HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Health September 30 20031 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
2 Board of Health
3
4 September 30, 2003
5
6 The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. by Council Chair Dan
7 McShane in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
8
9
10 Present: Absent:
11 Barbara Brenner Sharon Roy
12 Laurie Caskey-Schreiber
13 Sam Crawford
14 Seth Fleetwood
15 L. Ward Nelson
16
17
18 1. PUBLIC SESSION
19
20 No one spoke.
21
22 2. 2004 DRAFT WORK PLAN SUMMARY OF CHANGES AND ADDITIONAL
23 SERVICE REQUESTS
24
25 Regina Delahunt, Health Department Director, read from the presentation in
26 the Council packet. She would discuss the areas where they will shift focus or
27 where they have found additional sources of funding to enhance or create
28 programs. She introduced two new staff members: Jeff Hegedus, the new
29 Environmental Health Services Division Supervisor and Diane Lowrey, who is a
30 Centers for Disease Control Fellow. She will be with Whatcom County for two
31 years, courtesy of the CDC. The CDC is paying all of her expenses. She worked in
32 the CDC Prevention Specialist program. There were over 200 applicants
33 nationwide, and only 34 available positions. She has a Masters in Public Health. A
34 lot of the program changes have to do with addition of Diane Lowrey to the Health
35 Department staff for two years:
36
37 The Health Department is planning to focus on a few major areas in 2004
38 because they are major health issues and they have an updated behavioral risk
39 factor survey. Three areas are oral health, access to health care, and tobacco.
40 They are the themes the councilmembers will see as they go through the 2004
41 changes.
42
43 There are public health standards that each jurisdiction is supposed to meet.
44 The first standard is protecting people from disease and injury. The enhancements
45 to that requirement will be in the oral health area. Ms. Lowrey will work on this
46 issue. They've already started working in this area by putting together a group of
47 stakeholders, to come up with a five part strategy for assessing the needs in the
18 community. After collecting data, they will form an action plan.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 1
Another enhancement is to childhood immunizations. They have some State
funding to increase health capacity in certain areas. They need to submit proposals
to the State for the funding. Childhood immunizations is an area where they will
use that money. They are putting together groups of stakeholders, and have three
strategies for improving childhood immunization rates, including recruiting
physicians to use a database to enter immunization records. They will also try to
improve immunization practices in physician offices. They will also do public
education and advertising on childhood immunizations.
Another enhancement is to emergency response and communicable disease
and bio-terrorism surveillance. Whatcom County has received additional money
from the federal government to improve their capacity. Staffing for the
communicable disease program has been added. They've also done additional
emergency planning and training.
West Nile virus surveillance will be enhanced, but they have not any
additional funding available from outside sources. They borrowed from other
programs this summer to do some surveillance. They need to at least have a
tracking program over the summer months.
Brenner asked the incubation period of West Nile virus.
Dr. Greg Stern, Health Officer, stated it is a few days to a couple of weeks.
Delahunt stated the County Council will see an additional services request for
the 2004 budget for West Nile virus activities.
Another additional services request of $7,500, for a total request of $14,500,
will come forward for the Domestic Violence Commission. That would make the
County's funding of the Commission par with the City's funding level. October is
domestic violence awareness month. She distributed an event calendar scheduled
for the month (on file).
There will be a decrease in the County's Traffic Safety program, but it won't
decrease the service in the community. The Health Department has partnered with
the Sheriff's Office to do the work. The grant funding for this program has been
transferred over to the Sheriff's Office to use by leveraging for more funding. There
was no impact to staffing.
The next public health standard is understanding health issues. The Health
Status Report for Whatcom County needs updating. Diane Lowrey will work on that
report.
The Child Death Review program has a decrease in funding. The program
will continue, but not at a level when the State funded it.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 2
1 A third public health standard is assuring a safe and healthy environment. A
2 significant enhancement is to update food handler training. The Health Department
3 will use new space that the department received to set up a computerized food
4 handler testing area, similar to the system used by the Department of Licensing.
5 People can come in at their convenience, instead of during the scheduled hours
6 they have now, to take the training and test online. The Health Department will
7 use some State funding to increase its capacity in that area. There will be an
8 additional services request for that activity.
9
10 The Health Department would also like to increase food service inspections.
11 There is not enough staff to inspect establishments as frequently as they would
12 like. An additional services request will propose raising food service fees to cover
13 the cost of a .5 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee to do this task.
