Grantee Research Project Results
2018 Progress Report: Community-level Management of Human Health Risks from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with Defensive Natural Capital Investments
EPA Grant Number: R836942Title: Community-level Management of Human Health Risks from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with Defensive Natural Capital Investments
Investigators: Hochard, Jacob P , Peralta, Ariane , Sims, Charles , Etheridge, Randall
Current Investigators: Hochard, Jacob P , Etheridge, Randall , Peralta, Ariane , Sims, Charles
Institution: East Carolina University , University of Tennessee
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2017 through July 31, 2019 (Extended to July 31, 2021)
Project Period Covered by this Report: August 1, 2017 through July 31,2018
Project Amount: $399,226
RFA: Integrating Human Health and Well-Being with Ecosystem Services (2016) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health
Objective:
Objectives of the Research
The project's multidisciplinary social-ecological (economics/econometrics, ecological engineering, soil ecology) modeling and empirical investigation seeks to (i) identify and measure the effect of swine production operations on local human health, (ii) examine if land cover, soil types, hydrographic relationships and public institutions mediate health outcomes and (iii) construct neighborhood-specific recommendations to inform community-level management of human health risks.
The research hypothesizes that CAFO-linked contaminants cause downstream adverse health outcomes, which are attenuated by natural capital between source contaminants and households. The study also hypothesizes that natural capital is more valuable to those communities lacking public services, which buffer communities from upstream contaminants.
Progress Summary:
Collection and digitization of groundwater data
The project team has made a total of six trips to four of the six rural study area counties (Pender, Bladen, Duplin and Sampson). For these counties, the researchers have completed all private well primary data collection, which includes historical water sampling back to 1996 and all private well construction records. In addition, the North Carolina State Laboratory has shared a detailed database of all private well testing that has been sent through the NC State Laboratory for the past five years. The georeferencing of these private well samples has been completed and we currently have all samples from four of the six study area counties mapped. Pre-2013 sample collection for Cumberland and Harnett counties was scheduled for late September 2018 but was disrupted by Hurricane Florence. The project anticipates collecting these data in November-December 2018, which will complete the construction of our fully-georeferenced private well database. The project does not anticipate the Florence disruption to delay the completion of the project as it has allowed it to make better-than-expected progress on the hydrological model construction (planned for year 2). The researchers expect more than 10,000 fully-georeferenced households to be represented in this private well database.
Delivery of desensitized health data from state
The researchers have also assembled a detailed database with more than 135,000 birth outcomes with household-level identifiers in the six study area counties spanning from 1996 to 2017. These data include gestation length, birth weight, number of prenatal care visits, medical risk factors and congenital anomalies that may be associated with inhaling airborne contaminants and ingesting waterborne contaminants. All birth outcomes have been georeferenced and mapped alongside our water quality sampling database. Together, these water quality outcomes and birth outcomes will represent our primary exposure and health outcome variables. The quality assurance statement governing the collection and storage of these secondary datasets has not changed and remains accurate for the project. These data are currently being stored on ECU’s secure faculty servers. Further, PI Hochard is controlling all datasets and overseeing quality assurance. As described in the quality assurance statement and consistent with the project's planned timeline, the researchers expect to be uploading desensitized/aggregated versions of the data to the dedicated project website in spring 2019.
Meetings with county health and environment stakeholders
Through the first year of our project, the researchers have had extensive meeting with county environmental health officials in Bladen, Duplin, Pender and Sampson counties and have worked closely with the staff of these environmental health offices to collect and scan paper records.
At the county level, the project engaged in a total of seven separate meetings with the following stakeholders:
Johnny Summerlin (Duplin County Environmental Health Supervisor)
Greg Martin (Bladen County Manager)
Perry Solice (Sampson County Environmental Health Supervisor)
Vence Dodge (Pender County Environmental Health Supervisor)
Kory Hair (Bladen County Environmental Health Specialist)
At the state level, the project engaged in three meetings with
Crystal Lee-Pow Jackson (NC Department of Health and Human Services Env. Epidemiologist)
Craig Caldwell (NC Division of Water Resources Program Consultant and Geologist)
Robin Tutor-Marcom (NC Agromedicine Institute)
and had frequent correspondence with
Cindy Price (NC State Laboratory of Public Health Evaluation Officer)
Sidney Evans (NC Department of Health and Human Services Statistician)
At the federal level, the project engaged in one meeting with
Val Garcia (Environmental Protection Agency)
completion of our hydrological mode
Consistent with the Year 2 planned research activities, the researchers are ahead of schedule toward the completion of our hydrological model. The PI expects this model to be complete in November 2018, which will allow the project to link the exposure variables with the health outcome variables across time. A web domain has been purchased to support this project and construction on the dedicated project website and social media platforms has begun.
Future Activities:
Future Activities Plans through Year 2
November 2018: Completion of hydrological model.
December 2018: Completion of groundwater data collection from Cumberland and Harnett counties and (ii) finish construction of dedicated project website and social media platform.
January 2019: Satellite-based groundtruthing of georeferenced land use data
March 2019: Fully integrating human health outcome variables, airborne and waterborne exposure variables and natural capital indicators in a GIS.
May 2019: Construction of Econometric Model/Estimations
July 2019: Executing policy simulations
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 22 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
averting behavior, ecosystem services, health externalities.Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.