MAHONING VALLEY Environmental impact study to include health districts

Trumbull County and the Youngstown health departments are participating in the study of environmental impact on health.
BY WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR HEALTH WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Health District is one of eight public health agencies in the United States chosen for a pilot program to assess the impact of the environment on health.
The department got a $20,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help finance the program. Health commissioner Matthew Stefanak said the district will contribute about $2,646 to the project, which is expected to conclude in March 2004.
Trumbull County and the Youngstown health departments will participate in the study.
Problems in county
In its grant application to CDC, the department noted several indicators of environmental health problems in Mahoning County that Stefanak said suggest a need to identify and prioritize them and develop a plan to address them:
USince 1994, about 1,000 children in Youngstown have been diagnosed with lead poisoning and some 6,000 children living in older homes are at risk for lead exposure.
UAbout 10,000 families depend on private wells for drinking water in Mahoning County and one-third of wells routinely show evidence of bacterial contamination.
UAbout 17,000 households depend on on-lot sewage systems and up to 50 percent of them systems may be failing to adequately treat waste.
UA century of steelmaking has contributed to persistent contamination of sediments in the Mahoning River.
UThe Ruetgers-Nease Superfund site on Mahoning County's southern border has released cancer-causing compounds into the Little Beaver Creek that runs northward through the center of the county.
UMahoning County imports more than one million tons of solid waste each year for disposal in its four active landfills and several closed landfills in fast developing areas may present a future threat to ground water in the area.
The project coordinator is Jane Warga, director of health promotion and assessment for the health board.