the physical and
psychological health of communities affected by hazardous substances. As part of the ATSDR
Community Stress initiative, Dr. Tucker has trained social workers, medical personnel, and field
responders from state and federal agencies in countering the stress involved in field work and assisting
communities affected by the psychosocial stress of potential chemical exposures. Also, she responds to
requests from communities to help them conduct their own efforts to mitigate the stresses associated with
exposures to hazardous substances.
James A. VanDerslice
James VanDerslice, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Professor and the Associate Chief of the Division of
Public Health at the University of Utah. He has a wide variety of experience in drinking water issues,
including implementing community-based household water treatment programs along the U.S.-Mexico
border, epidemiologic research on the effects of drinking water quality on infants in the Philippines and
rural areas of the United States, development of Geographic Information System methods for exposure
assessment, and leading an effort to develop national indicators of drinking water quality. Before joining
the University of Utah, he was the Senior Environmental Epidemiologist at the Washington State
Department of Health, where he worked closely with state drinking water regulators to assess risk
scenarios and provide technical support to water purveyors during contamination events.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Kenneth Warren
Kenneth Warren, J.D., has been practicing environmental law for more than 25 years. He practices
extensively in the field of water resources, including wastewater and stormwater permitting, development
of water quality standards and total maximum daily loads, and water supply and water allocation matters.
He counsels clients on environmental compliance, permitting, and transactional matters as well as site
remediations, sustainability and climate change, and alternative energy issues. He has handled numerous
enforcement actions, citizen suits, cost recovery actions, and other environmental cases in courts and
tribunals throughout the United States. Mr. Warren is listed in the leading national and international
guides of lawyers for environmental law. He served as Chair of the American Bar Association's Section
of Environment, Energy, and Resources from 2003 to 2004, during which time he led the Section's
10,000 lawyers. Mr. Warren writes a regular column for The Legal Intelligencer on environmental law
and is the author of numerous articles on environmental issues. He is the author of a chapter in The Law
of Environmental Justice. Mr. Warren is a frequent speaker on environmental matters before sections of
the American Bar Association and other groups. Mr. Warren was appointed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to serve as an industry stakeholder representative on EPA's
National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. He served on the Council from 2000 to 2006. He also
serves as general counsel to the Delaware River Basin Commission, a federal interstate agency managing
the water resources of the Delaware River Basin.
Suzanne Wells
Suzanne Wells, M.S., is Director of the Superfund Community Involvement and Program Initiatives
Branch. She has a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from Texas Christian University and an M.S.
degree in Technology and Human Affairs from Washington University. Ms. Wells has been with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 26 years, the past 23 years in the Superfund program.
In addition to her work at EPA, Ms. Wells has been active in her community. She founded the Capitol
Hill Public School Parent Organization in 2005 and was the co-chair of the School Libraries Project, a
$2.4 million public/private partnership that renovated eight public elementary and middle school libraries.
Leah R. Williams
Leah Williams, M.P.H., is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and
Behavior at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health. Ms. Williams is interested
in the following public health topics: health disparities (racial/ethnic, women, environmental),
community-based participatory research, underserved populations, community-university partnerships,
and EJ issues. Her graduate research focuses on HIV/STI prevention among vulnerable populations,
including women of color. Her dissertation topic is "The Association Between Body Image and Sexual
Risk Behaviors Among Female College Students: The Moderating Effects of Race and Sexual
Orientation." Ms. Williams also is performing EJ research as a graduate assistant at the Institute for
Families in Society at the University of South Carolina, where she serves as the University of South
Carolina project manager for the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences-funded community-university partnership research project entitled "Assessment of a Novel
Environmental Justice Community-University Partnership." This is a partnership between the West End
Revitalization Association (WERA), a community-based EJ and protection organization in Mebane,
North Carolina, and the University of South Carolina. Ms. Williams received her Masters of Public
Health in Health Behavior from the University of Kentucky in 2008, where she authored a thesis on "The
Association Between Recreational Marijuana Use and Risky Sex Behaviors." She also is an alumna of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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Steve Wing
Steve Wing, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of
Public Health, conducts research on occupational and environmental health. Recent work has focused on
environmental justice, health effects of ionizing radiation, community impacts of industrial swine
production, and the built environment. He has collaborated on health and exposure studies with
communities and workers impacted by the nuclear industry, industrial animal production, and other
environmental and occupational threats.
Valarie Zartarian
Valerie Zartarian, Ph.D., is an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Exposure Research Laboratory. Prior to
joining EPA in 1998, she was a researcher at Stanford, California, and a water resources engineering
consultant with Camp, Dresser, & McKee, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Zartarian holds Ph.D. and
master's degrees in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering
from Princeton University. Dr. Zartarian's primary areas of expertise as a Principal Investigator are the
development and application of ORD's probabilistic human exposure model for multimedia chemicals
(Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Model, SHEDS-Multimedia), and ORD's Web-based
tool to assess cumulative exposures from multiple stressors in communities (Community-Focused
Exposure and Risk Screening Tool, C-FERST). Dr. Zartarian has published more than 20 peer-reviewed
journal articles and technical reports; briefed high-level EPA officials; organized workshops; co-chaired
national and international conference sessions; and collaborated with groups in government, academia,
and industry. She has been an officer and committee chair of the International Society for Exposure
Science (ISES), and in 2000 she received ISES's Outstanding Young Scientist Award. In addition to
receiving numerous awards from EPA's ORD and Office of Pesticide Programs, Dr. Zartarian received
EPA's 2007 Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, EPA's 2007 Children's Environmental Health
Excellence Award for Science Achievement (team award), and EPA's 2001 Bronze Medal for
Commendable Service in recognition of outstanding work in the area of human exposure and health
science.
Harold Zenick
Harold Zenick, Ph.D., is Director, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
(NHEERL), in the Office of Research and Development in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). Dr. Zenick earned a Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from the University of Missouri
(Columbia). He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Toxicology at the University of Cincinnati.
Before coming to EPA, Dr. Zenick spent 13 years in academia with the Department of Environmental
Health in the University of Cincinnati Medical School, preceded by an appointment at New Mexico
Highlands University. Dr. Zenick serves on the Executive Board to the National Toxicology Program and
as EPA's liaison to the National Center for Environmental Research-Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry's Board of Scientific Councilors. He co-chairs, respectively, two cross-EPA
workgroups: one on the Futures of Toxicity Testing; the other on Biomonitoring. He has received
numerous awards, including being a two-time recipient of the prestigious Presidential Meritorious
Executive Rank Award and the Office of Research and Development Statesmanship and Diversity
awards. Dr. Zenick has participated on a number of prominent national and federal work groups and
currently serves as co-chair of the federal Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Work Group within the
Toxics and Risk Subcommittee under the auspices of the Office of Science, Technology, and Policy.
Within the Society of Toxicology, he has served as the President of three specialty sections; the most
recent being the Occupational and Public Health Specialty Section, and recently was elected to the
Awards Committee. Dr. Zenick has more than 100 publications. His current interests are in integrating
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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human health and ecological risk assessment; strengthening the linkages between environmental and
public health agendas and agencies; and the application of emerging computational, informational, and
molecular sciences in improving toxicity testing and risk assessment practices.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
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SPEAKER BIOSKETCH
Michelle DePass
Michelle DePass was confirmed by the Senate as the Assistant Administrator, Office of International
Affairs (OIA), on April 28, 2009. DePass comes to the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) after serving as an Environment and Community Development Program Officer at the Ford
Foundation. As Program Officer, she was responsible for supporting the development of sound
environmental policies and practices in the local, national and international arenas. As Assistant
Administrator, she leads EPA's international program and is responsible for the full range of EPA's
international environmental policy development and program implementation. In this capacity, DePass
represents the EPA within the United States government and before foreign governments and
international organizations on matters relating to environmental foreign affairs.
DePass is a lawyer, public administrator and policy analyst who has worked with environmental and
human and civil rights organizations, academic institutions, and labor. She has also worked in all levels of
government, including city, state, and federal. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Tufts
University, her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, and a Master's degree in Public
Administration from Baruch College School of Public Affairs.
Before her time at the Ford Foundation, DePass taught federal environmental law and policy at the City
University of New York, and developed a job training program for aspiring youth in conjunction with the
National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. She also served as Executive Director of the New
York City Environmental Justice Alliance. As Executive Director, she was an advocate to local
communities and community organizations in environmental policy negotiations. DePass obtained
experience in the regulatory realm as an environmental manager of the City of San Jose. She went on to
practice law with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York as a William Kunstler Racial Justice
Fellow. DePass then returned to government as a Senior Policy Advisor at the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
DePass was born in Queens, New York. She is the daughter of Rupert and Marsyl DePass from Jamaica,
West Indies, and married to Joshua Paulson.
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Poster Discussion Sessions
• i r#T»m t rj;
i is*
Skewed Riskscapes and Environmental Injustice in St, Louis and Seattle
Troy Abel, Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Department of Environmental Studies, Western
Washington University
Place-Based Targeting: Using a Novel Method-To Identify Disproportionalities in Causes and Effects
Mary Collins, Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Management, University of California, Santa
Barbara
Comparison of Methods for Nationwide Environmental Justice Analysis of Predicted S02 Levels
Mark Corrales, Regulatory Policy Analyst, Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation, Office of the
Administrator, U.S, Environmental Protection Agency
Using Geographically Weighted Regression for Analyzing Disproportionate Environmental Impacts;
Adverse Health Risks From Air Toxics in Florida
Angela Gilbert, University of South Florida
Proximal Exposure of Utah Schoolchildren to Airborne Pollutants From Major Roadways
William McDonnell, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor of Law, Department of Pediatrics,
University of Utah, and Director, Center for Children's Environmental Health Law and Policy
Demographic Distribution of Exposure to Diesel Particulate Matter at Selected Harbor Areas
Arlene Rosenbaum, Technical Director, 1CF International
Data and Methodology Needs: Multiple and Cumulative Impacts/Effects
Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Using Children's Environmental Health Indicators To Identify Disparities in Exposure and Health
Daniel Axelrad, Office of the Administrator, Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation, EPA
Multiple Impacts and Health Disparities in Port Arthur, TX; A Community Profile of Cumulative Risk
Hilton Kelley, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council/Member/Community In-Power and
Development Association Inc.
John Sullivan, Center to Eliminate Health Disparities, University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston
Creating an Overall Environmental Quality Index: Assessing Available Data
Danelle Lobdell, Chief (Acting), Epidemiology Branch, EPA
Human Exposure and Health in EPA's Report on the Environment: An EPA Resource for Data and
Indicators for Informing Environmental Justice Policy Discussions
Patricia Murphy, ROE Health Coordinator, National Center for Environmental Assessment, EPA
Innovations in Environmental Justice Research for Action: the San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health
Impacts (SJV-CHIP)
Sarah Sharpe, Environmental Health Director/Coordinator, Fresno Metro Ministry/San Joaquin Valley
Cumulative Health Impact Project
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A Framework for Examining Social Stress and Susceptibility in Air Pollution and Respiratory Health
Jane Clougherty, Senior Air Quality Scientist, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and
Research Associate, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health
Community- and Family-Level Factors Influence Caregiver Choice To Screen Blood Lead Levels of
Children in a Mining Community
Sue M. Moodie, Department of Environmental Health, Johns I lopkins School of Public Health
Disparities in Race/Ethnicity in Relation to Air Pollution Exposure and Asthma in Adults
Keeve Nachman, Director, Fanning for the Future Program, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins
Center for a Livable Future
Identifying "At-Risk Populations"; Applying High-Resolution Air Quality, Demographic, and Baseline
Health Data To Define and Locate At-Risk Populations
Tamara Saltman*, Policy Analyst, EPA
Mapping of Human Vulnerability to Climate Change at the County Level Across the United States
Sacoby Wilson, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Families in Societies, University of South Carolina
Data and Methodology Needs: Unique Exposures
Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Traditional Knowledge and Community-Specific Living as the Basis for Relevant Risk Assessment: New
Tools and Approaches
Christine Chaisson, Director, The LifeLine Group
Asian American and Pacific Islander American Seafood Consumption Studies in Washington State
Roseanne Lorenzana, Science Liaison, Region 10, EPA
Collaborative Investigation of Odors, Air Quality, and Health in a Community Bordering a Landfill
David Richardson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Contaminants in the Traditional Foods of the Yupik People of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska—Exposure
Pathways, Collaborative Interventions, and Prevention
Viola Waghiyi, Environmental Health and Justice Program Director, Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Thursday, March 18, 2010,1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Spatial Correlations Among Air Pollution and Social Stressors Across NYC Communities
Jessie Carr, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Chronic Social Stress and Susceptibility to Concentrated Ambient Fine Particles in Rats
Jane Clougherty, Harvard School of Public Health and New York City Department of Health
Natural Disasters and Human Health: Measuring the Prevalence of Stress-Related Disease After the
2002-2003 Illinois Storm, Tornado, and Flood Events
Richard Salkowe, Department of Geography, University of South Florida
* Presenter
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Allostatic Load, an Indicator of Chronic Stress, Modifies the Impact of Blood Lead Levels on
Hypertension
Ami Zota, Program on Reproductive Health and Environment, University of California, San Francisco
Data and Methodology Needs: Physical Infrastructure
Thursday, March 18, 2010,1:00-3:00 p.m.
Exposure Disparities Within the Indoor Environment: Understanding Critical Pathways and
Implications for Policy Responses
Gary Adamkiewicz, Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health
Collaborative Investigation of Water Quality in a Community Bordering Landfills
Christopher Heaney, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Examining Determinants of Pesticide Exposures in Public Housing Using Classification and Regression
Tree (CART) Analysis
Rhona Julien, Environmental Health Scientist, EPA
The CEHI Community Assessment Project: A Tool for Linking the Built Environment With Key Health
Outcomes
Gretchen Kroeger, Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke
University
EPA Inspection and Enforcement Actions Under TSCA To Protect Vulnerable Populations
Max Weintraub, EPA
Use of Community-Owned and -Managed Research To Assess Infrastructure Disparities and the Quality
of Water and Sewer Services in Marginalized and Underserved Environmental Justice Communities
Sacoby Wilson, Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Families in Societies, University of South Carolina
Data and Methodology Needs: Social Capital and Community Capacity To
Participate in Environmental Decision Making
Thursday, March 18, 2010,1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Enhancing Worker Advocacy; OSHA's Outreach to Diverse Worker Populations
Diane Ballerino-Regan*, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (QSHA), Office of Occupational
Medicine Resident/Duke University
Building Community Capacity in Environmental Decision-Making Through Community Lawyering: A
Case Study
Steven Fischbach. Community Lawyer, Rhode Island Legal Services
Zinc Residues in Caribou: A Dilemma Presented to the Selawick, AK, Community: Community
Decisions About Risk and Benefit
Claire Franklin, The LifeLine Group
~Presenter
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Thursday, March 18, 2010,1:00-3:00 p.m.
Synthesizing Environmental Justice Planning Into Transportation Planning for Projects in the
Southeastern United States Through Enhanced Public Involvement
Myra Immings, Community Planner, Planning and Program Development, Atlanta Regional Office, Federal
Transit Administration
Forgotten People CDC—The Navajo Nation Laboratory
Don Yellowman, President, Forgotten People
Marsha Monestersky, Program Director, Forgotten People
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Data and Methodology Needs: Proximity
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Strengthening En vironmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Skewed Riskscapes and Environmental Injustice in St. Louis and Seattle
Troy D. Abel
Department of Environmental Studies, Huxley College of the Environment,
Western Washington University, Rellingham, WA
Objective; This paper presents a case study of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) air emission risks across
metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, and Seattle, Washington,
Methods; This study first presents a conventional analysis of the spatial patterns of TRI facilities and
their surrounding census block group demographies for the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area and the -
city of Seattle. Second, the use of a risk characterization analysis for 268 manufacturers and their air
releases of more than 126 toxic air pollutants leads to more practical resolutions of urban environmental
injustices. Third, longitudinal analysis in Seattle also illuminates how inequitable development and
gentrification exacerbate environmental injustices.
Results: Spatial concentrations of minority residents averaged nearly 40 percent within 1 kilometer of
St. Louis TRI sites compared to 25 percent elsewhere, but 10 facilities were responsible for 70 percent of
the region's relative risk. In Seattle, cluster analysis reveals a concentration of risk and inequitable
development, making the city's most socially vulnerable neighborhood even more vulnerable.
