Giles County Health Problems
Our county administrator was directed by the county supervisors to pursue this issue. What follows are the responses, as a summary, to his inquiry to the Director of the New River Health District. My summarization and comments aren’t intended as an indictment against Dr. Hershey. It is my opinion that he based his response on statistical information alone and didn’t consider other factors.
We can now be content to know that our friends and family members who’ve died from cancer, heart disease, pulmonary diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other high mortality diseases in Giles County did so because of something they did, not due to any external influence from pollution in Giles County. This information from Dr. J. Henry Hershey, Director of the New River Health District, should make each of us sleep better in the knowledge that all we have to fear is ourselves.
Giles County Administrator, Chris McKlarney, sent a letter of inquiry to Dr. Hershey February 21, 2008 and the response from Dr. Hershey placed the blame for high mortality rates in Giles County on:
1. The fact that we live in a rural area.
2. We live in an area where neighboring counties have high mortality rates.
3. Rural life stress.
4. Rural based agriculture exposures.
5. Lower socioeconomic and educational status.
6. Genetics.
7. Reduced access to quality medical and rehabilitive care.
8. Personal lifestyle/behavioral factors.
9. Rural areas often have low use of preventive health services.
Dr. Hershey’s response also stated that present research and statistical data available for Giles County and southwest Virginia do not indicate a need to further study cancer rates or associated health problems.
Conspicuously and suspiciously absent from Dr. Hershey’s analysis of this subject is the fact that Giles County is home to three of the Top 20 industrial polluters in the state of Virginia. Also, the impact of the old tannery site, formally located on the shores of the New River upstream of Celanese, wasn’t mentioned. Does Dr. Hershey know about these influences? The old tannery site should probably be classified as a “super-fund” site. Maybe because we are from a “lower socioeconomic and educational status” we aren’t supposed to be smart enough to make this association. If we all go back to school and get a doctorate degree, we will then be able to discount this information and go about our rural life of stress while we eat vegetables grown in our pesticide polluted gardens.
Dr. Hershey states that our neighboring counties also have high mortality rates. This sounds very much like that old adage, “misery loves company”. So in the words of the educated to the uneducated we aren’t to worry because everyone else around here has the same problem.
Dr. Hershey closed his letter with the statement “As always, with respect for limited budgets and resources, the Giles County Health Department and NRHD will continue our efforts to monitor health status, provide quality public health services, and improve public health for the NRV”.
Due respect to Dr. Hershey is deserved for his educational accomplishments, his higher-level of knowledge, and his commitment to providing good health services. I must conclude that in this specific instance Dr. Hershey missed the mark about this issue by ignoring external health influences that exist in Giles County. No one who is aware of the industrial polluters in Giles County should go about the business of providing a dissertation about our health status without having first performed a thorough evaluation of these influences.
If the Virginia Department of Health doesn’t have the budget, or isn’t charged with the responsibility for performing a detailed study and evaluation of industrial polluters, then the responsible government agency should be requested to perform this study. Such a study can be requested by petitioning the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency.
ATSDR is not a regulatory agency like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Created by Superfund legislation in 1980, ATSDR's mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated with exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, unplanned releases, and other sources of pollution present in the environment. Through its programs - including surveillance, registries, health studies, environmental health education, and applied substance-specific research - and by working with other federal, state, and local government agencies, ATSDR acts to protect public health.
| Public Health Assessments consider:
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| ATSDR looks at three primary sources of information to make these determinations:
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The petition process is very simple. Write to :
Assistant Administrator,ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, NE (E28)
Atlanta, GA 30329
It remains to be seen if the Giles County Board of Supervisors will just accept the words of Dr. Hershey, or if they will remain concerned about the health and safety of county citizens. I sincerely hope they will not be satisfied and content to just accept the message contained in Dr. Hershey’s letter but will instruct the county administrator to petition ATSDR for a thorough public health assessment.
Citizens, elected officials, and appointed officials cannot ignore public health dangers that might be posed from industrial pollution within or external to our community. We cannot allow the fear of adverse economic impact to influence our judgment and actions that are necessary if we are to protect ourselves from any source of damage to our health and life.
Those of you who stand responsible for representing each of us should feel a moral, as well as legal, obligation to pursue this health and life issue to the point of either proving or disproving whether Giles County has pollution issues that require attention to correct and eliminate the source.
Vital Event Virginia Planning District 4 New River Valley Giles County Diseases of Heart Rate/100,000 182.2 223.1 321.8 Malignant Neoplasms Rate/100,000 179.9 192.4 287.3 Cerebrovascular Diseases Rate/100,000 46.0 61.3 74.7 Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases Rate/100,000 35.1 40.3 69.0 Diabetes Mellitus Rate/100,000 21.3 22.2 28.7 Alzheimer's Rate/100,000 20.5 25.9 57.5 Nephritis and Nephrosis Rate/100,000 18.3 14.4 40.2 Pneumonia and Influenza Rate/100,000 16.7 22.2 34.5 Pneumonitis Due to Solids and Liquids Rate/100,000 7.3 7.2 17.2 NOTE: Source of information is:
Petitioned Public Health Assessments
What is ATSDR?