14
15 Brenner suggested having a phone number for people to call with concerns
16 about food handling in establishments. Delahunt stated people can call the
17 Environmental Health Division with any food service complaints. Staff will
18 investigate the complaints.
19
20 Brenner suggested distributing literature to emphasize that option.
21
22 Crawford asked if they monitor grocery stores. Delahunt stated they do.
23
24 McShane stated other jurisdictions give out awards to establishments that
25 score highly for food handling. It is a coveted award. It made him feel comfortable
26 about where he was eating. Delahunt stated the practice in Washington State and
27 Whatcom County is that a facility is either good enough to be opened, or it's closed.
28 There is no "C" restaurants in Whatcom County. They're all "A" restaurants or
29 they're closed.
30
31 Crawford stated he understands that those restaurants that are written up
32 will be downgraded temporarily until the problem is fixed. He asked if restaurants
33 are shut down for anything. Delahunt stated they are not. The Health Department
34 uses a point system. If there is a serious violation on a critical item that will make
35 someone sick, the facility will be shut down. It happens a few times a year.
36
37 Caskey-Schreiber stated the Park Store was serving food without a permit,
38 but was asked to close until they received a permit. Delahunt stated a business is
39 not allowed to serve without a permit.
40
41 Caskey-Schreiber stated that didn't happen, but that's another issue. They
42 didn't even apply for a permit. They didn't get shut down, but they were told to
43 stop serving food. The business wasn't shut down.
44
45 Delahunt stated they received additional funding from the state that will go
46 to the Rehab the Lab Program. Staff will go to the chemistry laboratories in the
47 schools in the county to check for unsafe equipment and chemicals. The program is
48 funded from State funding and school matches.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 3
1
2 McShane asked if that has been done previously. Delahunt stated not in her
3 memory. It may have been done a long time ago. It hasn't been done in awhile.
4 It's a short term program.
5
6 The next public health standard is helping people get the services they need.
7 They have a one -stop shop concept. The Executive is planning to put all the
8 additional services requests related to the one -stop shop concept together. The
9 Health Department's part is small. The Health Department will have staff at
10 Planning and Development Services to help people, and will work with Planning
11 staff on land use issues, such as permitting. To do that, the Health Department
12 needs more staff. There will be an additional services request for that.
13
14 Caskey-Schreiber asked if there has been discussion about folding the costs
15 of the one -stop shop into the fees. Delahunt stated there has been that discussion.
16 It is possible they will raise permitting fees to cover these costs.
17
18 Brenner asked if they have discussed co -locating the Health Department with
19 the Planning and Development Services Department in the master facilities
20 planning process. Delahunt stated there has been that discussion. In the big
21 picture, there will be different options that the County will look at. One of those
22 options will be to co -locate all administrative services, including Planning and
23 Health. There is another meeting with the master facilities planners in a couple of
24 weeks. The immediate proposal is to modify the Planning Department so there is
25 space for the Health Department, Flood Division, and other programs. Associated
26 with the one -stop shop concept is the ability to look at the records and files that are
27 available. The Health Department will scan files into a database for cross reference
28 at different locations.
29
30 An article was recently published in the National Journal of Environmental
31 Health entitled "A Comparison of Wellhead Protection Area Delineation Methods for
32 Public Drinking Water Systems in Whatcom County, Washington" and is authored
33 by Health Department staff Chris Miller and Paul Chudek. The article discusses the
34 close relationship among the Planning Division, Land Use Division, and
35 Environmental Health Division for land use purposes. It's significant that the
36 resources the Council put into County technology resulted in the ability to really
37 analyze what is going on and the types of analysis that are beneficial. She
38 submitted the article (on file).
39
40 McShane stated he had requested pesticide contamination data in aquifers
41 from Paul Chudek. The promptness and quality of information was phenomenal.
42 He was very impressed. He asked if the total of one FTE position will do both those
43 activities. Delahunt stated the position will not. There will be a .5 FTE request for
44 food handling and a .5 FTE for the one -stop shop concept. They want to hire one
45 whole person, and then rearrange staff workload to add resources to the food
46 program and to the planning position. One may be contingent on the other
47 because it is not economical, or even possible, to hire half a person. One person
48 will not do both food and planning.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 4
1
2 Another enhancement is to health care access. The Whatcom Alliance for
3 Health Care Access was formed to address the critical need of health care access in
4 the county. They are planning to add resources to help people get the services
5 they need locally. The Health Care Alliance has working groups. She will be the
6 lead on the recruitment and retention work group to make sure they can recruit
7 physicians to the community and make sure they stay. They will also work on
8 health care access for the underserved population.
