Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environmental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Advocate raises cancer-cluster concerns, urges remediation near Glen Cherry Park
Summary
An advocate with decades of public-housing experience told commissioners she and residents continue to see high cancer rates near Glen Cherry Park and urged the county to address remediation and follow-up for long-standing environmental health concerns.
Anita Holmes, executive founder of Wave of Women in Public Housing, told the commission during public comment that residents from redevelopment areas including Glen Cherry Park continue to experience elevated rates of cancer and that promised remediation and follow-up have not been completed.
Holmes said she has been an advocate for women in public housing for more than 27 years and that, after redevelopment projects and relocations, contact information and follow-up for affected households was lost. "One out of every three households in that area was affected by cancer, or legacy of cancer," she said, describing review of records and local testing she said showed lingering contamination and health impacts. Holmes asked commissioners to address environmental testing, remediation and the county's response to long-term health consequences for residents.
Holmes also said she had videotaped recent meetings and prepared questions about environmental and health data that she said had not been answered. She framed her comments in civil-rights and environmental-justice terms, urging that industrial development proposals not move forward without addressing past harms and remediation needs.
The transcript excerpt records Holmes's account and requests but does not record any immediate formal action or response beyond the public comment itself.