Conclusions: This disproportionate concentration of some of the greatest pollution risks would never be
considered in most conventional environmental justice approaches. Not all pollution is created equally
and, at the very least, the very worst toxic pollution arid the trends concentrating it in the most socially
vulnerable neighborhoods deserve more attention among policy analysts and practitioners crafting
environmental injustice remedies.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Place-Based Targeting: Using a Novel Method To Identify
Disproportionalities in Causes and Effects
Mary B. Collins
Donald Brett School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California,
Santa Barbara, CA
Background and Objectives; A small but striking body of literature suggests that the majority of human
health risk from industrial sources is produced by a small number of facilities that emit disproportionately
high levels of toxic substances. Such emissions often disproportionately affect environmental justice (EJ)
communities. Using an integrated framework, this study applies a novel analytic approach to identify
priority El communities and connect them with the industrial polluters responsible for excess health risk.
Such knowledge allows regulators to more selectively target polluters for enforcement, thereby reducing
health risk more efficiently and effectively.
Methodology: Using EJSEAT, RSEI, and Census data, this project spatially links enforcement data,
relative health risk, and demographics at the census tract-level to identify industrial polluters that
disproportionately contribute to health risk in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's EJ communities. It couples
disproportionality measurements from two perspectives: the health risk borne by communities and the
harms produced by polluters.
Results: Results reveal empirically that certain EJ communities are disproportionately bearing the
region's greatest relative health risk. Striking variations in the production of risk also exist between
polluters. Of the area's 299 facilities, 30 (or 10%) contribute 90 percent of all relative health risk.
Conclusions: The greatest gains in EJ and human health protection may be garnered by directing
enforcement efforts at disproportionate polluters within heavily impacted EJ areas rather than by targeting
full industrial sectors. If environmental regulation can be designed to effectively target the major
contributors to cumulative health risk and ecological damage, it will maximize risk reduction at a lower
cost.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Comparison of Methods for Nationwide Environmental Justice Analysis of
Predicted S02 Levels
Mark A, Corrales and Br'tdgid Curry
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Background and Objectives: To explore the feasibility of environmental justice (EJ) assessment for a
national regulation related to air quality, we implemented three different methods, ranging from simple to
more complex.
Methods: A screening-level air quality model (SCREEN3) was applied to more than 15,000 facilities, to
predict 1-hour maximum concentrations of SO? using default assumptions and sensitivity analysis.
Approximately 2,000 key facilities with a potential for elevated ambient levels were identified. Three
methods were compared for EJ analysis; (1) Co-location-based analysis—We analyzed demographics of
census tracts containing the key facilities; (2) Proximity-based analysis—We analyzed demographics of
persons within 1 km and 10 km of the key facilities; and (3) Ambient exposure-based analysis—We
analyzed demographics of persons within zones predicted to exceed a selected ambient concentration.
Facility locations were obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2005 National
Emissions Inventory and tract-level demographics from Census 2000. ArcGIS was used to locate relevant
populations.
Results: Simple co-location analysis demonstrated that tracts containing the key facilities were similar to
the United States overall with respect to percentage of households in poverty and percentage African
American or black. However, these tracts were only 7 percentage Hispanic or Latino, well below the
national average of 12.5 percent in 2000. Results for proximity-based analysis and exposure-based
analysis will be presented and compared to the simpler analysis.
Conclusions: Screening-level analysis of EJ implications is feasible for a nationwide series of point
sources with defined locations. However, nationwide EJ analysis may require the use of GIS software,
even if simple co-iocation or proximity-based analysis is used.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Using Geographically Weighted Regression for Analyzing Disproportionate
Environmental Impacts: Adverse Health Risks From Air Toxics in Florida
Angela Gilbert and Jayajit Chakraborty
Department of Geography, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Background and Objectives: Previous quantitative research on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic
inequities in the distribution of environmental hazards has been limited by a focus on residential
proximity to pollution sources and the use of traditional regression techniques that fail to discern spatial
variations in the statistical relationships between environmental risk and race/ethnicity or socioeconomic
status (SES), These methodological gaps are addressed through a case study that seeks to determine:
(1) if potential health risks from exposure to hazardous air pollutants in Florida are distributed inequitably
with respect to race/ethnicity and SES, and (2) how the nature and significance of the statistical
association between cancer risk and race/ethnicity or SES varies across the state.
Methods: This study integrates census tract-level estimates of cumulative cancer risk from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's 1999 National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment with Census 2000
sociodemographic data. An innovative local spatial statistical technique known as geographically
weighted regression (GWR), which produces a separate regression equation for each tract, is utilized to
explore spatial variations in statistical relationships between cancer risk and explanatory factors within
Florida,
Results: Results indicate that race and ethnicity are significantly associated with cancer risks in Florida.
Furthermore, maps of model parameters demonstrate that these statistical relationships differ, significantly
across Florida.
Conclusion: Conventional multivariate regression can mask important local variations in statistical
relationships relevant to the analysis of environmental justice (EJ). Future use of statistical methods in EJ
should be sensitive to the local processes of spatial effects.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Proximal Exposure of Utah Schoolchildren to Airborne Pollutants
From Major Roadways
William M. McDonnell'1. Phoebe B. McNeally3, and Sean D. Firth1
department of Pediatrics, 2 Center far Children's Environmental Health Law and Policy,
department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Background and Objectives: Air pollutants from motor vehicle exhaust cause adverse health effects in
children, increased by close proximity. Roads with higher speed limits generally have higher traffic
volumes and more pollution. We examined the proximity of schoolchildren to these pollutants and
assessed the effects of socioeconomic factors.
Methods; We obtained geographic location data for all schools in Salt Lake County, Utah, We reviewed
Census Bureau data for each school's census tract. Using geographic information systems, we determined
the distance from each school to the nearest "major roadway," defined as the road with the highest speed
limit within 150 m. Roads were grouped as: < 30 mph; 31-50 mph; and > 50 mph. We used non-
parametric analyses for statistical comparisons.
Results: We identified 349 schools. Seven percent (n = 24) were within 150 m of > 50 mph roads, while
12 percent (n = 41) and 81 percent (n = 284) were within 150 m of 31-50 mph and < 30 mph roads,
respectively. Poverty was directly related to school proximity to higher mph roads. Poverty rates
increased from 1.0 percent in communities with < 30 mph schools, to 1.5 percent at 31-50 mph schools,
and 2.8 percent at > 50 mph schools (p < 0.05). Lower educational achievement was associated with
higher mph roads. In communities with < 30 mph schools, 5.5 percent of the population had less than a
high school education, with 6.4 percent at 31-50 mph schools, and 13.7 percent at > 50 mph schools
(p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Many children attend schools close to medium- and high-traffic roads. Schoolchildren in
lower socioeconomic communities may be at increased risk of close exposure to traffic pollutants.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Demographic Distribution of Exposure to Diesel Particulate Matter
at Selected Harbor Areas
Arlene Rosenbaum', W. Seth Hartley', Jeffrey Hoye', Andy Shapiro', Mark Bethoney2,
Patricia Rowley2, Lucie Audette2, Ken Davidson2, and Chad Bailey2
1ICF International, Rohnert Park, CA; 2 Office of Air and Radiation (OAR),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ann Arbor, Ml
Background and Objectives: There is current evidence that nearby residents of marine harbor areas are
exposed to significantly higher concentrations of pollution, including particulate matter. In March 2008,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated new emission standards for marine
compression ignition engines to help address these issues. The population exposure analysis presented
here was performed as part of the technical support for that regulation. The purpose was to estimate the
size and demographic composition of populations exposed to enhanced diesel particulate matter (DPM)
concentrations resulting from activity in harbor areas across the United States.
Methods: For each of 45 U.S. marine harbor areas, EPA's AERMOD dispersion model was applied to
harbor-specific EPA emissions estimates to estimate a 3-year average spatial distribution of DPM
concentrations resulting from activity at each of the harbors. Geographic Information System (GIS)
analysis and U.S. Census data were used to estimate the total population residing at locations with
enhanced DPM concentrations, as well as its demographic composition with respect to household income
and race/ethnicity.
Results: The results suggest that more than 630,000 people reside in locations with annual average DPM
concentrations exceeding 2.0 pg/m3 above urban background levels from emission sources at the 45
harbor areas studied, and approximately 17 million with annual average DPM concentrations exceeding
0.2 jig/m3. Low-income households, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics are over-represented in the
aggregate affected population compared to the overall U.S. population at both concentration levels.
Conclusion: Low-income households, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics are disproportionately
impacted by enhanced DPM concentrations resulting from activities at marine harbors.
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Data and Methodology Needs: Multiple
and Cumulative Impacts/Effects
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Using Children's Environmental Health Indicators To Identify Disparities
in Exposure and Health
Daniel A. Axelrad'. Julie Sturza', Onyemaechi Nweke2, Gregory G. Miller}, and Louis D'Amico4
'Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation, 2 Office of Environmental Justice,3 Office of Children's
Health Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC; 4AAAS Science and
Technology Policy Fellow, Office of Children's Health Protection,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Background and Objectives: Children's environmental health indicators are useful for monitoring
trends and identifying disparities in exposure to critical environmental contaminants and related
childhood health effects. America's Children and the Environment is the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) compilation of children's environmental health indicators, presenting information on
environmental contaminants in air, water, food, and soil; contaminants measured in the bodies of mothers
and children; and childhood diseases that may be influenced by environmental factors. EPA is currently
preparing several new indicators along with updates to the indicators previously published. Many of the
indicators provide interesting information on differences in exposure or health status for different groups
of children defined by race/ethnicity or household income.
Methods: Topics for the updated America's Children and the Environment were selected based on their
importance to children's environmental health and the availability of nationally representative data
suitable for indicator development. For each indicator, the ability to assess differences by race/ethnicity
and income was evaluated based on the characteristics of the data source.
Results: Indicators of body burdens and childhood illnesses, drawn from national surveys such as the
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the National Health Interview Survey, provide
extensive opportunities for evaluating disparities in exposure and health. Indicators of environmental
contaminants, drawn from national monitoring databases such as the Air Quality System, also can be
useful for evaluating differences by race/ethnicity or income.
Conclusion: Children's environmental health indicators provide important information to illustrate the
cumulative impacts of multiple exposures and disparities in children's exposures and health outcomes by
race/ethnicity and income.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Multiple Impacts and Health Disparities in Port Arthur, TX; A Community
Profile of Cumulative Risk
Hilton Kellev', Sharon Petronella2, Alexandra Nolen3, Jonathan Ward\ and John Sullivan5
'Community In-Power & Development Association (CIDA), Port Arthur, TX;2National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Center in Environmental Toxicology, Community Outreach
and Education Core (COEC),3Center for Elimination of Health Disparities,4NIEHS, COEC,5Public
Forum and Toxics Assistance, NIEHS, COEC, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
Background: Port Arthur, in the upper Texas Gulf Coast, ranks in the top 10 percent of polluted U.S.
communities in terms of; (1) chemical releases, (2) cancer risk, (3) recognized/suspected carcinogens,
(4) developmental toxicants, and (5) recognized reproductive toxicants. West Port Arthur is 91 percent
African American, with 23 percent of the households having incomes equal to or less than poverty level
and unemployment at 14 percent. In conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
Environmental Showcase Community Program, CIDA, the University of Texas Medical Branch's Center
to Eliminate Health Disparities, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' Center in
Environmental Toxicology have initiated a cumulative risk-health disparities study/action project.
Methods: Geographic Information System correlation of survey census data; aggregated TDSHS health
data; TRLTexas Commission on Environmental Quality monitoring data; Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) safety data, documentation of industrial accidents, explosions, flaring, integrated
with results of community symptom surveys, community interviews, focus groups, and arts-based popular
education/communication interventions.
Results: Port Arthur shows a wide-ranging cumulative risk burden: (1) residential neighborhoods
proximate to a petrochemical complex; (2) high HAPs emissions; (3) frequent industrial upsets, flaring,
explosions/fires; (4) diesel particulates from transport; (5) absence of local health facilities; (6) lack of
neighborhood business/accessible county/city social services; (7) neighborhood school closures; (8) high
rates of asthma, respiratory distress, cancer, skin irritations; (9) significant impacts on vulnerable
segments of the population; and (10) significant impacts by Hurricanes Rita and Ike,
Conclusion: Results show that west Port Arthur is disproportionately impacted by multiple stressors and
health disparities/significant cumulative risk burdens. Targeted ambient monitoring and biomarker studies
are needed to establish exposure levels/health effects linkage; use of EPA environmental justice SEAT,
Healthy Development Measurement Tool, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration community
resiliency index to clarify relationship of environmental factors to health disparities and guide green
development; intensive outreach/education to increase environmental health literacy and promote
neighborhood engagement/empowerment in development, climate disaster preparedness, and
environmental justice advocacy.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Creating an Overall Environmental Quality Index: Assessing Available Data
Danelle Lobdell1, Lynne Messer3, Kristen Rappazzo\ and Jyotsna Jagai'
J U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC; zDuke Global Health Institute,
Durham, NC; 'University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Background and Objectives: The interaction between environmental insults and human health is a
complex process. Environmental exposures tend to cluster, and disamenities such as landfills or industrial
plants are often located in neighborhoods with a high percentage of minority and poor residents. Yet, no
single exposure can be held responsible for either good or poor health. To address this need, we propose
to develop an overall environmental quality index (EQI) for all counties in the United States. This project
focuses on the assessment of potential data sources for use in the development of the EQI.
Methods; Four main domains were identified that contribute to environmental quality: air, water, land,
and built environment/social determinants. An inventory of possible data sources representing each of the
four domains was created; data sources were identified using Web-based search engines (e.g., Google),
site-specific search engines (e.g., federal data sites, state data sites), literature-reported data sources (e.g.,
PubMed, Science Direct, Toxnet), and word of mouth (e.g., colleagues, other data owners). Data sources
were evaluated for appropriate spatial and temporal coverage and data quality.
Results; The data inventory identified 7, 80, 40, and 7 data sources for the air, water, land, and built
environment/social determinants domains, respectively. Currently, 3 air sources, 6 water sources, 25 land
sources, and 7 built environment/social determinants sources are being further evaluated for use in the
EQI.
Conclusion: Potential data sources are available for each domain. However, differences in data quality,
geographic coverage, and data availability exist among the four domains.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Human Exposure and Health in EPA's Report on the Environment: An EPA
Resource for Data and Indicators for Informing Environmental Justice
Policy Discussions
Patricia A. Murphy
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Edison, NJ
Background and Objectives: With five main chapters encompassing air, water, land, human exposure
and health, and ecological condition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2008 Report on
the Environment (ROE) compiles in one place the most reliable national-level indicators currently
available to help answer 23 questions EPA believes are critically important to its mission. The data and
indicators from the Human Exposure and Health Chapter—presented by population sub-groups and
geographic regions—are particularly relevant resources for characterizing status and trends in conditions
among populations that could be disproportionately impacted by various environmental policies.
Methods: The Human Exposure and Health Chapter addresses three questions using 19 indicators
reflecting exposure biomonitoring; general health status; acute, chronic, and infectious diseases; and birth
outcomes. Questions include: "What are the trends in human exposure to environmental contaminants?",
"What are the trends in health status in the United States?", and "What are the trends in human disease
and conditions for which environmental contaminants may be a risk factor?" The underlying indicator
data come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Results: The poster will present examples of exposure and health condition indicators that address each
of the three stated ROE questions and display trends across age, race, and ethnic group. Envisioned
linkages to CDC's Environmental Health Tracking Network as well as possible new measures of disease
burden will be described and discussed.
