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Watermarks at Cedar Terrace Public Housing

Characterizing Risk & Struggling with Outcomes: Hurricane Ike, Climate Justice & the Future of Gulf Coast Communities. Watermarks at Cedar Terrace Public Housing. Eye of Hurricane IKE before Landfall on Galveston Island & Bolivar Peninsula /September 12th 2008. Ike Damage on Galveston Island.

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Watermarks at Cedar Terrace Public Housing

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  1. Characterizing Risk & Struggling with Outcomes: Hurricane Ike, Climate Justice & the Future of Gulf Coast Communities Watermarks at Cedar Terrace Public Housing

  2. Eye of Hurricane IKE before Landfall on Galveston Island & Bolivar Peninsula /September 12th 2008

  3. Ike Damage on Galveston Island HOUSING: approximately 40% of Island housing unihabitable, including 4 Public Housing Developments & numerous Section 8 rentals on North Side Economy: Downtown business district inundated by 8-10 ft. of flood water from Galveston Bay & Channel Largest employer UTMB sustains $800 million in damage; eventually RIFs 3800 employees Vital Services: Damage to City infrastructure: sewer, electricity, water UTMB hospital loses ER, level 1 trauma center, 600 beds

  4. Environmental Justice & Health Disparities Impacts of IKE • Heavily damaged housing on city’s North Side & English / Offats Bayou flood plain disproportionately impacts African-American & Latino families • City may not rehab Public Housing developments affecting 3000 - 5000 residents • Site of proposed FEMA trailers served as a debris shredding area • Loss of jobs at UTMB disproportionately hits lower income clinical support staff • Loss of hospital ER, Trauma Center & in-patient facilities greatly reduces access to care, especially low income & indigent • Vulnerable populations may be at risk from multiple stressor / cumulative risk impacts

  5. Climate Change & Justice: Implications of Hurricane IKE Are Tropical Cyclones Growing in Intensity & Frequency? Based on Webster, Holland et al. 2005 Based on Emanuel, K.A. et al. 2005

  6. Is Hurricane Frequency Related to Sea Surface Temperature? Based on Webster & Holland, 2005

  7. Are Changes in Tropical Cyclone Frequency / Intensity Due to Anthropogenic Changes in Global Climate or Are they Periodic / Cyclical? Insufficient Data = Ambiguity Based on Gray, 2005

  8. Is the Saffir-Simpson Scale an Adequate Gauge of Potential Destructive Power of Tropical Cyclones? Hurricane IKE was classified as Strong Category 2 BUT its storm surge paralleled a strong 3 / weak 4 (12 - 15 feet).

  9. LEAST Lead Sediment Sampling Project: A community response to possible toxic exposures Acute skin reaction to immersion in surge flood - Galveston Island physician’s assistant. Storm surge sediment which later aerosolized & permeated the air on Galveston Island

  10. Goals of Sediment Sampling • Choose sampling sites that may have received sludge sediment from different parts of the bay • Analyze sediment that washed up in the surge tide • Interpret Data / make safety recommendations

  11. Rationale for Sediment Sampling • Flood water behind seawall came from the bay • Sediment covered everything • Galveston Bay sediments possibly contaminated with accumulated toxic materials • Fish consumption advisories because of persistent chemicals in fish (dioxins, PCBs) • Need to know whether sediments contained significant toxins or not, and where: • For rebuilding • For health care planning • To address Environmental Justice / Health Disparities Concerns

  12. What were we looking for? • Semi-Volatile Organics • Asbestos • Sulfur Compounds • Toxic heavy metals • Lead • Chromium • Mercury • Cadmium • Arsenic • Highly persistent organic chemicals • Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) • Dioxins • Diesel Range Organics • Crude oil • Fuel oil

  13. What are the health concerns? • Environmental Justice / Health disparities • Effects on vulnerable populations • Neurological effects • Metals such as lead • Cancer • Metals • Persistent organics • Immunological effects • Persistent organics • Organ damage • All categories

  14. What are the health risks? • No acute levels • Long term chronic effects greatest concern * • Need to know if clean-up is needed before rebuilding * • Low contamination levels will add confidence for reconstruction

  15. Sampling locations Open Sea & Texas City Ship Channel Areas most proximate to industry & Galveston Channel English Bayou FEMA site Schreiber Park

  16. LEAST Lead Training in EPA approved sampling protocols Wilma Subra (Subra Company / LEAN) conducts sampling workshop @ St. Vincent’s House. Matthew Stanford scrapes sludge layer from surface under bench at Schreiber Park on Galveston Island.

  17. Sampling Results per PACE Analytic, St. Rose LA

  18. Results & Conclusions • Findings indicate no actionable levels of toxins were found (based on TCEQ combined media pathways screening level) • Little or no detectable levels of PCBs, Asbestos, Sulfur compounds, Diesel range organics, Semi volatile organics (Industrial sulfur pile did not move far) • Additional metals burden in Galveston is of concern (Pb burden already higher than average) • Further information on dioxin levels needed (more testing sites in Fish Village, more range for dioxin / PCB sampling) • No significant discrepancy with TCEQ/FEMA findings (different sampling method / different screening standard which leads to different conclusions about response) • Longer-term concern with the center of town adjacent to Galveston industrial channel and east of English Bayou • Galveston residents in general, and especially vulnerable populations - children, elderly, special medical conditions will likely be at higher risk due to multiple stressors / cumulative risk effects

  19. Concerns for the Future • Disparities and vulnerability concerns • heavier toxin levels in poorer area of town • Health / immuno-compromised populations and children • Land use concerns • playgrounds • Activity based concerns • exposure during cleanup efforts (short-term) or groundskeeping (longer-term) • Cumulative risks • lead exposures due to housing plus sediment • general physical and mental health stressors to the population due to post-disaster environment

  20. LEAST Lead Sediment Sampling Project Project Partners: St. Vincent’s House & Free Clinic: Matthew Stanford, Doris Bagsby, Robert Arthur Wilma Subra: Subra Company / Louisiana Environmental Action Network Bryan Parras: T.e.j.a.s. (Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services) University of Texas Medical Branch @ Galveston TX / NIEHS Center in Environmental Toxicology COEC Jonathan Ward, Sharon Petronella, John Sullivan City of Galveston, Galveston County Health District, Galveston Lead Task Force, Mitchell Foundation, Kempner Fund, Mary Moody Northen Trust, Moody Foundation

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