| Section 15. Health |
We are concerned with the health and public safety impacts of the proposed development. It is of particular concern that EIP's Proposal does not include this heading as a technical issue they plan to address.
This development will have many impacts which affect the health of the local population. A number of these have been enumerated in specific technical areas of the report. The public health and specific impacts on the health of persons living near or adjacent to project sites should be carefully evaluated. There is simply no good reason why the health of any neighboring resident should be adversely affected. We know of no overriding considerations which would justify this impact.
Full evaluation of cumulative impacts is of the essence in evaluating health impacts. We want to insure that the cumulative health impacts of this project are comprehensively and specifically studied.
| 15.1. Need for Health Analysis |
We want to see documentation of public health and safety topics as derived through the study of issues relating to noise, air quality, and traffic. The cumulative health impacts due to air pollution, dust, potential allergens and the presence of asbestos derived from serpentine rock disturbances need to be documented. The potential noise impacts on persons with health problems needs to be discussed along with any identified health risks due to project-related activities and impacts. Traffic safety issues need to be documented in this section as derived from the analysis of traffic and pedestrian movement in the traffic portion of the analysis to compile a complete section on issues relating to public health and safety.
We expect the analysis to include:
The impacts on the air and water in natural areas have been removal of vegetation which further reduces the oxygen producing capacity of plants and degrades air quality. We are becoming aware that increase in lung cancer, asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema are related to air pollution
Noise levels have been implicated in hearing loss. The decade long study conducted by William Meecham, acoustics professor at UCLA has now shown dramatic increase in cardiovascular disease, suicides, and mental hospital admissions related to being near airport noise. He reported a five per cent increase in mortality rate in 100,000 people living in neighborhoods in the city but farther from the airport.
Thus far, there has been no study to determine the number of individuals near and adjacent to the project site who have serious health problems. We emphatically express the need for a specific health impact study of this area so that tragic consequences can be averted.
Any study should include appropriate surveys and utilize expert medical opinion.
| 15.2. Medical Survey |
The medical and public health survey of the neighborhood should be carried out to allow privacy. The survey should be designed to ask questions at a level of detail that any individual is comfortable with disclosing about themselves or the family. Confidentiality should be safeguarded at every level of depth of the survey which we anticipate will be carried out given the possible gravity of an unexplored problem. This kind of survey should be designed and carried out by a contractor with established expertise in medical research and epidemiological investigation.
| 15.3 Medical Experts |
Medical expertise in specific areas of the environmental impact report relating to health should be utilized, this includes the area of asbestos as well as other environmental expertise in the local physician community.
| 15.4. Asbestos |
The study of asbestos exposure on a cumulative basis needs to be extended back to the construction of the neighborhood. The El Granada area has a great many long term residents. Currently, there is continuous building, with excessive grading, taking place in Shoreview Acres (adjacent to the
Mirada Surf Project) and in El Granada, in general. As we have pointed out, asbestos accumulates in body tissue and never goes away. Therefore, each and every development which requires extensive grading increases the amount of asbestos in the tissues of people breathing the air. Even though one project may not trigger the Environmental Protection Agency maximum allowable amount in the air, the issue of cumulative doses of asbestos on those residing in this neighborhood kicks up the amount of exposure with each and every project. Thus this project will add an absolute exposure of the residents to asbestos. We expect that a careful quantitative study will be carried out on this problem.
| 15.5 Impact on Emergency Medical Response |
One of the many results of continuous building on the Coastside is that traffic load currently exceed road capacity, both during commute hours and on the weekends (refer to Appendix C: Countywide Transportation Plan Congestion Management Report). There is an over 30 minute response for EMS vehicles to fully-equipped hospitals from the MidCoast, and this response time, as well as response time by police and fire units, will increase as more housing is developed. The EIR needs to assess the impact of additional housing over the next 1 to 10 years on Emergency Service response times. Refer to Section 6.5.1. Emergency Medical Response.
| 15.6 Precedents and Consequences |
| 15.7 Mitigation |