Conclusion: The ROE Human Exposure and Health Chapter provides a valuable online information
source for EPA policy and decision makers needing age-, race-, and ethnic-specific information to
support informed environmental policy discussions.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Innovations in Environmental Justice Research for Action: the San
Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impacts (SJV-CHIP)
Jonathan London', Sarah Sharpe2. Kevin Hamilton3, Tara Zygovsky', and Ganlin Huang'
1University of California at Davis, Davis, CA;2Fresno Metro Ministries, Fresno, CA;
3Clinica Sierra Vista, Fresno, CA
Background and Objectives: Quantifying the spatial distribution of environmental hazards and
communities' demographic characteristics can provide valuable knowledge for environmental justice (EJ)
advocacy work, policy formation, and academic study. Cumulative impacts from multiple hazards and
vectors and the spatial and temporal patterns of suffering they incur have just begun to be studied in
public health and EJ literature. The San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impacts (SJV-CHIP) project is
a coalition of EJ and public health activists that seeks the adoption of a cumulative impacts policy by
regional environmental regulators. SJV-CHIP activists have joined with researchers at the University of
California at Davis and elsewhere to document cumulative health impacts in the San Joaquin Valley and
to build capacity for community-based participatory action research.
Methods: In this poster, the spatial patterns of multiple environmental hazards and communities'
demographic characteristics are quantified in the San Joaquin Valley of California using Geographic
Information System (GIS) and spatial statistics. Indexes of environmental, social, and economic
vulnerability are refined and applied on a census block group and regional scale.
Results: Health impacts from agricultural, industrial, development, and transportation sectors are shown
to disproportionately affect the region's most vulnerable populations—the low-income, immigrant, and
communities of color—whi le dynamics of environmental racism also restrict democratic participation in
shaping policy decisions. TRI data are shown to be an incomplete proxy for environmental hazards and
are complemented by exposure and health data.
Conclusion; Cumulative impacts—especially through a community-based participatory research
approach—arc shown to be a compelling way to analyze and frame EJ issues.
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Data and Methodology Needs:
Susceptibility and Vulnerability
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
A Framework for Examining Social Stress and Susceptibility
in Air Pollution and Respiratory Health
Jane E. Clouehertv' and Laura D. Kubzansky2
'Department of Environmental Health, 1Department of Society, Human Development, and Health,
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Background and Objectives: There is growing interest in disentangling the health effects of spatially
clustered social and physical environmental exposures, and in exploring potential synergies among these,
with particular attention to the combined effects of psychosocial stress and air pollution. Both exposures
may be elevated in lower income urban communities; and it has been hypothesized that stress, which can
influence immune function and susceptibility, may potentiate the effects of air pollution in respiratory
disease onset and exacerbation.
Methods: In this paper, we attempt to synthesize the relevant research from social and environmental
epidemiology, toxicology, immunology, and exposure assessment to provide a useful framework for
environmental health researchers aiming to investigate the health effects of environmental pollution in
combination with social or psychological factors.
Results: We review the existing epidemiological and toxicological evidence on synergistic effects of
stress and pollution, then describe the physiologic effects of stress and key issues related to measuring
and evaluating stress as it relates to physical environmental exposures and susceptibility. Finally, we
identify some of the major methodological challenges ahead as we work toward disentangling the health
effects of clustered social and physical exposures and accurately describing the interplay among these.
Conclusions: There still is tremendous work to be done toward understanding the combined and
potentially synergistic health effects of stress and pollution. As this research proceeds, we recommend
careful attention to the relative temporalities of stress and pollution exposures, to non-linearities in their
independent and combined effects, to physiological pathways not elucidated by epidemiological methods,
and to the relative spatial distributions of social and physical exposures.at multiple geographic scales.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Community- and Family-Level Factors Influence Caregiver Choice To
Screen Blood Lead Levels of Children in a Mining Community
Sue Moodie', Emma Tsui2, and Ellen Silbergeld1
1 Department of Environmental Health and Engineering,2 Department of Health, Behavior and Society,
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Background and Objectives: The Bunker Hill Superfund site, in Kellogg, Idaho, formerly a lead mine
(1884-1981) and smelter (1917-1981), has widespread lead contamination of concern for child exposure
and health risks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has used child blood lead levels to inform
the clean-up standards since 1983. The goal of this research project was to define community- and family-
level factors that influence caregiver choice to screen child blood lead levels.
Methods: This study used mixed methods of formative research and was composed of three research
components: (1) preliminary interviews using community-based participatory research methods to define
key research questions; (2) quantitative analysis of a child blood lead screening survey; and
(3) ethnographic community rapid assessment methods forming the in-depth interview process and
qualitative analysis.
Results: The survey showed the likelihood of child blood lead screening increases 34 percent with each
1-year increase in current age of the child (95% CI, 1.08-1.67, p value = 0.009), and decreases 45 percent
with annual household income greater than $10,000 (95% CI, 0.35-0.88, p value = 0.013). Across all
levels of interviews, Kellogg's long history as a mining town influences attitudes and actions of
caregivers to access child blood lead screening through instilling stigmas, parental blame, and a sense of
shame about lead exposure and resultant health effects.
Conclusion: Health communication and environmental followup should prioritize methods to reduce
parental feelings of blame, shame, guilt, and stigmas associated with the health effects of lead in a way
that respects the pride of former mine workers, their families, and the history of the town.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Disparities in Race/Ethnicity in Relation to Air Pollution Exposure
and Asthma in Adults
Keeve E. Nachman' and Jennifer D. Parker2
'Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD;2National Center for Health Statistics, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, MD
Background and Objectives: Relationships between chronic exposures to air pollution and various
respiratory health outcomes have yet to be clearly articulated for adults. Recent data from nationally
representative surveys suggest increasing disparity by race/ethnicity regarding asthma-related morbidity
and mortality. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the relationship between exposure to fine
particulate matter (PM2.5) and the prevalence of respiratory outcomes for black and white adults using
modeled air pollution and health outcome data and to examine potential differences in PM2 5 sensitivity
across race/ethnicity.
Methods: Respondents from the 2002-2005 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were linked to
annual kriged PM2.s data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's AirData system. Logistic
regression was employed to investigate relationships between increases in ambient PM2.5 concentrations
and self-reported prevalence of asthma status and asthma attacks. Models examined relevant health,
behavioral, demographic, and resource-related covariates. Stratified analyses were conducted to
determine whether sensitivity to exposure varied by race/ethnicity.
Results: Of nearly 110,000 adult respondents, approximately 8,000 and 4,000 reported current asthma
and recent attacks, respectively. Overall, odds ratios (OR) for current asthma (0.97 [95% Confidence
Interval: 0.87-1.07]) and recent attacks (0.90 [0.78-1.03]) did not suggest an association with PM2 5-
Stratified analyses revealed significant associations for non-Hispanic blacks (OR =- 1.73 [1.17-2.56] for
current asthma and OR = 1.76 [1.07-2.91] for recent attacks) but not for non-Hispanic whites. These
inferences were unaffected by further examination by insurance status and urbanicity.
Conclusion: Non-Hispanic blacks, but not non-Hispanic whites, may be at increased sensitivity of
asthma outcomes from PM2 5 exposure.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Identifying "At-Risk Populations": Applying High-Resolution Air Quality,
Demographic, and Baseline Health Data To Define and Locate
At-Risk Populations
Neal Fann and Karen Wesson
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Research Triangle Park, NC
Background and Objectives; The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently undertook a pilot
project for Detroit that simulated two contrasting air quality management strategies: both met PM2 5 and
ozone air quality targets, while one minimized costs for each pollutant and the other aimed to maximize
health benefits (i.e., reducing population-level air pollution risks). This supplemental analysis introduces a
technique for identifying high-risk populations and investigates whether a multi-pollutant, risk-based
strategy can more effectively reduce health impacts among these at-risk groups.
Methods: Applying fine-scale, multi-pollutant air quality modeling, we identified populations
experiencing the highest concentrations of air pollution. Next, we utilized I km-level demographic data
and ZIP code level hospitalization rates to detect those most likely to experience pollution-related health
impacts: populations that frequently seek hospital care for respiratory or cardiovascular symptoms. Using
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we combined these data layers and assessed whether the least-
cost or maximum risk reduction strategy achieves the larger exposure reduction specifically among these
at-risk populations.
Results*. The GIS-based technique identifies several clusters of populations of African American
children. Among these populations, the multi-pollutant, risk-based strategy produces three times larger
reductions in PM2.s exposure than the traditional "least-cost" strategy.
Conclusion; Considering spatially refined air quality, health, and demographic data jointly allows us to
locate at-risk populations. Risk-based strategies can maximize air quality improvements among both
general and high-risk populations.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Mapping of Human Vulnerability to Climate Change at the County Level
Across the United States
Lesley Joseph1, Sacobv Wilson2, and Roland Richard*
'Department of Civil Engineering,2Institute for Families in Society,3Department of Epidemiology and
Biostatistics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Background and Objectives: Many disadvantaged populations of color, particularly poor African.
Americans, may be at higher risks of experiencing the negative effects of climate change due to their
geographic location and underlying vulnerabilities. The objective of this study is to explore the use of
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess areas that may be vulnerable to climate change.
Methods: The mean vulnerability score for each county in the United States was derived from 39
variables. Data for population density, poverty level, and race/ethnicity were obtained from the U.S.
Census Bureau. Several health status and risk factor variables were used, including heat-related mortality
rate, primary care physician rate, and cardiovascular disease mortality. Data on air pollution levels, toxic
facility distribution, and elevation were used. ArcGLS 9.3 was employed to map the vulnerability scores,
and Moran's I was used to assess statistically significant clusters.
Results; The results of spatial analysis showed that 15 of the 25 highest vulnerability scores, including
the 7 highest vulnerability scores, were in counties/parishes in the South region. Despite having 15
counties at the top of the vulnerability score scale, the South region did not have the highest overall
regional score. The Northeast Region had the highest mean score of 3.25, followed by the South (3.04),
.the West (2.79), and the Midwest (2.75).
Conclusions: The study shows the utility of using GIS spatial analysis to assess human vulnerability to
climate change at the county level. Additional mapping is needed to assess vulnerability at census tract
and census block group levels.
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Data and Methodology Needs: Unique
Exposures
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Traditional Knowledge and Community-Specific Living as the Basis for
Relevant Risk Assessment: New Tools and Approaches
Christine F. Chaisson, Anne Marie Chaisson, Michael Jayjock, Claire A. Franklin, Susan Arnold,
and Kerry Diskin
The LifeLine Group, Annandale, VA
Background and Objectives: Until now, risk assessment approaches were designed with the typical
Westernized commercial community in mind, using averaged values for critical parameters, thus
disguising subpopulations bearing disproportionate risk. Because daily activities and diet define exposure
opportunities, people eating subsistence foods or living culturally unique lifestyles are invisible in risk
assessments. The objective was to develop new tools and approaches that reflect the real community
diets, activities, and characteristics, including seasonal and personal variability. These tools also should
expand community capacity to harvest their traditional knowledge and participate in health and policy
decision-making.
Methods: New software and methods were developed to: (1) utilize any form of information to
construct relevant community-specific dietary and activity profiles; (2) accomplish aggregate risk
assessment reflecting possible disproportionate exposure and risk; and (3) consider cultural and
nutritional benefits together with the risks in the food, water, and environment. Communities in Alaska
and Canada tested early versions of the software to assess its relevance and ability to assist their decision-
making.
Results: Software has been developed and tested that utilizes all forms of information and accomplishes
community-specific risk assessment. Multiple chemicals and stressors can be simultaneously considered.
Traditional knowledge can be applied. Software operation and interpretation require technical assistance.
Conclusions: New software and methodological approaches now exist that are relevant to unique
communities and people with unique diets and lifestyles or cultural practices. These tools can expand
community capacity in health and policy decision-making. Nutritional profiling capacity and community
training are critical next steps. The software is available and free.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Asian American and Pacific Islander American Seafood Consumption
Studies in Washington State
Roseanne M. JLorenzana
Office of Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Seattle, WA
Background and Objectives; As characterized on the 2000 U.S. census, there are 28 Asian and 19
Pacific Islander groups that could be included in the American & Pacific Islander American (AAPI)
category. Because of cultural and language differences, seafood consumption risk assessments involving
AAPI groups require culturally appropriate methods to collect exposure data. Purposes of this study are
to: (1) demonstrate the effectiveness of a community-centered approach in which the community plays a
major role in determining study design, developing and administering the survey instrument, and
producing a final product; and (2) obtain documentation of AAPI rates of seafood consumption, types of
species, and preparation methods that can be used in risk assessment.
Methods: Under the leadership of an AAPI social services organization, a community group was formed
to develop a questionnaire and study approach that would elicit accurate results. The community worked
with an advisory committee for technical assistance and in partnership with scientists at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the University of Washington who provided oversight for the
scientific design, data analyses, and development of the final report.
Results: This community-centered approach was successful with respect to including 10 AAPI
ethnicities in the survey. Consumption rates for a wide variety of fish, shellfish, and seaweed were
documented. The consumption of internal organs and cooking water also was documented.
Conclusion: Results suggest there are some AAPIs who have very high rates of consumption, and the
community-centered approach is a successful method for obtaining this type of data.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Collaborative Investigation of Odors, Air Quality, and Health
in a Community Bordering a Landfill
Minister Robert L. Campbell1, David CaldwellBarbara Hopkins', David Richardson2.
Shannon Hatcher, Tom Roche1, and Christopher D. Heaney4
1Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association and Coalition to End Environmental Racism,
Chapel Hill, NC;2Institute for the Environment,3 Department of Environmental Sciences and
Engineering, 4Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of
North Carolina, Chapel HiU, NC
Background and Objective: The Rogers-Eubanks community is a historically black neighborhood that
predates the Orange County Municipal Landfill sited along its border in 1972. The Rogers-Eubanks
Neighborhood Association (RENA) collaborated with scientists at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill (UNC) with the aim of investigating residents' health and quality of life concerns about
malodor from the landfill in their community.
Methods: Utilizing a community-driven research approach, RENA members and UNC researchers
enrolled individuals to complete odor diaries detailing the intensity, frequency, and nature of malodors
and how odors impacted individuals' daily activities, physical symptoms, and mood twice daily over a
2-week period. In addition to the odor diaries, continuous air monitoring of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was
conducted.
Results: Study partners enrolled a total of 38 individuals for diary data collection. More than 29,000
5-minute H2S measures were recorded over a period of 82 days (mean = 0.414 ppb, SD = 0.569,
range = 0-14.862 ppb).
Conclusions: The project built community capacity for research to quantify community exposures to
airborne H2S emissions from the landfill; characterized relationships between H2S exposures and odor,
physical symptoms, irritation, quality of life, and mood measures; and supported RENA's efforts to
replicate this research approach in landfill communities facing similar environmental and health
disparities.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Contaminants in the Traditional Foods of the Yupik People of St. Lawrence
Island, Alaska—Exposure Pathways, Collaborative Interventions,
and Prevention
Viola Waehiyi1, Gretchen Welfinger-Smith3, Pamela Miller1, and David O. Carpenter1
1Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Anchorage, AK;2Institute for Health and the Environment,
University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY
Background and Objectives: The Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island (SLI), in the Bering Sea region
of Alaska, receive disproportionate exposures from contaminants through long-range transport and
military sources. Community concerns prompted a study that demonstrated that Yupik serum contained
PCB levels significantly above those of the general North American population. Because the Yupik
people sustain cultural ways of life that rely on traditional foods, dietary exposure likely is a significant
source of the PCBs, Researchers examined Yupik traditional foods for contaminants to inform
community decisions and interventions.
Methods; Community researchers, working with traditional hunters, collected 500 samples of the diverse
species that people of SLI depend on for their traditional diets. The samples were analyzed using dual-
column gas chromatography with electron capture detection.
Results: Results show the meat/muscle tissue for most species and the plant species to be lowest in
contaminant concentrations. For unlimited fish consumption, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's risk-based consumption limit for PCBs in fish is 1.5 ppb to avoid excess risk of cancer.
Concentrations of PCBs in the blubber of marine mammals ranged from 35 ppb in walrus blubber tissue
to 450 ppb for PCBs in polar bear blubber. The rendered oil samples contained the highest PCB
concentrations of all samples tested other than polar bear blubber, ranging from 200 ppb in bearded seal
to 450 ppb in ringed seal.
Conclusion; We conclude that rendered oils and blubber are the major dietary sources of PCBs.
Researchers are working with community leadership on SLI to develop collaborative interventions that
will eliminate and reduce exposures.
