More energy developments getting health checkups

April 5, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

The Health Impact Project has announced new grant recipients of funding to conduct health impact assessments (HIA) on energy projects.

Caption: More and more projects, including those in the energy industry, are undergoing health impact assessments. (PRNewsFoto/Pew Charitable Trusts)

"Our new grantees will use health impact assessments to uncover opportunities to improve health in a wide range of policy decisions, as well as to identify and avoid potential unintended consequences," said Aaron Wernham, director of the Health Impact Project.

For example, one grant recipient, the Kentucky Environmental Foundation, in collaboration with the Purchase District Health Department, will have an HIA to examine the potential health benefits and risks of the retrofit or retirement of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Shawnee coal plant in Paducah, Kentucky. The HIA will analyze environmental health concerns associated with air and water pollution from the plant and the effects of its closure on community employment, individual income, and revenue for local health services. The HIA will also consider whether the U.S. Department of Energy will renew a contract with a nearby uranium enrichment plant that depends on power from the coal plant.

Another grant recipient, the National Indian Justice Center will undertake an HIA on a proposed solar project. Conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the California Energy Commission, and affected tribes, tribal leaders, and tribal health advocates, the HIA will examine the health risks and benefits for Native American communities in the Mojave Desert. It will also analyze potential health impacts associated with changes in access to resources that are part of tribal cultural practices, including traditional foods, as well as changes in substance abuse and mental health. Benefits tied to the renewable energy project such as improved air quality from reduced emissions and opportunities for employment with health insurance will also be considered.

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers conducted and released the findings of the first HIA in Virginia -- that a proposed renewable energy facility in the Shenandoah Valley might improve health risks related to water quality but contribute to air pollution. The 15-month HIA uncovered an unintended risk of the proposed biomass facility (air pollution) for which a practical solution can now be developed.

The Health Impact Project -- a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts -- has 225 HIAs either completed or currently underway.

For more:
- see this HIA

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/more-energy-developments-getting-health-checkups/2013-04-05