9
10 The Bright Futures program will decrease. The partnerships are still active,
11 but State funding is no longer available, so the emphasis will be less. It was a
12 program that helped foster care children have a record of their health care in the
13 system, as they move from one place to another. They'll still be able to use the
14 information that resulted from that program.
15
16 The First Steps program will also decrease. Much of the funding for maternal
17 and child home visits come through this program. They have rearranged
18 distribution of funding. She anticipates it will mean a decrease in revenue for the
19 Health Department in this area. They will lose some public health nutritionist time.
20
21 The last public health standard is promoting healthy living. There will be an
22 enhancement to the Tobacco Coalition. There will be a big focus on efforts in this
23 area. There is State funding to get the coalition running. There will be a specific
24 plan of action for 2004 and beyond for the activities in Whatcom County. They will
25 look to partners, such as health care providers, insurers, and schools, to help the
26 County get those actions accomplished.
27
28 Fleetwood stated education doesn't seem to work for certain youth. He
29 asked if there are new methods to prevent kids from smoking. Delahunt stated she
30 doesn't know if the methods are new. They want to energize the tobacco education
31 program. The coalition will focus on youth. The biggest benefit is to start with the
32 youth.
33
34 Nelson stated statistics for Whatcom County show that the percentage of
35 youth who admit to smoking are decreasing. Delahunt stated more people are
36 trying to quit.
37
38 Brenner asked if products designed to help people quit smoking are effective.
39 Delahunt stated there are certain medications that help. She doesn't know about
40 the over-the-counter products.
41
42 Nelson stated the prescription products help alleviate the effects of quitting.
43 They are helpful if a person is committed to quitting. Patches work well if the
44 person is committed to quitting.
45
46 Nelson suggested that the additional services request for the Domestic
47 Violence Commission be moved to the budget for non -departmental programs.
48 Delahunt stated the administration has done that already.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 5
1
2 (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.)
3
4 Nelson asked if they are spending County dollars on the bio-terrorism
5 program. Delahunt stated bio-terrorism is an enhancement to the communicable
6 disease program. In the past they were spending County dollars because they had
7 no additional revenue for communicable disease. Now, they received and are using
8 bio-terrorism grants for bio-terrorism and communicable disease in general. Bio-
9 terrorism is intentional communicable disease. They are not spending any
10 additional County money on bio-terrorism. This is a boon for locals.
11
12 Nelson stated his concern is the West Nile virus. It is a communicable
13 disease. He asked if they can use some of that grant for the West Nile virus
14 program. Delahunt stated they are. They use the communicable disease funds.
15 The community health staff also works on potential West Nile virus cases. The
16 additional services request is for the environmental activities, such as tracking the
17 birds and mosquitoes.
18
19 Nelson stated it's something to think about when evaluating program cost-
20 effectiveness. Bio-terrorism is in the limelight. However, they face more common
21 diseases every day. Delahunt stated the bio-terrorism work helps the department
22 do surveillance for the more common diseases. It adds capacity to the program.
23
24 Caskey-Schreiber stated the number of illegal dumpsites is up. She asked if
25 that is attributed to better reporting, and if the County has to clean up the illegal
26 dumpsites. Delahunt stated the County does not clean them up. The County goes
27 after the property owner and the dumper.
28
29 Caskey-Schreiber stated the number of meth labs is increasing. She asked if
30 it will become a larger problem, in terms of funding. Delahunt stated there is some
31 State Department of Ecology (DOE) funding for illegal drug labs.
32
33 Don Vesper, Environmental Health Services Manager, stated they requested
34 an increase in funding from the DOE through the site hazard assessment grant for
35 the County's response to clandestine drug labs in 2004 and 2005. They haven't
36 been awarded that grant yet. He was informed that they've decreased the amount
37 the County has asked for, but the amount is still more than what they received
38 previously. The State separated the clandestine drug lab response funds from the
39 rest of the money for site hazard assessment. He had to apply for that funding
40 separately. He anticipates the numbers of drug labs to increase. It depends on the
41 level of activity of the law enforcement agencies to determine how much money
42 they will spend on the clandestine drug labs.
