UPDATE: Advocates call for Wico. Health accreditation revoke following “flawed” report

A formal complaint has been filed with a national accreditation board to "sanction" the Wicomico County Health Department, stemming from a major and controversial poultry project.

The 10-house poultry project is at the center of a Health Impact Assessment ('HIA') report conducted by the health department in April.

Back in October, officials with Johns Hopkins Center For A Liveable Future ("CLF") released a letter to members of the press claiming the report is filled with flaws.

It's now driven eight organizations, including the Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFO's, to file a formal complaint with the Public Health Accreditation Board ('PHAB').

"Ultimately, we need to set our elected officials and our health boards to a higher standard and if they're not considering their constituents which are us…our public…to that higher standard, then they need to be held accounted for," says group founder Gabby Cammarata.

The complaint filed Monday cites the HIA is "not consistent" with World Health Organization guidelines. For example, critics of the report say questions considered in the HIA were "too narrow" and led to limited conclusions.

According to the complaint, the report is a reflection of a failure to meet accreditation standards set by PHAB.

Michele Merkel of Food & Water Watch says they're asking the Wicomico County Health Department to be placed on probation for no more than 12 months. In that time frame, they would like for an audit to performed to ensure all accreditation steps are met.

Merkel says if the probation finds steps were taken not correctly, then they would like the department's accreditation to be revoked.

"I think it would also prevent a lot of accidents like this HIA from happening in the future and maybe take a little caution in doing things for the public," says Cammarata.

47 ABC reached out to Wicomico Health for a comment following this complaint.

While officials with the department declined to speak on camera, they say in a statement: "The Wicomico County Health Department is committed to protecting the public's health. The Department's involvement in the poultry house assessment concluded with the publication of the Health Impact Assessment. Wicomico Health would provide any needed data used in its assessment should any other organizations wish to pursue additional assessments."

Merkel says PHAB confirms they have received the complaint; however, it's unclear how long it will take before a decision is made.

PHAB does not list in fine print what the implications of a revoked accreditation would entail. 47ABC reached out to the board to find out exactly what it means in this case.

We have not received a response as of 6:30 p.m. Monday.