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Data and Methodology Needs:
Psychosocial Stress
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Spatial Correlations Among Air Pollution and Social Stressors Across
NYC Communities
Jessie Carr1'2, Grant Pezeshki2, Thomas Matte2, Peggy Shepard3, Jill Fromewick4,
Jodie Abhatangelo-Gray 4, Laura D. Kubzansky s, and Jane E. Clougherty2'5
1Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY;2NYC Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), New York, NY; 3 WE ACTfor Environmental Justice (West Harlem
Environmental Action Coalition), New York, NY;4Summit Research Associates, New York, NY, and
Asheville, NC; 5Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Introduction: Chronic psychological stress has been linked to respiratory health, both independently and
in combination with air pollution exposures. There is growing interest in methods to explore synergistic
effects among these exposures as well as the extent to which they disproportionately impact lower income
communities and other susceptible populations. Understanding this interplay could help elucidate the
relationships among psychosocial stressors, air pollution, and health in urban communities.
Methods; Building on the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCA8), a year-round study of
intra-urban variation in multiple air pollutants across NYC neighborhoods, we are using Geographic
Information System (GlS)-based methods to identify and map relevant, community-level social stressors
for comparison with intra-urban patterns in air pollution exposures.
Results: Under NYCCAS, we recently completed spatial models describing significant intra-urban
variation in fine particles (PM2 S), elemental carbon (EC), nitrogen dioxide (N02), sulfur dioxide (S02),
and pollution sources (e.g., traffic, building density). Through mapping neighborhood-level indicators of
social stressors, including mental health data, violent crime statistics, noise complaints, neighborhood
percent poverty, and quality of life variables (e.g., park/playground conditions), we are providing
information on clustering and inter-neighborhood variability. Additional variables related to childhood
stress experiences (e.g., abuse/neglect, percent students in schools exceeding capacity), a subpopulation
of concern for asthma, will be explored.
Conclusions: Comparison of spatial distributions of community stressors and air pollutants will allow
disentangling of these separate patterns of exposure. Future epidemiological investigations using these
data will enable assessment of the independent and synergistic effects of different but potentially spatially
correlated exposures in predicting the onset and exacerbation of respiratory and cardiovascular illness.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Chronic Social Stress and Susceptibility to Concentrated Ambient Fine
Particles in Rats
Jane E. Clouqherty', Christina A. Rossi1, Joy LawrenceMark D. Long1, Edgar Diaz', Robert Lim",
Bruce McEwen2, Petros Koutrakis', and John J. Godleski'
'Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA;
2Rockefeller University, New York, NY
Background and Objectives: Epidemiologic evidence suggests that chronic stress may alter susceptibility
to air pollution. Persistent spatial confounding, however, may limit the utility of epidemiologic methods to
disentangle these effects and cannot identify physiologic mechanisms for this differential susceptibility.
Using a rat model of social stress, we compared respiratory response to concentrated fine ambient particles
(CAPs), and examined biologic markers of inflammation.
Methods: Twenty-four 12-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups
(Stress/CAPs; Stress/Filtered Air (FA); Non-stress/CAPs; Non-stress/FA). Stress group animals were
individually introduced into a dominant male's home cage twice weekly. Blood drawn at sacrifice was
analyzed for immune and inflammatory markers. CAPs were generated using the Harvard fine particle
concentrator, drawing real-time urban ambient fine particles, which enriched concentrations approximately
30 times. CAP/FA exposures were delivered in single-animal phethysmographs, 5 hours/day for 10 days,
with respiratory function continuously monitored using a Buxco system.
Results: Stressed animals displayed greater average CRP, TNF-alpha, and white blood cells. Among non-
stressed animals, CAP exposures conferred higher flows and volumes, with briefer pauses. Among stressed
animals, CAP exposures conferred greater respiratory frequency and lower flows and volumes. Only with
both exposures did we observe rapid, shallow breathing patterns, with lower total airflows.
Conclusions: CAP effects on respiratory function differed significantly by stress group. CAPs conferred a
shallow, rapid breathing pattern, exacerbated under chronic stress. Blood measures provided evidence of
inflammatory responses. Results support epidemiologic findings that chronic stress may alter susceptibility
to air pollution and may help elucidate pathways for differential susceptibility.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Natural Disasters and Human Health: Measuring the Prevalence
of Stress-Related Disease After the 2002-2003 Illinois Storm, Tornado,
and Flood Events
Richard Salkowe
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Background and Objectives: Prior research has revealed that disaster events are associated with an
increased prevalence of stress-related illness that may persist for a prolonged period of time after the
initial threat has subsided. The severity of post-disaster disease morbidity is contingent on the magnitude
of the respective event and the associated loss of personal and community resources. This study examines
stress-related post-disaster disease incidence that is of sufficient severity to require inpatient
hospitalization.
Methods: A longitudinal pre-event and post-event comparison of hospital admissions for diagnostic
groupings of stress-related disease was performed to determine if there was a significantly higher rate of
admissions in disaster-stricken rural communities of Southern Illinois.
Results: Inferential statistical analysis revealed a significant increase in hospital admissions for stress-
related illness in the year following the 2002-2003 storm, tornado, and flood disasters that affected
Southern Illinois. There was no evidence of a significant increase in similar hospital admissions for
control groups or for non-stress-related conditions.
Conclusion: This cohort study of pre-event and post-event stress-related hospital admissions provides an
additional method for evaluating the consequences of disasters and focuses attention on the critical need
for post-disaster preventive health interventions that address community vulnerability and well-being with
respect to stress-related illness. Adverse reactions to environmental contaminants may be potentiated by
the observation of an increased level of post-event stress-related hospital admissions in rural communities
affected by natural disasters.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Allostatic Load, an Indicator of Chronic Stress, Modifies the Impact
of Blood Lead Levels on Hypertension
Ami Zota!, Edmond Shenassa2, and Rachel Morello-Frosch '
'Program on Reproductive Health and Environment, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
University of California, San Francisco, CA; 2Maternal and Child Health Program, Department of
Family Medicine, and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health,
University of Maryland, College Park, MD; 3Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and
Management, and School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Background: Environmental justice advocates argue that agencies should account for the cumulative
impacts of multiple hazards, yet few health studies have assessed interactions between environmental and
social stressors. We examined whether allostatic load, a biological indicator of chronic stress, amplifies
the effects of lead exposure on hypertension among middle-aged adults.
Methods; We assessed the interaction of allostatic load on lead exposure on hypertension among 5,067
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) participants (aged 40-65). General
hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure > 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mm
Hg. Models were adjusted for: age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol
consumption, and blood pressure medication.
Results: Blood lead levels in this population were generally low (mean = 2.20 jig/dL). Hypertension risk
increased with increasing blood lead levels only among those with high allostatic load. Compared to the
lowest lead exposure group (quintile 1), participants with the highest lead exposure (quintile 5) had
elevated risks of general hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 1.65,95% CI: 1.05-2.59). A similar risk was
observed for systolic hypertension, while the magnitude of risk was higher for diastolic hypertension
(OR = 3.43; 95% CI: 1.76-6.67). There was no difference in hypertension risk between the highest and
lowest lead exposure groups among participants with low allostatic load (general hypertension OR = 0.82;
95% CI: 0.5-1.3).
Conclusions: Results suggest that the effect of lead on hypertension is more pronounced among those
who are chronically stressed. Interactions between environmental and social stressors should be
accounted for in regulatory policies.
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Data and Methodology Needs: Physical
Infrastructure
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Exposure Disparities Within the Indoor Environment;
Understanding Critical Pathways and Implications for Policy Responses
Gary Adamkiewicz.1. Ami Zota2, Rhona Julien3, John D. Spengler', Jonathan I. Levy'
'Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA;2 University of California at San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA; 3U.S, Environmental Protection Agency, Boston, MA
Background and Objectives: Disparities in indoor environmental quality have not been fully
incorporated into the dialog on environmental justice. Studies of the residential environment frequently
ignore fundamental physical and chemical processes that drive exposure in these spaces, limiting efficient
mitigation. This study explores these proximate (i.e., causal) determinants of environmental exposures
and their relationships to observed disparities.
Methods: A review of the peer-reviewed literature on exposure disparities within indoor environments
and potential driving forces was conducted. This evidence is placed in the context of physical and
chemical models of indoor exposure dynamics to provide insight on the development of mitigation
strategies.
Results: Exposure to lead, secondhand smoke and asthma triggers continue to disproportionately affect
low socioeconomic status populations. Recent evidence highlights additional determinants of disparities
in indoor environmental exposures, including: age of household furnishings, history of pesticide usage,
product usage profiles, lack of mechanical ventilation in kitchens and bathrooms, and air infiltration
pathways (multifamily setting). Physical models of emissions, dynamic partitioning, deposition, re-
suspension and other critical processes can aid in the evaluation of risk-reduction strategies. Shared
pathways (i.e., root causes) and disparities in susceptibility may also contribute to disproportionate
cumulative risks.
Conclusion: Understanding specific physical and chemical pathways aids in the development of
residential interventions that may reduce disparities. The persistence of some chemical residues may
contribute to a "legacy" effect within older housing stock. These linkages will become increasingly
relevant in buildings where energy-saving retrofits or weatherization efforts, motivated by climate change
benefits, may reduce air exchange rates.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Collaborative Investigation of Water Quality in a Community
Bordering Landfills
Minister Robert L. Campbell', David Caldwell', Barbara Hopkins', Shannon H. O 'Shea2, Tom Roche2,
David Richardson3, and Christopher D. Heanev4
1 Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association and Coalition to End Environmental Racism, Chapel
Hill, NC;1 Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public
Health,3Institute for the Environment, "'Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public
Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Background and Objective: The Rogers-Eubanks community is a historically black neighborhood that
predates the Orange County Municipal Landfill sited along its border in 1972. The Rogers-Eubanks
Neighborhood Association (RENA) collaborated with scientists at the University of North Carolina
(UNC) at Chapel Hill with the aim of investigating long-time concerns of public health and well-water
quality in their community.
Methods: Utilizing a community-driven research approach, RENA members and UNC researchers
surveyed households to collect information about signs of private well vulnerability and septic system
failure, and collected and analyzed community drinking water samples for microbial water quality.
Results: Study partners surveyed a total of 27 households. All households with a private well reported
one or more signs of well vulnerability, and 68 percent of households with private septic systems reported
one or more signs of failure. Partners collected and analyzed drinking water samples from 20 households.
There was evidence of higher drinking water turbidity and fecal eoliform concentrations at households
with private wells than at those with regulated public water. Levels of fecal eoliform and E. coli in
household well water exceeded the maximum contaminant limit (MCL) of zero, and enterococci levels
suggest fecal contamination of household drinking water supplies.
Conclusions: The results of this collaborative study provide evidence of noncompliance with federal
public health statutes and a difference between the quality of private well water and regulated public
water in the Rogers-Eubanks community. These results led to community actions to encourage
compliance and initiated a dialogue with national public health and environmental policy leaders.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Examining Determinants of Pesticide Exposures in Public Housing Using
Classification and Regression Tree (CART) Analysis
Rhona Julien', Robert Canutes2, Gary Adamkiewicz3, Jonathan Levy3, and John Spengler
1Research completed at Harvard University, Boston, MA, Current affiliation is U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Boston, MA; 2The New School, New York, NY;3Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, MA
Background and Objectives: The use of chemical pesticides to control cockroach and rodent infestation
in inner-city households is a growing public health concern as pest management practices often include
the use of banned and restricted-use products to control pests. This practice can result in elevated levels of
pesticide residues in the home, but due to prohibitive costs to measure these levels, it is often challenging
to detect highly exposed households. The aim of this study was to devise a low-cost approach to identify
homes in public housing with high levels of pesticide residues, using a screening approach based on
housing characteristics.
Methods: As part of the Healthy Public Housing Initiative, we collected environmental samples from 42
public housing apartments in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2002 and 2003 and obtained information on
household demographics, questionnaire information (e.g., self-reported pesticide use), and home visits.
Focusing on five organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides, we used classification and regression tree
analysis (CART) to disaggregate the pesticide concentration data into homogenous subsamples according
to housing characteristics, which allowed us to identify households impacted by the mismanagement of
pesticides.
Results: The CART analysis demonstrated reasonable sensitivity and specificity given more extensive
household information, but generally poor performance using only information available without a home
visit.
Conclusion: This method has the potential to detect highly exposed households with reasonable
sensitivity and specificity given appropriate information that can subsequently lead to the design of
effective interventions.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
The CEHI Community Assessment Project: A Tool for Linking the Built
Environment With Key Health Outcomes
Marie Lynn Miranda, Gretchen Kroener. and Rebecca Ouyang
Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Duke University, Durham, NC
Background and Objectives: Research shows evidence of associations between the built environment
(BE) and health outcomes. However, there is less research describing instruments able to assess the
spatial variation of the BE and its impact on birth outcomes. The Children's Environmental Health
Initiative's (CEHI) Community Assessment Project (CAP) documents the spatial variation of the BE
using a comprehensive assessment tool. The CAP objectives are to: (1) systematically characterize BE
conditions over a substantial geography; and (2) assess the relationship between BE conditions and health
outcomes.
Methods: Trained assessors canvassed more than 17,000 tax parcels in Central Durham, North Carolina,
using a standardized visual assessment of 40 distinct BE variables. Data were summarized by eight
indices: housing damage, property damage, territoriality, tenure, vacancy, crime, amenities, and
nuisances. Census blocks were assigned an index based on the summary score of primarily and
secondarily adjacent blocks. As a first public health outcome application, the indices were then spatially
linked to birth weight data in Durham.
Results: Regression analysis indicates a strong relationship between the indices and birth weight. That is,
pregnancies in neighborhoods characterized by poor housing conditions and high rates of renter-
occupancy and vacancies are associated with lower birth weights. Furthermore, this association
strengthens with increasing spatial aggregation, indicating that depauperate BEs that manifest over a
wider geography have a greater impact on health outcomes.
Conclusions: The CAP offers a comprehensive inventory of the BE, facilitating the generation of indices
describing neighborhood quality. Clear linkages exist between neighborhood quality and public health
outcomes.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
EPA Inspection and Enforcement Actions Under TSCA To Protect
Vulnerable Populations
Max Weintraub
Region 9, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, San Francisco, CA
Background and Objectives: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspectors are moving
beyond sector-based approaches to addressing vulnerable populations. Childhood lead poisoning
disproportionately harms children of color from low-income families. This study illustrates how an EPA
inspector can provide the greatest benefit to this vulnerable population while enforcing the Section 1018
disclosure requirements for residential lead-based paint under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Methods: Compare different methods to identify inspection targets, collect information during
inspections, and take enforcement actions, to identify best practices.
Results: Inspection targets should be selected based on a cross section of risk factors and the capacity for
potential violators to respond. Existing databases (e.g., HHELPSS, EJ SEAT, EJ GAT, Dun & Bradstreet,
Lex is/Ncxis, NAHMA 100, etc.) provide such information. Data collected during inspections should
include the age of children present, as younger children are at greater risk of lead exposure and trigger
greater penalties under the enforcement policy. When violations are identified, supplemental
environmental projects (SEPs) should be negotiated in lieu of penalty payments to the U.S. Treasury.
SEPs will diminish risks to children and, under SEP policy, can be expanded when Medicaid support to
protect children from lead is unavailable.
Conclusion: TSCA inspections and enforcement can focus on vulnerable populations (i.e., children of
color from low-income families) rather than sectors (i.e., owners and managers of pre-1978 housing). The
most effective actions incorporate components of both approaches. This comprehensive approach may
serve as a model to other statutory inspection and enforcement programs.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Use of Community-Owned and -Managed Research To Assess
Infrastructure Disparities and the Quality of Water and Sewer Services
in Marginalized and Underserved Environmental Justice Communities
SacobvM. Wilson1. Omega Wilson2, Christopher D. Heaney3, Natasha Bumpass3, and John Cooper4
1Institute for Families in Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; 2 West End
Revitalization Association, Mebane, NC;3Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Public
Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; *MDC, Inc., Chapel Hill, NC
Background and Objectives; The West End Revitalization Association (WERA) is a community-based
organization (CBO) in Mebane. North Carolina, that was organized in 1994 to address the illegal planning
of a local highway without the input of impacted stakeholders and with infrastructure disparities—
particularly the lack of basic amenities (sewer and water services), WERA built a partnership with local
researchers to address the planning inequities and infrastructure disparities.