43
44 McShane asked if the Sheriff's Office or Drug Task Force has directed any
45 funds to the Department of Health for response. Vesper stated they have not. The
46 Health Department does not do the cleanup. It posts the home or site, and
47 requires the landowner to do the cleanup. The department puts a notice on the
48 title that the property has been contaminated, in case the cleanup is not done.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 6
1
2 McShane stated that if property is confiscated, money is directed to the drug
3 fund from that property. None of that money gets directed to the Health
4 Department. Vesper stated that is correct.
5
6 McShane asked who monitors the cleanup. Vesper stated the property owner
7 can do it a number of ways. The owner has to employ a certified contractor to do
8 monitoring. The Health Department has monitored some sites with a low level of
9 contamination. Cleanup is the property owner's responsibility.
10
11 Delahunt stated the contractor submits a cleanup plan to the Health
12 Department, which approves the plan. The contractor does testing after the
13 cleanup, and the Health Department declares the site fit for occupancy.
14
15 Caskey-Schreiber asked if the Health Department revisits the site. That must
16 involve some manpower. Delahunt stated the property is posted and there is a
17 notice on the title. Staff works with the contractor to make sure the cleanup plan is
18 approved.
19
20 Caskey-Schreiber stated the cleanup wouldn't be an issue unless the owners
21 tries to sell the property. Vesper stated staff does a drive -by inspection to see if
22 the property has been cleaned up. The owners of rental units are generally
23 compliant about getting things cleaned up. They are more concerned about an
24 owner's property that is contaminated and about staff safety when going to those
25 sites.
26
27 Caskey-Schreiber stated she is more concerned about rental units that are
28 more likely to be reoccupied soon.
29
30 Brenner asked if the County has any authority over rental units that aren't
31 being cleaned up before being rented out. Vesper stated the County makes that
32 statement in the order it issues.
33
34 Delahunt stated the Health Department declares a site unfit for occupancy.
35 If the staff found that a site were being occupied, the owner would be in violation of
36 the law.
37
38 Brenner asked if the County has any ability to take care of cleanup if the
39 owner is in jail or absent. Vesper stated the law may provide for it, but the County
40 hasn't exercised it.
41
42 Brenner stated that if a property is left unclean, kids or animals may be able
43 to track the contamination to other places. Delahunt stated the sites usually aren't
44 so contaminated that the contamination can be moved to another location. If a kid
45 were to play in an abandoned contaminated house, the kid could come in contact
46 with the chemicals. The site is posted. The County has not cleaned up these
47 facilities. She doesn't recall any other counties that have done cleanup.
48
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 7
1 Nelson stated they could consider community public education so people are
2 aware of what's going on. Enhance the education so people are aware of the
3 danger. Delahunt stated that's a good suggestion. They are seeing an increased
4 number of homes that are contaminated. However, not everyone is caught. Make
5 people aware of what signs to look for that a drug lab has been there. There are
6 educational materials about that.
7
8 3. HEALTH DEPARTMENT 2004 DRAFT WORK PLAN
9
10 Nelson stated the Public Health Advisory Board has reviewed this and it has
11 been modified numerous times. The Health Department has done a good job in
12 bringing this forward. Membership from the Developmental Disabilities, Substance
13 Abuse, and Mental Health advisory boards participated.
14
15 Drinking Water Program
16
17 Brenner stated it looks like the rate of complaints going down for both public
18 and private water supplies. She asked to what that's attributed and the percentage
19 of complaints.
20
21 Don Vesper, Environmental Health Division Manager, stated the complaints
22 are per 100,000 population on that particular supply. For the population in
23 Whatcom County, about 80 percent are served by public supplies and about 20
24 percent are served by private supplies. They get more complaints about private
25 systems.
26
27 Brenner asked if they include questions that are only inquiries in the
28 complaint category. Vesper stated they do not.
29
30 Brenner asked why they seem to be going down. Vesper stated he did not
31 know. It could be that there are newer wells that are less problematic than the old
32 wells. No analysis has been conducted to determine this.
33
34 Brenner referenced the second bullet point in the Program Changes for 2004
35 section and asked what happens with systems with more than 14 connections.
