UPDATE: Health dept. releases report following HIA complaint

johns hopkins center for a livable future. a health impact assessment report was conducted by the wicomico county health department — in relation to a ten-house poultry project proposed in salisbury. a report — officials with johns hopkins say — is filled with flaws. 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng joins us live outside of the wicomico county health department tonight. lili — david — this is a copy of the assessment — or an h-i-a — conducted this past april. now — this 40 page report — details their contributors — the screening — and recommendations. track 1 adding setbacks. increased communication. a reduction of potential impacts from odors — and an increase in funding for data collection. these are four key recommendations– set by the wicomico county health department — in a spring health impact assessment or h-i-a. but the assessment — according to johns hopkins — is flawed. 07:05 when you have very narrow questions or a very narrow view of what resources are being considered in a health impact assessment, then the conclusions are limited by that and can be off base in terms of what’s going to be protective of public health 23 track 2 the report — released to media on friday — stems from a 10-house poultry project which has gained building permit approval from the county. page 14 — lists questions surrounding three health determinants — air quality, groundwater quality, and insect vectors. in terms of groundwater — the report found the paleochannel — which houses two water supply wells in salisbury — is quote “vulnerable to contamination from both point and non-point sources.” the report does not specify what type of contamintation – but it does claim the paleo well field is not presently susceptible to nitrate contamination.” but it also notes — “the paleo well field is not presently susceptible to nitrate contamination”. however — dr. jillian fry — a project director with the johns hopkins center for a liveable future — or c-l-f — tells 47 a-b-c — the questions the department asked were not enough. 07:34 there was only one health end point that was considered and there was also a misrepresentation of how suspectible the paleochannel was be to nitrate contamination, so it’s actually more suspectible than reflected in the report 59 track 3 also including in the report — is a letter sent from johns hopkins c-l-f to the health department three months before the april report. it summarizes human health concerns associated with industrial scale animal farming. the wicomico county health department tells 47 a-b-c — this letter was sent requesting their input into the process. however — dr. fry insists — johns hopkins c-l-f was never a stakeholder engaged in this process. as we reported last night — c-l-f is asking the state to get involved. from there — they’d like to see another h-i-a performed. we spoke to the wicomico county health department this afternoon. they say — there are currently no such plans. david — alright — thank you, lili. 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng reporting live in wicomico county tonight. in salisbury– the life crisis center has announced it