Methods: WERA employed its community-owned and -managed research (COMR) approach to collect
data on infrastructure disparities and environmental hazards. Maps were created of sewer and water
infrastructure and environmental hazards. Community monitor (CM) training workshops, household
water and sewer service surveys, and drinking water and surface water tests of fecal pollution were
completed at private (target) and regulated public (referent) service households in WERA neighborhoods.
Results; Maps illustrated infrastructure and exposure disparities in WERA neighborhoods. CMs
collected survey data showing a mixture of failing private wells and septic systems and regulated public
drinking water and sewer lines. Septic system failure ranged from 11-18 percent. Higher turbidity levels
were observed in private wells compared to regulated public drinking water (p < 0.0001). There was little
evidence of differences in surface water fecal pollution at target and referent sites. Drinking water and
surface water fecal pollution levels exceeded limits protecting health at target and referent households.
Conclusions: COMR methods built community capacity to document infrastructure disparities and fecal
contamination of well water and surface water. The COMR approach can be used by other CBOs to
document infrastructure disparities.
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Data and Methodology Needs: Social
Capital and Community Capacity To
Participate in Environmental Decision
Making
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Enhancing Worker Advocacy: OSHA's Outreach to Diverse
Worker Populations
Kathleen Pagan', Sven Rundman', Elizabeth Morales1, Diana Cortez3, and Diane Turek*
'Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSIIA), Washington, DC; J()SHA, Kansas City,
MO; * OSIIA, Tarrytown, NY; 4OSHA, Chicago, IL
Background and Objectives: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a
number of outreach programs for underserved, diverse worker populations. Throughout the country,
OSHA Area Offices have formed alliances with consulates, worker centers, unions, media, community,
and faith-based organizations to bring worker health and safety information and training to these
populations. The objectives of this poster presentation are to:
• Identify successful approaches to communication with low-income and minority worker groups.
• Explore the role of worker centers, clinics, and other community organizations as worker
representatives for occupational safety and health actions, such as submitting an OSHA complaint.
• Discover other positive outcomes of these programs, such as enhanced community self-advocacy for
both occupational and environmental health threats.
Methods: A questionnaire will be designed to describe and quantify outreach programs to minority and
underserved worker populations and will include outcome measures and roles of collaborative
organizations. The questionnaire will be sent to OSHA Area Offices. Questionnaires will be analyzed.
Interviews with Area Office representatives will be performed to clarify and highlight successful
initiatives.
Results: OSHA's programs that promote increased worker participation and self-advocacy will be
summarized. Outcome metrics will be described and evaluated. Occupational health programs that have
led to environmental health policy concerns will be illustrated.
Conclusions: Through OSHA's efforts to collaborate with diverse organizations, underserved workers
have increased access to health and safety information and improved ability to lake action to create safer
work and home environments.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Building Community Capacity in Environmental Decision-Making Through
Community Lawyering: A Case Study
Steven Fischbach
Rhode Island Legal Services, Providence, RI
Community Lawyering is an emerging approach to the practice of poverty law where representation
decisions are based on community-identified needs. In addition to litigation, Community Lawyering
involves policy research, community education, and transactional work aimed at increasing the capacity
of communities to affect government decision-making. Rhode Island Legal Services' (RILS) Community
Lawyering Project helped build the capacity of low-income residents to affect environmental policy
decisions. First, RILS represented residents in a lawsuit challenging the Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management's (DEM) decision approving the siting of public schools on the former
Providence City Dump. The lawsuit was successful, and DEM was ordered to convene a Stakeholder
Group that included RILS' clients to develop policy proposals on community involvement and
environmental justice. Before the court's ruling, RILS obtained U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) funds to conduct policy research on state agency environmental justice programs. The Stakeholder
Group used the research's results to develop policy proposals. This year, DEM adopted a comprehensive
environmental justice policy developed by the Stakeholder Group, and additional proposals will be
considered by DEM in 2010. With other EPA funding, RILS conducted several community educational
forums on environmental issues residents expressed interest in, culminating in the first statewide
conference on environmental justice. Thereafter, conference attendees decided to form the Environmental
Justice League of Rhode Island (EJLRI). RILS helped EJLRI incorporate and obtain funds to hire staff.
Changes in DEM policies and creation of a new organization have significantly increased the capacity of
environmental justice communities to participate in environmental policy decisions.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Zinc Residues in Caribou: A Dilemma Presented to the Selawick, AK,
Community: Community Decisions About Risk and Benefit
Claire A. Franklin1, Christine F. Chaisson2, and Anne Marie Chaisson3
'The Lifel.ine Group, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; 2The LifeLine Group, Annandale, VA;
sThe LifeLine Group, Durham, NC
Background and Objectives: Zinc residues were repeatedly found in caribou of herds migrating near
Selawick, Alaska—an Inupiat Eskimo community. The consequences of ending caribou consumption to
avoid zinc exposure could cause cultural upheaval, food insecurity, and nutritional deficiencies. Most
Western science risk assessment approaches are poor aids to community leaders facing such choices for
their people. The objective was to introduce new LifeLine risk assessment tools and assess how they
performed in expanding community capacity and how they fit into the overall needs of the decision-
makers.
Methods: Selawick community leaders and an advisor worked with LifeLine to create realistic dietary
profiles, including caribou consumption by age and season, which were applied with zinc residue data to
Customized Dietary Assessment Software® yielding community-specific risk estimates and inherent
variability. Selawick's advisor interpreted results to community members. Leaders considered this
information with their existing cultural parameters for decision-making. Together, we evaluated the
contribution of the new methodological approaches and tools toward building community capacity and
sensitivity to this example of disproportionate exposure and potential health impact.
Results: Risk assessments were deemed relevant to the community and reflected variables due to
personal preference, seasonality, and other factors. Zinc exposure from caribou presented less problems
than consequences of ending the hunt and food source. With the aid of technical advisors, LifeLine tools
aided the decision-makers in three of four criteria.
Conclusions: New software and methodological approaches can expand community capacity in health
and policy decision-making. Nutritional profiling capacity and community training are critical next steps.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Synthesizing Environmental Justice Planning Into Transportation Planning
for Projects in the Southeastern United States Through Enhanced
Public Involvement
Myra Rutherdale Immings
Federal Transit Administration, Atlanta, GA
Background and Objectives; Although the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 has
since its inception incorporated requirements for evaluation of potentially adverse social effects
associated with federally funded transportation projects, the traditional interagency consultation and
public involvement processes supporting NEPA have inadequately represented low-income and minority
factions. This study strives to investigate the potential for infusing specific public involvement activities,
techniques, and special accommodations to attract and sustain high-quality participation by at-risk groups
in such a manner as to best integrate salient social dynamic information into the NEPA project
recommendation.
Methods: Structured interviews with environmental justice (EJ) advocates, leaders representing business
and faith-based communities, elected officials, representatives of key Metropolitan Planning
Organizations (MPO), State Departments of Transportation (DOT), and federal agencies within the
Southeastern Region were supplemented by a 50+ question written survey that explored participation
preferences and correlated specific techniques with successful project development. Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA)/Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Planning Certification Reviews
monitored quality assurance of the MPO and DOT public involvement program efforts over 15 years.
Interagency consultations pursuant to tribal, brownfields reclamation, Clean Water Act, and Clean Air
Act conformity issues provide viable vehicles for continual refinement of best practices in EJ-directed
public engagement.
Results: Neighborhood association and homeowners' association meetings, public hearings,
informational open houses hosted by project sponsors, stakeholder meetings (beginning at the problem-
identification stage of scoping), and planning eharrettes are the most effective public involvement plan
activities. They are most effective when generated using plain language and visualization techniques such
as Visual Preference Surveys and computer animations. Sponsor provision of fully accessible facilities,
transportation, childcare, and meals further enhances full participation by at-risk groups.
Conclusion: Communities (MPO, state and federal agencies [EPA, FHWA, ACHP, FTA, et al.j) can
collectively influence enhancement of public involvement mechanisms through focused interagency
consultation and development of plain language, highly visual presentation techniques using specifically
identified high-value activities to attract participation by El at-risk groups to promote quality projects
stimulating community cohesion, livability, and sustainability.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making; A Symposium on the Science of
Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
Forgotten People CDC—The Navajo Nation Laboratory
Don Yellowman and Marsha Monestersky
Forgotten People Community Development Corporation, Tuba City, Navajo Nation, AZ
In Navajo Nation creation stories, Monster Slayer and Born for Water twins stopped monsters from
killing people. The monsters today are uranium and coal.
The Navajo Nation produces most of the energy for the Southwest, but many Navajo homes lack
sanitation and piped water. In 1966, the U.S. government imposed the Bennett Freeze denying all
infrastructure repairs or construction, meaning today 3 percent of families have electricity and 10 percent
have running water.
During the "freeze," more than 100 million tons of mill tailings accumulated in the Four Corners area of
the Southwest. These mill tailings contain radium and thorium with a half-life of 80,000 years.
Superfund reports 520 abandoned uranium mines on Navajo Nation land, with 25 percent of the
unregulated sources in the western Navajo reservation exceeding drinking water standards for kidney
toxicants, including uranium.
Lack of remedial action is discrimination. Policy makers need to be educated about health implications to
make informed choices, thereby avoiding unintended harm and costs. The United Nations currently holds
consultations on private sector participation under provisions of water and sanitation services. People
directly affected need a seat at the Navajo Nation's and the Federal Government's table, with
participatory involvement and access to information. Partnerships are needed to deliver safe drinking
water and basic sanitation to curb disease.
Traditional principles of indigenous peoples must be incorporated immediately to ensure the U.S.
government meets its commitment to protect public health and the environment and reduce indigenous
households lacking sanitation and safe drinking water.
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Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A
Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
March 17 -19, 2010
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC
PARTICIPANTS LIST
Troy Abel
Western Washington University
Huxley College of the Environment
Department of Environmental Studies
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
Telephone: (360) 650-6133
E-mail: abelt@wwu.edu
Gary Adamkiewicz
Harvard School of Public Health
Landmark Center West, Room 426
401 Park Drive
Boston, MA 02215
Telephone: (617) 384-8852
E-mail: gadamkie@hsph.harvard.edu
Lois Adams
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England, Region 1 (OEP06-2)
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109-3912
Telephone: (617)918-1591
E-mail: adams.lois@epa.gov
Elmer Akin
MDB, Inc.
100 Capitola Drive, Suite 308
Durham, NC 27713
Telephone: (770) 422-7992
E-mail: elmerakin@bellsouth.net
Aixa Aleman-Diaz
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9520
E-mail: aleman-diaz.aixa@epa.gov
Mustafa Ali
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2606
E-mail: ali.mustafa@epa.gov
Annabelle Allison
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office of Tribal Affairs (F-61)
4770 Buford Highway, NW
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-3991
E-mail: aallison@cdc.gov
Sonia Altieri
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1601M)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-0243
E-mail: altieri.sonia@epa.gov
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Paul Anastas
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office and Research and Development
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-6620
E-mail: anastas.paul@epa.gov
Laura Anderko
Georgetown University
3700 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20057
Telephone: (202) 687-3317
E-mail: la266@georgetown.edu
Steve Anderson
New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection
401 E State Street
Trenton, NJ 08625
Telephone: (609) 292-1734
E-mail: steve.anderson@dep.state.nj.us
David Andrews
Food & Water Watch
1616 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (773) 316-1167
E-mail: dandrews@fwwatch.org
Joan Aron
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Science Advisor
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-0131
E-mail: aron.joan@epa.gov
Janine Ashe
Federal Highway Administration
Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Room E81-125
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: (202) 366-9057
E-mail: janine.ashe@dot.gov
Daniel Axelrad
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Administrator
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation
Ariel Rios Building (1809T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2304
E-mail: axelrad.daniel@epa.gov
Judith Baigis
Georgetown University
School of Nursing and Health Studies
Department of Nursing
3700 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: (202) 687-5127
E-mail: baigisj@georgetown.edu
Olivia Balandran
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 6
Water Quality Protection Division
1445 Ross Avenue (6WQ)
Dallas, TX 75202
Telephone: (214) 665-7257
E-mail: balandran. olivia-r@epa.gov
Ellen Baldridge
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
109 TW Alexander Drive (C3 04-04)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-5684
E-mail: baldridge.ellen@epa.gov
Diane Ballerino-Regan
Duke University
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Office of Occupational Medicine
200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 3457
Washington, DC 20210
Telephone: (202) 693-2123
E-mail: dballerino-regan@dol.gov
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Ana Baptista
Ironbound Community Corporation
Environmental and Planning Department
179 Van Buren Street
Newark, NJ 07105
Telephone: (973) 589-3353
E-mail: abaptista@ironboundcc .org
Sherry Baron
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
4676 Columbia Parkway
Cincinnati, OH 45226
Telephone: (513) 458-7159
E-mail: sbaron@cdc.gov
Stan Barone
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Ariel Rios Building (8623P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 347-8555
E-mail: barone.stan@epa.gov
Dana Barton
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Superfund Community Involvement
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 972-3087
E-mail: barton.dana@epa.gov
Timothy Barzyk
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
109 TW Alexander Drive (E205-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-1520
E-mail: barzyk.timothy@epa.gov
Rupa Basu
Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessments
1515 Clay Street, 16th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 622-3156
E-mail: rbasu@oehha.ca.gov
Thomas Baugh
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 4
61 Forsyth Street, SW (9T25)
Atlanta, GA 30303
Telephone: (404) 562-8275
E-mail: baugh.thomasl@epa.gov
Amanda Baxter
Whitman, Requardt and Associates, LLP
Environmental Department
801 S Caroline Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
Telephone: (443) 848-6096
E-mail: abaxter@wrallp.com
Mirtha Beadle
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Office of Public Health and Science
Office of Minority Health
1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 600
Rockville, MD 20852
Telephone: (240) 453-2882
E-mail: mirtha.beadle@hhs.gov
Sharon Beard
National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
Worker Education and Training Program
PO Box 12233
109 TW Alexander Drive (MD K3-14)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2233
Telephone: (919) 541-1863
E-mail: beardl@niehs.nih.gov
David Bellinger
Harvard Medical School
Department of Neurology
Children's Hospital Boston
Farley Basement, Box 127
300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Telephone: (617) 355-6565
E-mail: david.bellinger@childrens.harvard.edu
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Rosanna Beltre
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-7241
E-mail: rosannabeltre@gmail.com
Martha Berger
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Children's Health Protection
Ariel Rios Building (1107A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2191
E-mail: berger.martha@epa.gov
Tobie Bernstein
Environmental Law Institute
2000 L Street, NW, Suite 620
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 939-3869
E-mail: bernstein@eli.org
Rajiv Bhatia
San Francisco Department of Public Health
1390 Market Street, Suite 822
San Francisco, CA 94709
Telephone: (415) 252-3982
E-mail: rajiv.bhatia@sfdph.org
Mohammed Billah
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Office of Wastewater Management
Water Permits Division
Ariel Rios Building (4203M)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2228
E-mail: billah.mohammed@epa.gov
Laurel Borowski
National Cancer Institute
Excutive Plaza South
6120 Executive Boulevard
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 594-6984
E-mail: borowskil@mail.nih.gov
Lillian Bradley
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
109 TW Alexander Drive (439-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-5694
E-mail: bradley.lillian@epa.gov
Sherry Brandt-Rauf
University of Illinois Chicago
Environmental and Occupational Health and
Safety
2121 W Taylor Street
Chicago, IL 60612
Telephone: (312) 996-8609
E-mail: spejo@aol.com
Paula Braveman
University of California, San Francisco
3333 California Street, Suite 365
Box 0943
San Francisco, CA 94118-0943
Telephone: (415)476-6839
E-mail: braveman@fcm.ucsf.edu
Carole T. Braverman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Region 5 (ML-IOC)
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604
Telephone: (312) 353-7359
E-mail: braverman.carole@epa.gov
Amy Braz
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 1 (ORA19-1)
5 Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109
Telephone: (617) 918-1346
E-mail: braz.amy@epa.gov
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Dennis Brender
507 W 15th Street
Austin, TX 78701
Telephone: (512)478-4411
E-mail: brenderdds@msn.com
Jean Brender
Texas A&M Health Science Center School of
Rural Public Health
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
219 SRPH Administration Building
College Station, TX 77843-1266
Telephone: (979) 862-1573
E-mail: jdbrender@srph.tamhsc.edu
Maggie Breville
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Research
Environmental Science Research Division
Ariel Rios Building (8723F)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9779
E-mail: breville.maggie@epa.gov
Patrick Breysse
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health
615 N Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: (410) 955.3608
Email: pbreysse@jhsph.edu
Sue Briggum
Waste Management
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 590
Washington, DC 20004
Telephone: (202) 639-1219
E-mail: sbriggum@wm.com
Franca Brilliant
National Environmental Education Foundation
4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 160
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: (202)261-6461
E-mail: fbrilliant@neefusa.org
Tyra Bryant-Stephens
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