36 Vesper stated the systems with 3 to 14 connections are group B systems. Group A
37 systems have over 14 connections. There is already an inventory of those.
38
39 Food Program
40
41 Brenner asked if scores with less than 35 critical violation points is good.
42 Vesper stated a score of 35 points is a very bad score. They use a risk -based
43 approach for food inspection serves. They really look at items that can cause
44 illness.
45
46 Brenner stated it seems like a score of 20 or 25 critical violations would be
47 huge. Vesper stated they are not individual violations. It is the total points. One
48 violation could total 35 points. Two percent of the inspections are always above 35
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 8
points. Any critical violation results in a very short re -inspection time. They must
immediately correct the problem. A re -inspection will be done in a week. The
problem is the frequency of inspections.
Crawford asked about the taco wagons that have the Skagit County
certificate. Vesper stated that if the wagon is in Whatcom County, they are
inspected. If the mobile operation is located in Whatcom County, they must have a
permit.
Crawford asked the process for getting a permit for a mobile establishment.
Vesper stated the person might be able to get a permit to sell a product out of a
truck, but not cooked food.
Delahunt stated a food plan must be approved.
Living Environment Program
Fleetwood asked what they are proposing to do to reduce play field injuries.
Vesper stated it is focused on playgrounds, not play fields. There are standards for
construction of playgrounds. They will evaluate playgrounds based on the
standards. The standards are not regulations.
Delahunt stated the schools invite the Health Department to participate. The
Health Department doesn't have regulatory authority.
Vesper stated the highest cause of morbidity and mortality in children is from
injuries.
On -site Sewaae Proaram
Brenner asked about the proposal for the Ferndale bio-solid program. The
section entitled Purpose and/or Benefit of Providing Service scared her when she
read about the massive amount to be spread in the area that is close to water
association wells. Vesper stated that project is still under review. It doesn't fall
under this program. Bio-solids is a separate program. This program relates to
septic systems.
Delahunt stated on -site sewage systems are untreated, and bio-solids are
already treated. The bio-solids have to meet federal standards for reduced
pathogens. The sites are controlled.
Brenner asked about achieving a pumping rate of 20 percent. They talked
about setting up a fee system for that kind of monitoring. Delahunt stated that
they were going to try doing it on an educational basis for a few years to see if they
can get the rate up. They haven't been able to get the rate up. A process like that
would be staff -intensive.
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 9
1 Brenner asked if there is a way for people to get a notice every five years
2 that they would return. Delahunt stated the department regularly sends notices to
3 people saying that it's time to pump their septic tank.
4
5 Caskey-Schreiber stated she's heard that Island County has a process similar
6 to that. She asked if that would be too expensive to implement. Delahunt stated it
7 would be a big program. The last time they talked, they decided to try education
8 first. That's not working. It may be time to try something else.
9
10 Vesper stated that in November, Chris Chesson presented a draft onsite
11 sewage system regulations that provided a little more enhancement for operation
12 and maintenance. The decision of the Council at that time was to put them on hold
13 until they replaced Mr. Chesson. Also, since the State is rewriting its onsite sewage
14 system rules, they would wait until those rules are finalized, which has been done.
15 They need to revisit operation and maintenance.
16
17 Delahunt stated operation and maintenance is required. The question is
18 about how it's enforced and tracked and the amount of resources the County would
19 put into it.
20
21 Vesper stated some systems may need more or less frequent pumping.
22
23 Crawford stated he was told that his system only needed cleaning once every
24 ten years. He wouldn't like a regulation that says he has to do it every five years,
25 unnecessarily. Delahunt stated the system must be inspected every five years. If
26 it doesn't need to be pumped, then fine, but they do have to take a look at it.
27
28 Caskey-Schreiber stated they could look at putting funds into an incentive
29 program instead of doing regulation.
30
31 Nelson stated they brought that up before. They talked about working with
32 the pumpers about setting up a notification schedule. It's helpful if someone
33 received a regular notification. It would be to a pumper's advantage to send out
34 those notifications. Vesper stated the Health Department provides those notices to
35 the pumpers.