ATSDR is the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency. ATSDR is not a regulatory agency like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Created by Superfund legislation in 1980, ATSDR's mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated with exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, unplanned releases, and other sources of pollution present in the environment. Through its programs - including surveillance, registries, health studies, environmental health education, and applied substance-specific research - and by working with other federal, state, and local government agencies, ATSDR acts to protect public health.
What is a Public Health Assessment?
An ATSDR Public Health Assessment is not the same thing as a medical exam or a community health study. It can sometimes lead to those things, as well as to other public health activities. ATSDR conducts a Public Health Assessment for every site on or proposed for the National Priorities List, or the NPL (also known as the Superfund List). ATSDR can also be petitioned to conduct a Public Health Assessment for other sites.
A Public Health Assessment reviews available information about hazardous substances at a site and evaluates whether exposure to those substances might cause any harm to people.
Public Health Assessments consider :
*what levels (or "concentrations") of hazardous substances are present;
*whether people might be exposed to contamination and how (through "exposure pathways" such as breathing air, drinking or contacting water, contacting or eating soil, or eating food);
*what harm the substances might cause to people (the contaminants' "toxicity");
*whether working or living nearby might affect people's health; and
*other dangers, such as unsafe buildings, abandoned mine shafts, or other physical hazards.
ATSDR looks at three primary sources of information to make these determinations :
*environmental data, such as information about the contaminants and how people could come in contact with them;
*health data, including available information on community-wide rates of illness, disease, and death compared with national and state rates;
*community concerns, such as reports from the public about how the site affects their health or quality of life.
How can I petition for a Public Health Assessment?
The petition process is very simple. All you have to do is write to :
| Assistant Administrator, ATSDR (CHB) |
In the letter, you must include :
*your name, address, and phone number;
*the name of the group you represent, if any;
*the name, location, and description of the facility or release;
*any information you may have about people being exposed to toxic substances;
*a request for ATSDR to perform a Public Health Assessment.
Information that is not required, but may be helpful:
*Information about the facility or release - such as the chemical you are concerned about, the amount in the environment now or in the past, or the parties you believe may be responsible;
*Exposure pathways;
*How many people might be exposed - particularly how many older persons and children;
*Other government agencies you have contacted or which have investigated already.
What happens after ATSDR gets my petition?
When ATSDR recieves a petition, a team of environmental scientists, physicians, toxicologists, and other staff members are assigned to work on it. This team begins to gather information about the site. Team members visit the site to see it firsthand and to talk with the community. After that, the team evaluates all site information and presents it to the petition committee. That committee decides whether ATSDR will perform a Public Health Assessment or if some other action - such as a Public Health Advisory or Health Consultation or Community environmental health education - would better meet the community's needs, or if no action is needed.
Petitioners are informed in writing of ATSDR's decision and the reasons for it.
| Fact sheets are available on Public Health Advisories, Health Consultations, and other ATSDR activities. If you want to know more about ATSDR, or if you have health concerns about a site or information to share about ways people might have been or might now be exposed to hazardous substances, please contact the ATSDR Community Involvement Team. | ||
| Community Involvement Team |
Yes, this assessment can be requested by a citizen, organization, or health department.
However, obviously a request from the Giles County Board of Supervisors would be received and treated with more concern than a request from me or you.
Folks, this is an important issue and I ask that each of you notify one or more of the supervisors and request their proactive involvement.
If we continue to ignore this problem, more and more of our friends and family members are going to become victims of the diseases. I have attended funerals for two of my friends since the November 6, 2007 election. Each of these friends died of cancer, which is one of the abnormally high diseases in Giles County. We need to find the cause, the source, and take action to reduce/eliminate the cause of this disease.
The Relay For Life is a great event and Giles County has become recognized nationally for their success with this fundraising and awareness event. Possibly, the event organizers could include information about the abnormally high incidence of terminal cancer in Giles County. I hope this will be included in the 2008 Relay For Life.
Contact information for each supervisor is listed on this site; visit the page for each supervisor.
NOTE:
Our county administrator has reported to the county supervisors that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) isn't aware of any source that would create any problems. Well, let's just continue to bury our heads about this issue and pretend we don't have a problem. This must mean that the many people in Giles County who've died from cancer and other abnormally high mortality rate diseases must have died from having visited Pigeon Forge, or attending the Grand Ole Opry!!
Come on supervisors, don't allow the county administrator to make light of this situation just because it isn't good for county business. Do something about this problem while you are still in office!