3535 Market Street, Suite 1032
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: (215) 590-5020
E-mail: stephenst@email.chop.edu
Joanna Burger
Rutgers University
Division of Life Sciences
604 Allison Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854-8095
Telephone: (732)445-4318
E-mail: burger@biology.rutgers.edu
Laureen Burton
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Indoor Environments Division
Ariel Rios Building (6609J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9032
E-mail: burton.laureen@epa.gov
Holly Cairns
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection
Office of Environmental Advocate
400 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Telephone: (412)442-4116
E-mail: hcairns@state.pa.us
Jessie Carr
Columbia University
Mailman School of Public Health
60 Haven Avenue, B-l
New York, NY 10032
Telephone: (347) 225-5583
E-mail: jessielcarr@gmail.com
Candace Carraway
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
(C304-3)
109 TW Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919)541-3189
E-mail: carraway.candace@epa.gov
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Nora Carreras
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection
Office of Environmental Advocate
RCSOB, 16th Floor
400 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Telephone: (717) 783-9731
E-mail: ncarreras@state.pa.us
Christine Chaisson
The Lifeline Group
4610 Quarter Charge Drive
Annandale, VA 22003
Telephone: (703) 978-6496
E-mail: cfchaisson@thelifelinegroup.org
Basile Chaix
Faculte de Medecine Saint-Antoine
Inserm
27 rue Chaligny, U707
Paris 75012
France
Telephone: 00-33-1-44-73-86-64
E-mail: chaix@u707.jussieu.fr
Jayajit Chakraborty
University of South Florida
Department of Geography (NES 107)
4202 E Fowler Avenue
Tampa, FL 33620
Telephone: (813) 974-8188
E-mail: jchakrab@cas.usf.edu
Grace Chang
Political Economy Research Institute
418 N Pleasant Street, Suite A
Amherst, MA 01002
Telephone: (617)276-6309
E-mail: ghchang@econs.umass.edu
Gail Christopher
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Department of Food, Health, and Weil-Being
1 Michigan Avenue East
Battle Creek, MI 49017
Telephone: (269) 969-2023
E-mail: gail.christopher@wkkf.org
Edward Chu
White House Council on Environmental Quality
Green Jobs, Community Protection, and Climate
Solutions
722 Jackson Place, NW
Washington, DC 20503
Telephone: (202) 456-3486
E-mail: echu@ceq.eop.gov
Lindsay Claus
605 North Carolina Avenue, SE, Unit 1
Washington, DC 20003
Telephone: (202) 550-8378
E-mail: lindsay.claus@gmail.com
Jane Clougherty
Harvard School of Public Health
New York City Department of Health
22 Cortlandt Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 11215
Telephone: (617)816-7717
E-mail: jcloughe@hsph.harvard.edu
Aaron Cohen
Health Effects Institute
101 Federal Street, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02110-1817
Telephone: (617)488-2325
E-mail: acohen@healtheffects.org
Charlton Coles
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry
Department of Toxicology and Environmental
Medicine (MS F62)
4700 Buford Highway, NE
Chamblee, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-3345
E-mail: fzn3@cdc.gov
Mary Collins
University of California, Santa Barbara
2400 Bren Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131
Telephone: (407) 729-7925
E-mail: mcollins@bren.ucsb.edu
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Gwen Collman
National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
Division of Extramural Research and Training
PO Box 12233
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Telephone: (919) 541-4980
E-mail: owens3@niehs.nih.gov
Margaret Conomos
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Information
Ariel Rios Building (2842T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-0617
E-mail: conomos.margaret@epa.gov
Mark Corrales
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Administrator
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation
Ariel Rios Building (1803A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-7493
E-mail: corrales.mark@epa.gov
Deborah Cory-Slechta
University of Rochester School of Medicine
Department of Environmental Medicine
Box EHSC, Room 2-6812
575 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, NY 14534
Telephone: (585) 275-7060
E-mail: deborah cory-
slechta@urmc.rochester.edu
Stephen Couch
The Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill
Department of Academic Affairs
200 University Drive
Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972
Telephone: (570) 385-6100
E-mail: src@psu.edu
Maureen Cropper
Resources for the Future
1616 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 328-5083
E-mail: cropper@rff.org
Jace Cuje
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Office of Science Policy
Ariel Rios Building (8104R)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-1795
E-mail: cuje.jace@epa.gov
Bridgid Curry
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Administrator
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation
Ariel Rios Building (1803A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 565-2567
E-mail: curry.bridgid@epa.gov
Betty Dabney
University of Maryland
School of Public Health
Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental
Health
Building 255, Valley Drive, Room 2234J
College Park, MD 20742
Telephone: (301) 405-6583
E-mail: bdabney@umd.edu
Alva Daniels
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (870IF)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9895
E-mail: daniels.alva@epa.gov
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Sally Darney
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Human Health Research Program (E205-09)
109 TW Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-3826
E-mail: darney.sally@epa.gov
Cathy Davis
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Child and Aging Health Protection Division
Office of Children's Health Protection and
Environmental Education
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2703
E-mail: davis.catherinem@epa.gov
Kim DeFeo
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry
4470 Buford Highway, NE
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-3647
E-mail: kim.defeo@gmail.com
Michelle DePass
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of International Affairs
Ariel Rios Building (261 OR)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-6600
E-mail: depass.michelle@epa.gov
Antonio Diaz
People Organized to Demand Economic and
Environmental Rights
474 Valencia Street, Suite 125
San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: (415)431-4210
E-mail: info@podersf.org
Melissa Dreyfus
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Superfund Community Involvement and
Program Initiatives Branch
One Potomac Yard
2777 S Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22202
Telephone: (703)603-8792
E-mail: dreyfus.melissa@epa.gov
Dana Dumas
Georgetown University
Department of Nursing
1013 Bayshore Road
Nokomis, FL 34275
Telephone: (941)223-6823
E-mail: dhd23@georgetown.edu
Felicia Eaves
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
1090 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 789-3530
E-mail: feaves@jointcenter.org
Jason Edwards
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Office of Science Policy
Ariel Rios Building (8104R)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-5568
E-mail: edwards.jason@epa.gov
Margaret Eggers
Montana State University
Department of Microbiology
Lewis Hall 109
PO Box 173520
Bozeman, MT 59717
Telephone: (406) 994-3064
E-mail: mari.eggers@biofilm.montana.edu
Chinyere Ekechi
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway, NW
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-0631
E-mail: cekechi@cdc.gov
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Gary Ellison
National Cancer Institute
Division of Cancer Control and Population
Sciences
Executive Plaza North, Room 5108
6130 Executive Boulevard
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301)496-9600
E-mail: ellisong@mail.nih.gov
Bruce Engelbert
MDB, Inc.
1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (703)243-0431
E-mail: bengelbert@michaeldbaker.com
Paul English
California Department of Public Health
Department of Environmental Health
Building P, Third Floor
850 Marina Bay Parkway
Richmond, CA 94804
Telephone: (510) 620-3684
E-mail: penglish@dhs.ca.gov
Jonathan Essoka
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 3 (3EC00)
1650 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Telephone: (215) 814-5774
E-mail: essoka.jonathan@epa.gov
Amanda Evans
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Ariel Rios Building (8104R)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2208
E-mail: evans.amanda@epa.gov
Ericka Farrell
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Civil Rights
External Compliance Program (Title VI)
Ariel Rios Building (1201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9224
E-mail: farrell.ericka@epa.gov
Beth Fein gold
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
615 N Wolfe Street, Room E6628
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: (410) 955-8692
E-mail: bfeingol@jhsph.edu
Nigel Fields
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (8104R)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-3405
E-mail: fields.nigel@epa.gov
Timothy Fields, Jr.
MDB, Inc.
1101 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 331-0060
E-mail: tfields@michaeldbaker.com
Zaida Figueroa
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Health Effects Division
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 308-0015
E-mail: figueroa.zaida@epa.gov
Gale Filter
California Environmental Protection Agency
Depatment of Toxic Substances Control
10011 Street, 11th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95812
Telephone: (916)445-3941
E-mail: gfilter@dtsc.ca.gov
9
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Laurel Firestone
Community Water Center
311 W Murray Avenue
Visalia, CA 93291
Telephone: (559) 733-0219
E-mail:
laurel.firestone@communitywatercenter.org
Michael Firestone
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Children's Health Protection
Ariel Rios Building (1107A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2199
E-mail: firestone.michael@epa.gov
Steven Fischbach
Rhode Island Legal Services
56 Pine Street, Suite 400
Providence, RI 02903
Telephone: (401)274-2652
E-mail: steve.fischbach@gmail.com
Brenda Foos
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Children's Health Protection
and Environmental Education
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2707
E-mail: foos.brenda@epa.gov
Sheila Foster
Fordham Law School
140 W 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
Telephone: (212) 636-7771
E-mail: sfoster@law.fordham.edu
Stiven Foster
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Ariel Rios Building (5103T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 532-3880
E-mail: foster.stiven@epa.gov
Maria Franco-Spera
New Jersey Depatment of Environmental
Protection
401 E State Street, Seventh Floor
PO Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625
Telephone: (609) 633-0715
E-mail: maria.franco-spera@dep.state.nj.us
Claire Franklin
The LifeLine Group
24 Commanche Drive
Ottawa, ON
Canada
Telephone: (613)225-0032
E-mail: cafranklin@thelifelinegroup.org
Nicholas Freudenberg
Hunter College
School of Public Health
425 E 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Telephone: (212)481-4363
E-mail: nfreuden@hunter.cuny.edu
Howard Frumkin
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Environmental Health
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry
4770 Buford Highway, NE, MS F-61
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-0604
E-mail: hfrumkin@cdc.gov
Shelley Fudge
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Information
Office of Information Analysis and Access
Ariel Rios Building (2844T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-0674
E-mail: fudge.shelley@epa.gov
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Bill Gallegos
Communities for a Better Environment
Huntington Park Office
5610 Pacific Boulevard, Suite 203
Huntington Park, CA 90255
Telephone: (323) 826-9771, ext. 109
E-mail: billgallegos@cbecal.org
Lisa Garcia
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
E-mail: garcia.lisa@epa.gov
Andrew Geller
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
109 TW Alexander Drive (E205-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-4208
E-mail: geller.andrew@epa.gov
Angela Gilbert
University of South Florida
15416 Plantation Oaks Drive, Room 15
Tampa, FL 33647
Telephone: (239) 940-0928
E-mail: acgilber@mail.usf.edu
Cynthia Giles
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance
Ariel Rios Building (2201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2440
E-mail: huffman.linda@epa.gov
Gary Ginsberg
Connecticut Department of Public Health
410 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06134
Telephone: (860) 509-7750
E-mail: gary.ginsberg@ct.gov
Thomas Glass
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health
Department of Epidemiology
615 N Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21212
Telephone: (443) 287-4832
E-mail: tglass@jhsph.edu
Michael Gochfeld
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New
Jersey
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Department of Clinical Research and
Occupational Medicine
170 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854
Telephone: (732)445-0123
E-mail: gochfeld@eohsi.rutgers.edu
Kim Goins
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Transit Administration
TPE Unit E45-126
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Telephone: (202) 366-8522
E-mail: kimberly.goins@dot.gov
Tom Goldtooth
The Indigenous Environmental Network Media
Team
PO Box 485
Bemidji, MN 56619
Telephone: (218) 751-4967
E-mail: ien@igc.org
Toiya Goodlow
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Health Effects Division
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 308-0070
E-mail: goodlow.toiya@epa.gov
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Lauren Gordon
Children's Hospital-Mid Atlantic Center for
Children's Health and the Environment
Children's Advocacy Institute
2233 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 317
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: (202)471-4829
E-mail: lgordon@cnmc.org
Richard Schulterbrandt Gragg, III
Florida A&M University, Environmental
Sciences Institute
Florida Center for Environmental Equity and
Justice
1515 S Martin Luther King Boulevard,
Room 305
Tallahassee, FL 32307
Telephone: (850) 322-6836
E-mail: richard.gragg@famu.edu
Gary Grant
Concerned Citizens of Tillery
PO Box 61
Tillery, NC 27887
Telephone: (252) 826-3017
E-mail: tillery@aol.com
Peter Grevatt
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Children's Health Protection and
Environmental Education
Ariel Rios Building (1107A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2188
E-mail: grevatt.peter@epa.gov
Charles Griffiths
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Economics
Ariel Rios Building (1809T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2288
Email: griffiths.charles@epamail.epa.gov
Brenda Groskinsky
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 7
910 N Fifth Street (RGADIO)
Kansas City, KS 66101
Telephone: (913)551-7188
E-mail: groskinsky.brenda@epa.gov
Norys Guerra
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry
Demographic and Health Surveys
4770 Buford Highway, NE, MS F-5
Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
Telephone: (770) 488-3804
E-mail: nguerra@cdc.gov
Christine Guitar
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-7351
E-mail: guitar.christine@epa.gov
Lor en Hall
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Civil Rights
Ariel Rios Building (1201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9675
E-mail: hall.loren@epa.gov
Trish Hall
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-5263
E-mail: hall.patricia@epa.gov
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Lindsay Handelsman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Public Health Fellow
Association of Schools of Public Health
1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 910
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 343-9378
E-mail: handelsman.lindsay@epa.gov
Irene Hantaan
University of Maryland
School of Law
154 Southdown Road
Edgewater, MD 21037
Telephone: (443) 871-8740
E-mail: ihant001@umaryland.edu
Monique Harden
Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
650 Poydras Street, Suite 2523
New Orleans, LA 70130
Telephone: (504) 799-3060
E-mail: mharden@ehumanrights.org
Sam Harper
McGill University
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and
Occupational Health
1020 Pine Avenue West
Montreal, QC H3A 1A2
Canada
Telephone: (514) 398-2856
E-mail: sam.harper@mcgill.ca
Reginald Harris
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement, Compliance, and
Environmental Justice
Region 3
1650 Arch Street (3EC00)
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Telephone: (215) 814-2988
E-mail: harris.reggie@epa.gov
Earl Hatley
Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency
19257 S 4403 Road
Vinita, OK 74301
Telephone: (918)256-5269
E-mail: ehatley@neok.com
Fred Hauchman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Ariel Rios Building (8104R)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-3151
E-mail: hauchman.fred@epa.gov
Monica Hawkins
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 343-9856
E-mail: hawkins.monica@epa.gov
Christopher Heaney
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Gillings School of Global Public Health
Department of Epidemiology
125 Rosenau Hall, CB 7435
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400
Telephone: (919)423-6441
E-mail: cdheaney@gmail.com
Lisa Heinzerling
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation
Ariel Rios Building (1804A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Telephone: (202) 564-4332
E-mail: heinzerling.lisa@epa.gov
Jonathan Heller
Human Impact Partners
274 14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 740-0143
E-mail: jch@humanimpact.org
Ross Highsmith
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Exposure Research Laboratory
109 TW Alexander Drive (D3 05 -01)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-7828
E-mail: highsmith.ross@epa.gov
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Michelle Hofmann
University of Utah
Department of Pediatrics
100 N Mario Capecchi Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84113
Telephone: (801) 662-3673
E-mail: michelle .hofmann@hsc .utah. edu
Mike Holloway
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air
Ariel Rios Building (6609J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 343-9426
E-mail: holloway.mike@epa.gov
Brett Howard
Georgetown University
3700 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 687-5127
E-mail: brettdhoward@gmail.com
Myra Immings
Federal Transit Administration
Atlanta Regional Office
Planning and Program Development
230 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30303
Telephone: (404) 865-5608
E-mail: myra.immings@dot.gov
Barbara Israel
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Department of Health Behavior and Health
Education
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Telephone: (734) 647-3184
E-mail: ilanais@umich.edu
Lisa Jackson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1101 A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-4700
E-mail: jackson.lisa@epa.gov
David Jacobs
National Center for Healthy Housing
5025 Hawthorne Place, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Telephone: (202) 607-0938
E-mail: dejacobs@starpower.net
Lesley Jantarasami
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Ariel Rios Building (6207J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9929
E-mail: jantarasami.lesley@epa.gov
Rebecca Jim
Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency
19257 S 4403 Road
Vinita, OK 74301
Telephone: (918)256-5269
E-mail: ijim@neok.com
Mintesinot Jiru
Coppin State University
2500 W North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21216
Telephone: (301)275-4734
E-mail: mjiru@coppin.edu
Ann Job
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Toxic Substances Control
10011 Street, 11th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95812
Telephone: (916)449-5321
E-mail: ajob@dtsc.ca.gov
Nate Johnson
Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association
PO Box 196
300 Front Street
Mullens, WV 25882
Telephone: (304) 250-7053
E-mail: njohnson@ugwawv.org
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Tamara Lewis Johnson
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases
6700 B Rockledge Drive, Room 2151
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301)451-7942
E-mail: lewisj ohnsont@niaid .nih .gov
Sujata Joshi
Oregon Department of Human Services
Office of Environmental Public Health
800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 640
Portland, OR 97232
Telephone: (971) 673-1213
E-mail: sujata.joshi@state.or.us
Amanda Judge
901 N Pollard Street, Apt 1710
Arlington, VA 22203
Telephone: (203) 952-7955
E-mail: judge.amanda@gmail.com
Rhona Julien
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109
Telephone: (617) 918-1782
E-mail: julien.rhona@epa.gov
Daniel Kass
New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene
Department of Environmental Health
125 Worth Street
New York, NY 10013
Telephone: (212) 788-4641
E-mail: dkass@health.nyc.gov
Martha Keating
Duke University
Children's Environmental Health Initiative
PO Box 90328
Durham, NC 27708
Telephone: (919) 613-8736
E-mail: martha.keating@duke.edu
Arcadia Keefe
Georgetown University
304 12th Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Telephone: (518)229-4929
E-mail: arcadiakeefe@georgetown.edu
Hilton Kelley
National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council/Member/Community In-Power and
Development Association Inc.