36
37 Nelson stated they need to do more client tracking.
38
39 Caskey-Schreiber suggested a service coupon as an incentive.
40
41 Fleetwood moved approval of 2004 work plan.
42
43 Motion carried unanimously.
44
45 McShane stated it seems like they've had some enhanced programs, such as
46 the one in the Drayton Harbor and Lake Whatcom watersheds. They could continue
47 to have focus areas. He asked the relationship between water systems provider
48 and the Health Department. Delahunt stated the Health Department doesn't have a
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 10
1 regulatory role if a sewer overflows and contaminates a drinking supply. The
2 Health Department role is to let the public know of the issues and possible health
3 concerns. The department will also work with the drinking water provider and
4 sewer district. It will act as the voice of the people to make sure the people are
5 protected.
6
7 McShane stated the new State standards would be more failsafe than they
8 have been in the past. They may want to provide funding to the local health
9 departments to do enhanced inspections where there is a municipal supply.
10 Delahunt stated the City of Bellingham funds an entire position in the onsite sewage
11 program to pay better attention to the systems in the Lake Whatcom watershed.
12
13 Brenner stated the State may have jurisdiction, but rely on the local Health
14 Department for enforcement. It is confusing. She doesn't understand why the
15 State has that arrangement for some programs and not other programs. The
16 County is the first line of defense. She would like a consolidation of the systems so
17 people don't have to run to different agencies. Delahunt stated it is confusing for
18 the public. The Health Department has recently received complaints about the odor
19 from The Oeser Company. It's difficult for people to understand that the Health
20 Department doesn't have regulatory authority. The Health Department can be the
21 local public's voice and steer the agencies with jurisdiction in the direction the
22 community wants to go. They really don't have funding to spend a lot of time on
23 these general issues. Most of the Environmental Health Division is supported by
24 fees. Few positions are discretionary as to what they can work on. It's difficult for
25 the public to understand why the staff can't spend time on particular issues.
26
27 Solid Waste Program
28
29 Brenner stated she would confer with Ms. Delahunt later on her issues, since
30 it is noon.
31
32 Chemical/Physical Hazards Program
33
34 Caskey-Schreiber referenced the program change to disseminate the findings
35 of the USGS Mercury Source Investigation of Lake Whatcom. She asked if the
36 findings are that difficult. Delahunt stated USGS is very thorough. They should
37 have the findings by the end of the year. At that point, they will give presentations
38 and let people know of the conclusions. It won't be a full-time program. All it
39 means is that staff will let people know of the results.
40
41 Vesper stated he included that item because there is a community interest in
42 that investigation.
43
44 (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side B.)
45
46 Solid Waste Program
47
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 11
1 Brenner stated she's been getting lots of calls from people who are getting
2 sick from the stench at the Oeser site. She would like to be able to reassure people
3 or point them in the right direction. She's frustrated because she feels she can't do
4 much of anything. Delahunt stated they can do a short summary of where they
5 stand. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is involved. It is a superfund
6 site. A lot of the concerns that the citizens have now are with the ongoing
7 operations. The EPA is not involved with that. They are involved with past
8 contamination. The Health Department is working with the State Department of
9 Health. What should happen is that a thorough health assessment should be
10 conducted. The Health Department doesn't have the resources, know-how, or
11 manpower to do that assessment. The State Department of Health has said it will
12 do it some time in the future. She's trying to determine when that will happen.
13
14 McShane stated the Northwest Air Pollution Authority (NWAPA) has authority
15 on the odor issues, and how the system is operated for airborne things. The EPA
16 and Department of Ecology have authority on the operation of the loads. Delahunt
17 stated there is the question of regulatory standards for air emissions versus the
18 health effects. That is the question the neighbors have. It could be that Oeser is
19 not violating any air quality standards for toxics, but folks still may be experiencing
20 health effects. There is just not enough information about the site and the
21 emissions for the State Department of Health to make a real determination. A lot
22 of information would have to be collected to do an assessment.
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Caskey-Schreiber stated NWAPA has been to the site several times. Oeser
had accepted a bad load of chemicals to soak their poles in. It was far more
aromatic than ones previously used. They were fine for that. They've said they are
going to switch to another chemical that is not as airborne.
Brenner stated NWAPA has no authority to close anyone down.
ADJOURN
(Clerk's Note: The meeting adjourned due to a lost quorum.)
T,he meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
These minutes were approved by Council on October 21 , 2003.
ATTEST:
Dana Brown -Davis, o- cil Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, y
ASHINGTON
a.
Dan McShane, Council Chair
Board of Health, 9/30/2003, Page 12