Environmental health is everyone's concern and duty, county officials say
Thursday, March 20, 2008 2:41 PM PDT
By Barbara LaBoe
blaboe@tdn.com
Printable version
E-mail this articleIt's going to take everyone, from community leaders to average Joes, to improve Cowlitz County's environmental health, participants were told at a Tuesday kick-off meeting.
The goal of Cowlitz County's community environmental health assessment is to identify environmental health problems and develop solutions, officials told an audience of 40 at the Cowlitz PUD auditorium. The county health department is heading up the project.
In Multnomah County, for example, a focus on environmental justice and the health risks of substandard housing led to a revamping of housing standards as well as chances to do individual assessments and improvements of resident's homes, said Lila Wickham, that county's environmental health manager.
Cowlitz County residents need to choose their own specific focus, Wickham said, to ensure there is the desire and support of residents and leaders to follow through.
Examples of environmental health topics include the obvious like air and water quality problems but also subjects like affordable housing, climate change and bike paths.
"It's not just the trees and the bees and the birds and the water," said Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson. "It is us coming together as a community to define what environmental health means to us and how we will reach our goals."
Suggestions generated during Tuesday's session included air pollution, walk-ability of neighborhoods and the threat of invasive weeds such as scotch broom.
The next step is to establish a workgroup of residents who will determine the area's problems -- with community involvement -- and then pick a few to address specifically. Officials want a broad range of participants to ensure that all of the community's concerns are heard.
The entire process is expected to take about 18 months and requires a two- to four-hour a month commitment. In addition to the work group, a series of public forums also are planned.
County health officials have long wanted to complete such an assessment. It wasn't until the county won a federal Center for Disease Control public health specialist fellowship, though, that the health department had the personnel and time.
For details or to join the workgroup call the health department at 414-5599 or e-mail Heather Morrow-Almeida at morrowh@co.cowlitz.wa.us.
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