910 Colorado Avenue
Port Arthur, TX 77642
Telephone: (409) 498-1088
E-mail: hiltonkelleycida@yahoo. com
James Kelley
Jackson State University
Geographic Information Systems
105 Hartfield Place
Clinton, MS 39056
Telephone: (601) 926-4316
E-mail: jkelleyjsu@gmail.com
Nadia Kim
Loyola Marymount University
Department of Sociology
1 LMU Drive, University Hall, Suite 4341
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Telephone: (310) 838-3129
E-mail: nyk888@gmail.com
Roger Kim
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
310 Eighth Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Telephone: (510) 834-8920
E-mail: apen@apen4ej.org
Marva King
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The CARE Program
Ariel Rios Building (6101 A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2599
E-mail: king.marva@epa.gov
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Rebecca Klein
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: (410) 502-7578
E-mail: rklein@jhsph.edu
Amy Kochanowsky
SRA International, Inc.
3434 Washington Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201
Telephone: (703) 284-6232
E-mail: amy_kochanowsky@sra.com
Gretchen Kroeger
Duke University
Children's Environmental Health Initiative
Nicholas School of the Environment
Box 90328
Durham, NC 27708-0328
Telephone: (919) 613-8736
E-mail: gretchen.kroeger@duke.edu
Amy Kyle
University of California, Berkeley
School of Public Health
50 University Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Telephone: (510) 642-8847
E-mail: adkyle@berkeley.edu
Yanna Lambrinidou
Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives
PO Box 6283
Washington, DC 20015
Telephone: (202) 997-1834
E-mail: pnalternatives@yahoo.com
Peter Langlois
Texas Department of State Health Services
Birth Defects Epidemiology and Surveillance
PO Box 149347, MC 1964
Austin, TX 78714-9347
Telephone: (512) 458-7111, ext. 6183
E-mail: peter.langlois@dshs.state.tx.us
Terell Lasane
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Evaluation Support Division
Ariel Rios Building (1807T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-0705
E-mail: lasane.terell@epa.gov
Charles Lee
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building (2201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2597
E-mail: lee.charles@epa.gov
Jennifer Lee
811 Fourth Street, NW, Unit 222
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: (425) 283-2807
E-mail: jenomec@gmail.com
Jonathan Levy
Harvard School of Public Health
Department of Environmental Health
Landmark Center Room 404K
PO Box 15677
Boston, MA 02215
Telephone: (617) 384-8808
E-mail: jilevy@hsph.harvard.edu
Denise Lewis
National Cancer Institute
6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 504
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 496-8519
E-mail: lewisde@mail.nih.gov
Corine Li
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Drinking Water
Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street (WTR-6)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 972-3560
E-mail: li.corine@epa.gov
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Debbie Lowe Liang
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Justice Program
75 Hawthorne Street (CED-1)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 947-4155
E-mail: lowe.debbie@epa.gov
Stephen Linder
University of Texas School of Public Health
1200 Herman Pressler Street
Houston, TX 77030
Telephone: (713) 500-9494
E-mail: Stephen .h ,linder@uth .tmc.edu
Chien-yu Liu
Georgetown University
120 F Street, NW
Box0017
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: (417) 379-3782
E-mail: cl393@law.georgetown.edu
Danelle Lobdell
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Epidemiology Branch
109 TW Alexander Drive (MD 5 8A)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 843-4434
E-mail: lobdell.danelle@epa.gov
Russell Lopez
Northeastern University
Dukakis Institute of Public Policy
519 Harrison Avenue, D615
Boston, MA 92118
Telephone: (617) 331-8561
E-mail: r.lopez@neu.edu
Roseanne Lorenzana
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900 (OEA-095)
Seattle, WA 98101
Telephone: (206) 553-8002
E-mail: lorenzana.roseanne@epa.gov
Katie Lundquist
University of Minnesota
Department of Civil Engineering
500 Pillsbury Drive, SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Telephone: (612) 624-8047
E-mail: lundl074@umn.edu
Jennifer Lynette
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-4907
E-mail: lynette.jennifer@epa.gov
Joseph Lyou
California Environmental Rights Alliance
PO Box 116
El Segundo, CA 90245-0116
Telephone: (310) 536-8237
E-mail: jklyou@envirorights.org
Juliana Maantay
City University of New York-Lehman College
Department of Geography
250 Bedford Park Boulevard, W
Bronx, NY 10468
Telephone: (718) 960-8574
E-mail: juliana.maantay@lehman.cuny.edu
Kelly Maguire
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1809T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2273
E-mail: maguire.kelly@epa.gov
Shannon Marquez
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Mayes College
Department of Health Policy and Public Health
Box 71
600 S 43rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: (215) 596-7578
E-mail: l.white@usp.edu
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Karen Martin
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Ariel Rios Building (5204P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 603-9925
E-mail: martin.karenl@epa.gov
Brittany Martinez
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9678
E-mail: brittany.martinez@epa.gov
Michael Mascarenhas
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Science and Technology Studies
Sage Laboratories 5602, Room 8232
110 Eighth Street
Troy, NY 12180-3590
Telephone: (518)276-2196
E-mail: mascam@rpi.edu
Claudia Mausner
Ironbound Community Corporation
Environmental and Planning Department
179 Van Buren Street
Newark, NJ 07105
Telephone: (973) 589-3353
E-mail: cmausner@ironboundcc.org
Sarah Mazur
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
Office of Science Policy
Ariel Rios Building (8104R)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2678
E-mail: mazur.sarah@epa.gov
Kelly McCall
Georgetown University
3690 38th Street, NW, E239
Washington, DC 20016
Telephone: (202) 436-5979
E-mail: kmm244@georgetown.edu
Britney McCoy
Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Engineering and Public Policy
129 Baker Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Telephone: (412) 521-4546
E-mail: bmccoy@andrew.cmu.edu
Leyla McCurdy
National Environmental Education Foundation
4301 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 160
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: (202)261-6488
E-mail: lmccurdy@neefusa.org
William McDonnell
University of Utah
Department of Pediatrics
295 Chipeta Way
PO Box 581289
Salt Lake City, UT 84158
Telephone: (801) 597-7456
E-mail: william ,mcdonnell@hsc .utah. edu
Bruce McEwen
The Rockefeller University
Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology
Box 165
1230 York Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Telephone: (212) 327-8624
E-mail: mcewen@rockefeller.edu
A1 McGartland
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1809T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2244
E-mail: mcgartland.al@epa.gov
Marlene McGuirl
George Washington University
3416 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007-2705
Telephone: (202) 337-5664
E-mail: marlenemcguirl@aol.com
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Shawn Mckenzie
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: (410) 502-7578
E-mail: smckenzi@jhsph.edu
Cynthia McOliver
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Office of Science and Technology
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-1470
E-mail: mcoliver.cynthia@epa.gov
Michael Metzger
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 305-5883
E-mail: metzger.michael@epa.gov
Gregory Miller
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1107A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2310
E-mail: miller.gregory@epa.gov
Vernice Miller-Travis
Environmental Professional
104 Jewett Place
Bowie, MD 20721
Telephone: (301) 537-2115
E-mail: vmt_3@msn.com
Donald Milton
University of Maryland
Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental
Health
School of Public Health, Building 255
College Park, MD 20740
Telephone: (301) 405-0389
E-mail: dmilton@umd.edu
Marie Lynn Miranda
Duke University Nicholas School of the
Environment
Children's Environmental Health Initiative
Box 90328
Research Drive, LSRC A133
Durham, NC 27708
Telephone: (919)613-8723
E-mail: mmiranda@duke.edu
Adam Mitchell
Georgetown University
4511 Sangamore Road
Bethesda, MD 20816
Telephone: (202) 340-9877
E-mail: arm24@georgetown.edu
Mark Mitchell
Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice
PO Box 2022
Hartford, CT 06145
Telephone: (860) 548-1133
E-mail: mark.mitchell@environmental-
justice.org
Narges Mohammadi
Georgetown University School of Nursing and
Health Studies
3700 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: (301) 520-1077
E-mail: nargesm@gmail.com
Marsha Monestersky
Forgotten People
Program Manager
PO Box 1661
Tuba City, AZ 86045
Telephone: (928)401-1777
E-mail: forgottenpeoplecdc@gmail.com
Sue Moodie
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Department of Environmental Health
715 Washington Place
Baltimore, MD 21201
Telephone: (443) 768-8294
E-mail: smoodie@jhsph.edu
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Charlotte Mooney
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Ariel Rios Building (5304P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 308-7025
E-mail: mooney.charlotte@epa.gov
Rachel Morello-Frosch
University of California, Berkeley
School of Public Health and Environmental
Science Policy and Management
137 Mulford Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Telephone: (510) 643-6358
E-mail: rmf@berkeley.edu
Kristen Morris
Georgetown University Law Center
Box 215
120 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: (812) 320-2609
E-mail: kfmorris@gmail.com
Mahasin Mujahid
University of California, Berkeley
50 University Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Telephone: (510) 643-7155
E-mail: mmujahid@berkeley.edu
Neha Mukhi
1725 Eye Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: (202) 862-2680
E-mail: nmukhi@icfi.com
Irene Dankwa Mullan
National Center on Minority Health and Health
Disparities
Two Democracy Plaza
6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301)402-1366
E-mail: dankwamullani@mail.nih.gov
Patricia Murphy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Assessment
2890 Woodbridge Avenue (MS-104)
Edison, NJ 08837-3679
Telephone: (732) 906-6930
E-mail: murphy.patricia@epa.gov
Jess Myhre
Earth Day Network
Department of Education
1616 P Street, NW, Suite 340
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (772)834-4066
E-mail: myhre@earthday.net
Keeve Nachman
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Department of Environmental Health Sciences
615 N Wolfe Street, W7013
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: (410) 502-7578
E-mail: knachman@jhsph.edu
Tina Ndoh
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
109 TW Alexander Drive (D205-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-2750
E-mail: ndoh.christina@epa.gov
Penny Newman
Center for Community Action and
Environmental Justice
7701 Mission Boulevard
Glen Avon, CA 92509
Telephone: (919) 321-1296
E-mail: penny.n@ccaej.org
Loan Nguyen
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance
Ariel Rios Building (2201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-4041
E-mail: nguyen.loan@epa.gov
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Thuan Nguyen
Georgetown University
1021 Arlington Boulevard, Room 729
Arlington, VA 22209
Telephone: (503) 734-8845
E-mail: thn4@georgetown.edu
William Nichols
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Emergency Management
Ariel Rios Building (5104A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-1970
E-mail: nichols.nick@epa.gov
Lisa Nissley
Maryland Department of the Environment
1800 Washington Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21230
Telephone: (410) 537-3812
E-mail: lnissley@mde.state.md.us
Alexandra Nolen
University of Texas Medical Branch
Center to Eliminate Health Disparities
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, TX 77555
Telephone: (409) 772-8863
E-mail: abnolen@utmb.edu
Regina Norman
University of the District of Columbia
Department of Nursing and Allied Health
Building 44, Room 105
4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: (202) 274-6285
E-mail: rnorman@udc.edu
Leanne Nurse
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Innovation
Ariel Rios Building (1807T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2207
E-mail: nurse.leanne@epa.gov
Michelle Nusum
Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc.
10320 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 500
Columbia, MD 21044
Telephone: (443) 539-4180
E-mail: mnusum@healthyhousingsolutions.com
Onyemaechi Nweke
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building (1809T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2314
E-mail: nweke.onyemaechi@epa.gov
Liam O'Fallon
National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
PO Box 12233 (MD KS3-13)
109 TW Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Telephone: (919) 541-7733
E-mail: ofallon@niehs.nih.gov
Ngozi Oleru
Public Health Seattle and King County
Environmental Health Services
401 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1100
Seattle, WA 98104
Telephone: (206) 263-8476
E-mail: ngozi. oleru@kingcounty .gov
Maureen O'Neill
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
290 Broadway, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Telephone: (212) 637-5025
E-mail: oneill.maureen@epa.gov
Theresa Osypuk
Northeastern University
Bouve College of Health Sciences
360 Huntington Avenue, Robinson 316
Boston, MA 02115
Telephone: (617) 373-3667
E-mail: tosypuk@neu.edu
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Ted Palma
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
109 TW Alexander Drive (C539-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-5470
E-mail: palma.ted@epa.gov
Jennifer Parker
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Room 6107
Hyattsville, MD 20782
Telephone: (301)458.4419
E-mail: jdparker@cdc.gov
Romel Pascual
Mayor's Office, City of Los Angeles
200 N Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Telephone: (213) 922-9767
E-mail: romel.pascual@lacity.org
Manuel Pastor
University of Southern California
Department of Geography and American Studies
and Ethnicity
3620 S Vermont Avenue, KAP 462
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0255
Telephone: (213) 740-5604
E-mail: mpastor@usc.edu
Pinal Patel
Georgetown Law School
400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Apt. 402
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: (229) 425-1207
E-mail: ppp4@law.georgetown.edu
Devon Payne-Sturges
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Research
Ariel Rios Building (8723F)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 343-9852
E-mail: payne-sturges.devon@epa.gov
Zachary Pekar
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
109 TW Alexander Drive (C504-06)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-3704
E-mail: pekar.zachary@epa.gov
Joanne Perodin
Children's Environmental Health Network
110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Room 505
Washington, DC 20002
Telephone: (202) 543-4033
E-mail: jperodin@cehn.org
Nayna Philipsen
Coppin State University
Department of Nursing
2500 W North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21216-3698
Telephone: (410) 951-2630
E-mail: nphilipsen@coppin.edu
Sheila Piper
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Health Effects Division
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 308-2717
E-mail: piper.sheila@epa.gov
James Potter
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 Seventh Street, SW, Room 7248
Washington, DC 20410
Telephone: (202)402-4610
E-mail: james.m.potter@hud.gov
Karen Poulos
George Washington University
1201 S Scott Street, Apartment 707
Arlington, VA 22204
Telephone: (310)266-2238
E-mail: kpoulos@gwmail.gwu.edu
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John Prochaska
University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston
Center to Eliminate Health Disparities
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, TX 77550
Telephone: (979) 574-6111
E-mail: joprocha@utmb.edu
Meghan Radtke
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of the Science Advisor
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-5553
E-mail: radtke.meghan@epa.gov
Karen Randolph
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9679
E-mail: randolph.karen@epa.gov
Suzanne Randolph
The MayaTech Corporation
Department of Research and Evaluation
1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 900
Silver Spring, MD 20770
Telephone: (301) 587-1600
E-mail: srandolph@mayatech.com
James Ransom
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
412 State Route 37
Akwesasne, NY 13655
Telephone: (518) 358-2272
E-mail: jransom@srmt-nsn.gov
Dan Rauch
District Department of the Environment
Fish and Wildlife Division
51 N Street, NE, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20002
Telephone: (202)535-1737
E-mail: daniel.rauch@dc.gov
Antonio Rene
Texas A&M HSC School of Rural Public Health
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
MS 1266
College Station, TX 77843-1266
Telephone: (979) 324-6206
E-mail: aarene@srph.tamhsc.edu
Kitty Richards
Bernalillo County
Office of Environmental Health
111 Union Square, SE, Suite 300
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Telephone: (505) 314-0338
E-mail: krichards@bernco.gov
David Richardson
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
108 Raintree Lane
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Telephone: (919) 604-2259
E-mail: richdh@unc.edu
LaShonia Richardson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 305-5301
E-mail: richardson.lashonia@epa.gov
Michele Roberts
Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
1730 M Street, NW, Suite 412
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 775-0055
E-mail: mroberts@ehumanrights.org
Darrell Rodgers
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Community Environmental Health
National Center for Environmental Health
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry
4770 Buford Highway NE, MS F-61
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-0604
E-mail: drodgers@cdc.gov
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Rockie Rodriguez
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway, NW, MS F61
Atlanta, GA 30341
Telephone: (770) 488-3955
E-mail: rrodriguez@cdc.gov
Henry Roman
Industrial Economics, Inc.
