Sumner Council Approves Funding for Health Impact Assessment Concerning Coal Operations

The Sumner City Council, by a vote of 4-3 Monday night, approved putting forth $5,000 toward a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) concerning the proposed increase in coal transportation by rail through the city.

The motion, brought forth by Councilmembers Nancy Dumas and Randy Hynek, was supported by Councilmembers Steve Allsop and Curt Brown.

Some concern was expressed that this assessment duplicates studies that are already ongoing, including the Department of Ecology-led environmental impact study (EIS), and one focused on economic impact by the Puget Sound Regional Council. Dumas and Hynek emphasized the HIA is the only study to focus on the health impacts of citizens.

"This provides the health study that everyone's complaining doesn't exist," Hynek said, pointing out it is being done by an independent group.

The full study is estimated to cost between $250,000 and $300,000, according to the agenda bill put forth by Dumas and Hynek. To date, about $200,000 has already been raised for the project, according to the agenda bill.

Editor's Correction: Alex Dery Snider, spokesperson for the Health Impact Project by The Pew Charitable Trusts, said the HIA team is in conversations about possible funding with the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, and not the Pew Research Center, as previously reported. Final funding decisions have not been made. Washington State University, University of Washington, and Oregon Public Health would be the leads - not Pew, he said.

"To protect the integrity and neutrality of the study, the decision has been made not to accept any funding from advocacy groups but instead from jurisdictions who will be affected by coal/rail impacts and have expressed an interest in the situation," read the agenda bill.

The Council in early March rejected making a formal statement opposing the potential impacts of the increased traffic.

Allsop shared his concern that those leading the study may not necessarily be unbiased and appear to come from a background in advocacy, but the perspective might be just as welcome in the debate over the larger issue.

He questioned Community Development Director Paul Rogerson over where an HIA fits into the current EIS process. The EIS currently doesn't require anything called a health impact assessment, Rogerson said.

Then again, "many experts say an HIA is the best and most comprehensive and holistic way to answer the health questions that have to be answered by the EIS," he said. It was "highly desirable" that an HIA be done by an unbiased source.

From that perspective, Councilmember Ed Hannus said he believed the responsibility for the HIA should be done by a state or federal agency, rather than the burden falling to a municipality.

Read More: City of Sumner's Look at the Coal Trains Issue