Fall 2010 issue — When tourists come to the Delaware beaches, clean air and water is not something many of them think about. It is seen as a given that the air is pure and the water is clear. That’s one of the beauties of the area – right?
John Austin, retired Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chemist, had always worked around the area, and he even inspected the state of Delaware in his duties as a field researcher and then as regulation manager in the agency. But many of the state’s environmental problems were news even to him when he retired to the area in 2004.
“I was the typical tourist,” he said. “I did not know of Delaware’s issues. You just think the beaches are clean. You enjoy your stay. You can never really understand the problems of a community when you are only here for a week or a weekend.”
Austin said his “big awakening” came after seeing a notice in the newspaper for a group that was having a meeting in Lewes on the environment, just after he retired and moved to the area permanently. He heard Dr. Nancy Feitchtl, a school principal, speak about the number of children who were being rushed to the emergency room because of asthma attacks.
“I came home after the meeting and Googled ‘asthma Delaware’ and soon found a survey that the Department of Health had done, and the numbers were 19 percent – or twice the national average.”
The group that met that day ultimately became Citizens for Clean Power, and Austin continued to attend their meetings. The group now has somewhere between 150 and 300 members. Other members of its board include Bill and Kit Zak, Dr. Kim Furtado and other vocal clean-air and -water proponents.
At their meeting, they watched a short video about the Indian River Power Plant, produced by an acquaintance, and they started to get active.
They were part of a work group created by the state on mercury regulations, and since working with regulations had been part of Austin’s job description for years, he fit right in. Because of their group’s knowledge of the power plant and of the dangers of mercury emissions and other hazards it produces, they came prepared.
“Bill Zak and I showed up at the first state work group meeting with a PowerPoint,” he explained, “which I am sure the state didn’t anticipate.”
They continued to advocate in that capacity until the beginning of the BlueWater Wind wind-farm hearings, and, Austin explained, their focus as a group shifted at that point to supporting BlueWater Wind and being an advocate for clean power, such as wind, in general. And that has been an educational process for people, he said.
“People don’t associate what you pay in your electric bill with what you pay your doctor,” he lamented.
He went on to explain that through his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and in his research, he has found – through state-supplied data – that, in the immediate area of the power plant, heart attack, stroke, special-education needs and infant deaths are all occurring at higher rates than in neighboring towns. He has gone on to write for sourcewatch.org, which tracks emissions of coal-powered power plants in the state, including the Indian River plant, InVista in Seaford, Dover Energy Center and Edgemoor upstate.
“One of the things that non-government organizations can do is gather information,” Austin said. He has FOIAed everything from infant death data to cancer rates by ZIP code to heart disease and heart attack numbers, and, he said, “Unfortunately, they all overlay in Millsboro, Lewes, Rehoboth Beach. They are all elevated, as is Ocean View.”
Austin argued that, because of the way the wind blows, it is those towns that are disproportionately affected by air emissions. He also noted that there is only one air monitor in Sussex County, and it is in Seaford, a town west of the power plant.
According to the report Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Delaware, which was prepared by Delaware’s Division of Public Health and released in May of 2010, there are 45 census tracts in Delaware where the figures for breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancers are higher than the state average, and Delaware’s cancer incidence rate was already 10 percent higher than the U.S. average, even though it has been on the decline since the 1992-1996 report was published.
The report notes that census tract numbers may differ for a variety of reasons, namely a cluster of lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, environmental or occupational exposure to chemicals, access to health care, and chance or random variation.
By July of 2010, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services was to complete cancer cluster investigations on each of the 45 census tracts with elevated incidence rates and, by September 2010, study the increased incidence of uterine, urinary bladder, thyroid and myeloma cancers and to provide outreach activities in partnership with other agencies to the community leaders of the 45 census tracts.
The report also said there were ongoing efforts to secure funding for a statewide multi-media exposure study to determine which chemicals are present in the air, water, soil and bodies.
The reports argues that most cancers are caused by “how we choose to live,” and they offer tips for people to limit their risks: do not use tobacco products, maintain a healthy weight and diet, be physically active, get recommended cancer screenings, choose non-toxic household products, avoid excessive alcohol, avoid exposure to the sun and tanning, and avoid unsafe sexual practices. In addition, environmental factors – from air pollution to hair dyes to high levels of arsenic in drinking water – are seen as possible risk factors for some cancers.
But on the issue of the coal-fired Indian River power plant and possible environmental issues stemming from it, there is good news.
The shutdown of the plant’s Units 1, 2 and now 3 (by 2013) will, in theory, have positive impacts on the health of Sussex Countians. The down side is that there will be three more years with little change to the pollution controls, which was negotiated in exchange for a complete shutdown instead of immediate changes over a longer period.
“There is a benefit of shutting down Unit 3, but it operating for three more years [without the pollution controls] does have adverse public health costs,” explained Austin. “Weren’t they going to do that anyway? And what do we gain?”
As a member of Citizens for Clean Power, the Sierra Club and the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Center for the Inland Bays, a supporter of Earth Justice and writer for sourcewatch.org, Austin has been outspoken on everything from clean-up and liners at the power plant’s ash dumps to air emissions and groundwater testing to supporting cleaner technologies. But does Austin feel as if his activism is getting us – tourists and locals alike – anywhere closer to clean air and clean water?
“I hope so,” he said. “Most people who work for the EPA do so because they feel as though they are making a difference. If I didn’t feel as if I could make a difference, I wouldn’t do it,” he said, adding, modestly, that there are people who have been at it much longer than he has who are “much more knowledgeable.”
“One significant thing is that Units 1, 2 and 3 would still be working,” if not for the activism of groups like Citizens for Clean Power, he said. “It is only because of pressure and oversight from the community that more environmental controls are mandated.”
Austin said the “800-pound gorilla” that remains is what will happen in terms of clean-up at Burton’s Island, an old ash landfill site near the plant that is no longer in use, but has years of coal ash stored there. The site, in recent years, was found to be eroding into the nearby waters.
To deal with the erosion, in August, Indian River Power LLC filed a permit with DNREC to “stabilize 4,863 linear feet of shoreline with rip-rap revetment along Indian River and Island Creek at Burton Island” – the second such stage in shoreline stabilization. (What to do with the ash pile, if anything, has not yet been determined.)
Ron Wuslich, secretary for the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Center for the Inland Bays – which, as a group, has been vocal regarding Burton Island clean-up efforts, as well as other environmental impacts in the county – offered respect and praise for Austin and what he offers to the group.
“John is a valuable member of the CIB Citizens Advisory Committee and its management committee. His knowledge obtained as a 30-year veteran of the EPA is invaluable in helping us to ‘restore and protect’ the inland bays. Even more important, perhaps, is his love of the bays and the environment in general.”
Austin suggested that anyone interested in getting involved in any of the issues in Sussex County and Delaware as a whole talk to their state and federal representatives — by picking up the phone and writing letters.
“They do get read, surprisingly enough,” he said. “When enough voices raise an issue, the groundswell is usually addressed, and it gets a reaction that meets the need.”
For more information on the environmental issues surrounding the area’s coal-fired electricity generating plants, visit sourcewatch.org.
For more information on environmental issues stemming from poor indoor air quality, and how to keep a healthy home, visit www.delawarehealthyhomes.org.
For more information on water quality in Delaware visit http://www.waterquality.delaware.gov.
To view the complete Cancer Incidence and Mortality Report visit http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/files/final_imreport_2002-06.pdf.
For an analysis of the census tracts with 2002-2006 elevated all-site cancer rates, visit http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/files/2010cctanalysis.pdf.