2067 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
Telephone: (617) 354-0074
E-mail: hroman@indecon.com
Arlene Rosenbaum
ICF International
4464 Hillview Way
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
Telephone: (707) 586-2822
E-mail: arosenbaum@icfi.com
Joi Ross
APEX Direct, Inc.
A Public Outreach and Communications
Company
956 S Bartlett Road, Room 253
Bartlett, IL 60103
Telephone: (630) 372-8080
E-mail: jross@alwayspursingexcellence.com
Ana Diez Roux
University of Michigan School of Public Health
3667 SPH Tower
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029
Telephone: (734)615-9204
E-mail: adiezrou@umich.edu
Leonard Rubenstein
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health
615 N Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
Telephone: (443) 287-8749
E-mail: lrubenst@jhsph.edu
Eric Ruder
Industrial Economics, Inc.
2067 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 2410
Telephone: (617) 354-0074
E-mail: eruder@indecon.com
John Ruffin
National Center on Minority Health and Health
Disparities
Two Democracy Plaza
6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800
Bethesda, MD 20892-5465
Telephone: (301)402-1366
E-mail: williake@ncmhd.nih.gov
Suzi Ruhl
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-6643
E-mail: ruhl.suzi@epa.gov
Mary Russell
Maryland Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene
Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities
201 W Preston Street, Room 500A
Baltimore, MD 21201
Telephone: (410) 767-2928
E-mail: mrussell@dhmh.state.md.us
James Sadd
Occidental College
Environmental Science
Department of Geology
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041
Telephone: (323) 259-2518
E-mail: jsadd@oxy.edu
Robin Saha
University of Montana
Environmental Studies Program
32 Campus Drive
Missoula, MT 59812-4320
Telephone: (406) 243-6295
E-mail: robin.saha@umontana.edu
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Anikah Salim
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Association of Schools of Public Health
National Center for Environmental Research
Ariel Rios Building (8723F)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9070
E-mail: salim.anikah@epa.gov
Richard Salkowe
University of South Florida
Department of Geography
4202 E Fowler Avenue, NES 107
Tampa, FL 33620
Telephone: (813) 962-1356
E-mail: rsalkowe@mail.usf.edu
Tamara Saltman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (6103A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2781
E-mail: saltman.tamara@epa.gov
Yolanda Anita Sanchez
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Superfund
Department of Environmental Scientist
Remediation and Technology Innovation,
Community Involvement Branch
Ariel Rios Building (5204P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460-0001
Telephone: (703) 603-9246
E-mail: sanchez.yolanda@epa.gov
William Sanders
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Ariel Rios Building (870IF)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9667
E-mail: sanders.william@epa.gov
Erika Sasser
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
109 TW Alexander Drive (C5 04-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-3889
E-mail: sasser.erika@epa.gov
Helen Scharber
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Department of Economics
Gordon Hall
418 N Pleasant Street, Suite A
Amherst, MA 01002
Telephone: (301) 642-1609
E-mail: hscharbe@econs.umass.edu
Andrew Schulman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Compliance
Ariel Rios Building (2222A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-5244
E-mail: schulman.andrew@epa.gov
Brad Schultz
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
109 TW Alexander Drive (E205-02)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-3881
E-mail: schultz.brad@epa.gov
Joel Schwartz
Harvard School of Public Health
Department of Environmental Health
Department of Epidemiology
Landmark Center, Room 415
665 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Telephone: (617) 384-8752
E-mail: jschwrtz@hsph.harvard.edu
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Alex Scott-Samuel
University of Liverpool
Division of Public Health
Whelan Building
Liverpool L69 3GB
United Kigdom
Telephone: 0044-151-794-5569
E-mail: alexss@liverpool.ac.uk
Cynthia Scully
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Department of Environmental Health
1390 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 252-3989
E-mail: cyndy.comerford@sfdph.org
Deborah Segal
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (8723F)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9797
E-mail: segal.deborah@epa.gov
Emily Selia
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Ariel Rios Building (7506P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703)605-1212
E-mail: selia.emily@epa.gov
Sarah Sharpe
Fresno Metro Ministry/San Joaquin Valley
Cumulative Health Impact Project
1055 N Van Ness Avenue, Suite H
Fresno, CA 93728
Telephone: (559) 485-1416
E-mail: sarah@fresnometmin.org
Peggy Shepard
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
1638 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10031
Telephone: (917)482-1434
E-mail: peggy@weact.org
Martha Shimkin
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Children's Health Protection and
Environmental Education
Ariel Rios Building (1107A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-4470
E-mail: shimkin.martha@epa.gov
Jan Shubert
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (5104A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2527
E-mail: shubert.jan@epa.gov
Carol Ann Siciliano
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of General Counsel
Ariel Rios Building (2322A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-5489
E-mail: siciliano.carolann@epa.gov
Patrice Simms
U.S. Department of Justice
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Office of the Assistant Attorney General
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Telephone: (202) 514-0943
E-mail: patrice.simms@usdoj.gov
Ron Sims
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development
451 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
Telephone: (202) 708-1112
Matthew Small
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
75 Hawthorne Street (MTS-1)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 972-3366
E-mail: small.matthew@epa.gov
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Brian Smedley
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
1090 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20002
Telephone: (202) 789-3500
E-mail: bsmedley@jointcenter.org
Deborah Smegal
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs
Ariel Rios Building (7509P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 308-0175
E-mail: smegal.deborah@epa.gov
MaryBeth Smuts
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100 (OEP05-2)
Boston, MA 02109
Telephone: (617)918-1512
E-mail: smuts.marybeth@epa.gov
Lynne Snyder
National Energy Assistance Directors
Association
1232 31st Street, NW, Third Floor
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: (202)246-5817
E-mail: lsnyder@energyprograms.org
Lillian Stajnbaher
2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, Room 418
Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: (202)470-6741
E-mail: litablue@yahoo.com
Mathy Stanislaus
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (510IT)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-0200
E-mail: stanislaus.mathy@epa.gov
Paula Stigler
The San Diego Foundation
2508 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92106
Telephone: (619)814-1366
E-mail: paula@sdfoundation.org
Julie Sturza
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (1809T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 566-2368
E-mail: sturza.julie@epa.gov
Dean Suagee
Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker LLP
2120 L Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20037
Telephone: (202) 822-8282
E-mail: dsuagee@hobbsstraus.com
Stephanie Suazo
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic
Substances
Ariel Rios Building (7406M)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-3286
E-mail: suazo.stephanie@epa.gov
Wilma Subra
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
PO Box 9813
New Iberia, LA 70562
Telephone: (337) 367-2216
E-mail: subracom@aol.com
John Sullivan
University of Texas Medical Branch
National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences
Center for Community Outreach and Education
Core
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, TX 77555-1110
Telephone: (409) 747-1246
E-mail: josulliv@utmb.edu
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Alexandra Sutton
Colorado State University
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Natural Environmental Sciences, Building A245
200 W Lake Street
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1499
Telephone: (410) 608-5914
E-mail: lexasutton@gmail.com
Diane Takvorian
Environmental Health Coalition
401 Mile of Cars Way, Suite 310
National City, CA 91950
Telephone: (619) 474-0220, ext. 112
E-mail: dianet@environmentalhealth.org
Heather Tanana
University of Utah
332 S 1400 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84102-0730
Telephone: (801) 809-0059
E-mail: tananah@law.utah.edu
Nicholas Targ
Holland & Knight LLP
50 California Street, Suite 2800
San Francisco, CA 94111
Telephone: (415) 743-6926
E-mail: nicholas.targ@hklaw.com
Zaria Tatalovich
National Cancer Institute
Division of Cancer Control and Population
Sciences
6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 504
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 435-2171
E-mail: tatalovichzp@mail.nih.gov
Matthew Tejada
Galveston-Houston Association for Smog
Prevention/Mothers for Clean Air
2311 Canal Street, Suite 326
Houston, TX 77003
Telephone: (713) 528-3779
E-mail: tejada@ghasp.org
Kelley Thompson
1763 Columbia Road, NW, First Floor
Washington, DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 349-3508
E-mail: kthompson@floc.org
Catherine Thomsen
CA Breast Cancer Research Program
300 Lakeside Drive, Sixth Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 287-3835
E-mail: cthomsen@ucop.edu
Whitney Tice
Georgetown University
1301 U Street, NW, Room 319
Washington, DC 20009
Telephone: (414) 339-8423
E-mail: whitney.tice@gmail.com
Kimberly Timperlake
Georgetown University
National Health Service
1532 15th Street, NW, Unit 1
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (415) 902-4708
E-mail: timperlakek@aol.com
Arthur Totten
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Federal Activities
Ariel Rios Building (2252A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-7164
E-mail: totten.arthur@epa.gov
Arati Tripathi
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Justice
Ariel Rios Building (2273A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-2044
E-mail: tripathi.arati@epa.gov
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Pamela Tucker
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30333
Telephone: (770) 488-3497
E-mail: pgtO@cdc.gov
Jim VanDerslice
University of Utah
Division of Public Health
375 Chipeta Way, Suite A
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Telephone: (801) 587-9488
E-mail: jim.vanderslice@utah.edu
Martha Soledad Vela Acosta
The Kresge Foundation
Department of Health
3215 W Big Beaver Road
Troy, MI 48084
Telephone: (248) 643-9630
E-mail: msvela-acosta@kresge.org
Vi Waghiyi
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
505 W Northern Lights Boulevard, Suite 205
Anchorage, AK 99503
Telephone: (907)222-7714
E-mail: vi@akaction.net
Thomas Walker
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Civil Rights
Ariel Rios Building (1201A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)343-9680
E-mail: walker.tom@epa.gov
Holly Watkins
Georgetown University School of Nursing
Department of Health Studies
3700 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: (407) 697-7174
E-mail: hcw5@georgetown.edu
William Weida
Socially Responsible Agricultural Project
PO Box 687
McCall, ID 83638
Telephone: (208) 634-8776
E-mail: bweida@frontiernet.net
Max Weintraub
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
75 Hawthorne Street (CED-4)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: (415) 947-4163
E-mail: weintraub.max@epa.gov
Suzanne Wells
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Initiatives Branch
Office of Superfund Remediation and
Technology Innovation,
Ariel Rios Building (5204P)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703)603-8863
E-mail: wells.suzanne@epa.gov
Michael Wenstrom
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 8 (8ENF-PJ)
1595 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO 80202
Telephone: (303) 312-7009
E-mail: wenstrom.michael@epa.gov
Kenneth Warren
Hangley Aronchick Segal and Pudlin
One Logan Square
Philadelphia, PA 19041
Telephone: (215)496-7024
E-mail: kwarren@hangley.com
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Terry Wesley
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
290 Broadway, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10007-1866
Telephone: (212) 637-5027
E-mail: wesley.terry@epa.gov
James White
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Community and Tribal Programs Group
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
(C304-03)
109 TW Alexander Drive, Room C305-E
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-0842
E-mail: white.james@epa.gov
Amina Wilkins
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Assessment
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (703) 347-8525
E-mail: wilkins.amina@epa.gov
Donele Wilkins
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice
4750 Woodward Avenue, Room 406
Detroit, MI 48201
Telephone: (313) 833-3935
E-mail: dwdwej@aol.com
Jane Williams
California Communities Against Toxics
PO Box 845
Rosamond, CA 93560
Telephone: (661) 510-3412
E-mail: dcapjane@aol.om
Leah Williams
University of South Carolina
Institute for Families in Societies
1600 Hampton Street, Suite 507
Columbia, SC 29208
Telephone: (803) 777-9124
E-mail: will2428@mailbox.sc.edu
Erika Wilson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Office of Atmospheric Programs
Ariel Rios Building (6204J)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 564-3174
E-mail: wilson.erika@epa.gov
Omega Wilson
West End Revitalization Association
PO Box 661
Mebane, NC 27302
Telephone: (919) 321-1296
E-mail: weralusa@earthlink
Sacoby Wilson
University of South Carolina
Institute for Families in Societies
1600 Hampton Street, Suite 507
Columbia, SC 29208
Telephone: (803) 777-2982
E-mail: wilsons2@mailbox.sc.edu
Steve Wing
University of North Carolina
Department of Epidemiology/Public Health
Chapel Hill, NC 27312
Telephone: (919) 966-7416
E-mail: steve_wing@unc.edu
Kate Winterbottom
National Environmental Education Foundation
2301 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: (202)833-2933
E-mail: kwinterbottom@neefusa.org
Tracey Woodruff
1330 Broadway Street, Suite 1100
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 986-8942
E-mail: woodrufft@obgyn.ucsf.edu
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Alice Wright
Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Environmental Advocate
1 E Main Street
Norristown, PA 19401
Telephone: (484) 250-5818
E-mail: awright@state.pa.us
Elizabeth Yeampierre
United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset
Park
166A 22nd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11232
Telephone: (718)492-9307
E-mail: elizabeth@uprose.org
Don Yellowman
Forgotten People
PO Box 1661
Tuba City, AZ 86045
Telephone: (928)401-1777
E-mail: forgottenpeoplecdc@gmail.com
Melanie Young
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Human Health Risk Assessment Branch
Office of Water
Office of Science and Technology
Ariel Rios Building (4304T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202)250-8817
E-mail: young.melanie@epa.gov
Christine Zachek
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
Ariel Rios Building (7404T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Telephone: (202) 556-2219
E-mail: zachek.christine@epa.gov
Valerie Zartarian
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 1 (OEP05-2)
Office of Research and Development
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
1 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02114
Telephone: (617) 918-1541
E-mail: zartarian.valerie@epa.gov
Harold Zenick
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Health and Environmental Effects
Research Laboratory
109 TW Alexander Drive (B305-01)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Telephone: (919) 541-2281
E-mail: zenick.hal@epa.gov
Lilly Zhu
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Secretary
Office of Public Health and Science
Office of Minority Health
1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 600
Rockville, MD 20852
Telephone: (240) 453-8222
E-mail: lzhu@psc.hhs.gov
Todd Ziegler
National Nursing Centers Consortium
260 S Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Telephone: (215)731-7148
E-mail: tziegler@nncc.us
Ami Zota
University of California, San Francisco
Program on Reproductive Health and
Environment
1330 Broadway Street, Suite 1100
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 986-8928
E-mail: zotaar@obgyn.ucsf.edu
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