Heavy Metals Remediation Committee
Draft Minutes 7 March 2003
Present at the meeting were: Shaheeda Pierce, Rita Schenck, Mary Ellen Walker, Nan Hammett, Steve Macdonald and Dennis Saunders from the community, Bonnie Meyers from Public Health Seattle King County and Marian Abbett and Guy Barrett from Washington State Department of Ecology.
The Minutes were accepted with corrections.
The Agenda was accepted with modification.
Nan outlined continuing problems with IRPPC's consultant, Kleinfelder. They have required a considerable amount of management and there are technical disagreements about the quality of their work. IPPC has hired EarthWorks as a replacement. Shaheeda offered to mediate between IRPPC and Kleinfelder to reach closure on their work.
There was a brief discussion of the Kissel study. It was decided that Rita would discuss it, draw a few conclusions not made in the study, and make the study available at the conference.
The majority of the meeting was focused on the conference. It is scheduled for Saturday April 26th at Chatauqua Elementary School, from 10 to 1:00. The topic will be remediation. The speakers will be Paul Stammets, Rita Schenck and Mary Marth. Paul Stammets will headline, and has a one-hour slot, then there will be a break and Rita and Mary will speak for about an hour, followed by presentations at tables outside the building. Each speaker will have a table, which should facilitate one-on-one discussions.
The budget for the symposium needs to include $150 for photocopying and $60 for child care. Nan noted that all the materials to be presented must be pre-approved by DOE, and she needs a brief bio plus a short description of the topic of the presentations.
There was some discussion about the facilities and audiovisual equipment needed.
Shaheeda will ask the school district for
Tables
A PA system (with a wireless mike)
Projectors
Lighting for video
She will also talk with Voice of Vashon
Nan will ask her husband about lighting
Rita will ask her son to do the videotaping. Providing enough good footage is acquired, we will put the resulting film on the website.
Since Ecology will not pay for food, we will seek help from the community, e.g. FSA (Jim English) and Wax Orchards (Denis Saunders).
May will take care of the promotion of the conference.
We will have an exit poll, people to be intercepted before they leave the building. It will be based on the previous poll.
Bonnie gave an update on KC's programs. The nail brushes are a big hit. They ran out immediately at the flower and garden show. She has been working with daycare providers and the White Center community. She has also started buying rubber "walk off" mats, which are rubber mats with holes in them that trap dirt, and are easy to clean. They are much more effective than other types of mat, especially the carpet types, which are not effective.
Marian gave an update of Ecology's efforts. They are sampling a final day care center on the island today, and they will be sampling at the school district's remediated locations—with the school district paying for the analysis. Marian shared maps of sampling done so far. Bonnie noted that the maps still have not identified the footprint of the plume (i.e. the edges of the contamination) and that this is troubling.
Marian shared a paper by Sally Brown of UW about the effectiveness of sewage sludge in decreasing the bioavailability of lead by about 30%. Steve asked whether a 30% improvement in the lead bioavailability would move a single data point into the low-risk range from a higher risk range. The conclusion was probably not.
Ecology are negotiating the statements of work for King County and Pierce County. Rita requested that they add the activity of a dietary study, to evaluate the risks presented by cadmium in food. Marian made no committment.
Marian stated that they had no budget estimate yet for the SOW's.
The next HMRC meeting is April 4 at 3pm in the library.
Respectfully submitted
Rita Schenck