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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-14-2002 Board of Health MinutesPLAINVIEW HALE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT BOARD OF -HEALTH MEETING FEBRUARY 14, 2002 Board Chairman, Dr. Kit Linton; called the regularly scheduled meeting of the of Health Directors of Plainview -Hale County Health Department to order at approximately 12:30 P.M at the Plainview Country Club, on February 14, 2002. Those in attendance were: Dr. Kit Linton, Dr. Michael Hinze, Dr. Bryan Peeler, Jim Jeffers, Margaret Kay, Judy Shannon, Neal Burnett, Sally Meeks, R.N., Benny Cantwell, Rey Rosas, John Castro, Ericka Jathan, and Nancy Cornett. Guests that attended the meeting were Wally Hatch, Elizabeth Regner, Terry McEachern, Ben Linton, Roy Borchardt, Richard Orr, and Richard Porter. After Dr. Hinze-gave-the invocation, Dr. Linton asked if there were any questions on the approval of the minutes of the last meeting. The minutes were approved as presented. Ericka Jathan gave an update on sexually transmitted diseases in Hale County. She mentioned that Chlarnydia is higher than average. She continued by saying that testing far Chlamydia- is done regardless even when a patient comes in for something else, such as a STD or HIV test. Ericka also discussed Syphilis in Hale County. She said that even though there is an outbreak of Syphilis in Amarillo, it has not made its way to our area. Therefore, for November and December there were no positive cases. Ericka then talked about the communicable diseases in Hale County. She mentioned that there were 3 patients that tested positive for Hepatitis C, but that all were prison based from the county. In December, there was one Hepatitis A case reported. The Health Department started the patient and family that was exposed, on medication and they are all doing fine. Wally Hatch discussed the powers and duties of the Plainview -Hale County Health Department. He passed out a graph showing the terms for appointments and re- appointments and when they would occur. He mentioned that, at the last meeting, he indicated to the Board that research showed that they were an Advisory Board. He said some old documents could argue -that it was a district. However, there were never documents and minutes clearly showing that the Board was an Advisory Board and had never been a District. He said that the Board even addressed that recently as of 1993, when Laney Voss was Chairman. He indicated to the Board that it would take a number of other legal maneuvers to be a District. Mr. Hatch continued to discuss the duties of the -Health Department. He said that all of his research shows as well as the District Attorney's research shows basically that when Mary Trusdale left it has been treated as a City Department and she was a state employee. Everybody that has held that position since then has been city employed. He said, "Technically there should be inner local agreement in place," Mr. Hatch continued that the bottom line is that both his research and the district attorneys research indicates that the -Board of Health is clearly an Advisory Board. The Director is to be appointed by the governing body. The governing body has done that appointment through City Council. The City Council appointed- John Castro as the Director for the Health Department. As the director statute says, "the director will have the appointment power of medical authority, subject to the approval of the governing body." He said that the action that was taken with regard to the appointing of a new medical authority was within the statutory guidelines governing that position. Wally Hatch mentioned that there were some questions that came up after the last meeting. One of those questions was whether there were any potential liabilities because of recommendations that were made to the City or County that ultimately result in some liability. He answered that question by saying that there were no liabilities to the Board. He said that if it were meant for you to have any type of liability at all, it would have been addressed by the legislature. Another question that Wally Hatch addressed was the question Dr. Hinze had concerning the powers and duties of the board to approve expenditures. Wally answered the question by saying that the -inner local agreement is going to clearly define that. He said that it is a power that can be delegated if it is done properly. The way that happens is any expenditures turned in, go to -the department and are approved by the Commissioners Court and by the City Council when they do there budgets. Mr. Hatch closed by stating that the Board's powers and duties will be clearly defined in the inner local agreement that is going to be drawn up. He mentioned how it should have been in place. "In summoning it up the DA' s office research agrees that the action that was taken was proper and valid by law and by law proper, and as a result to that Dr. Peeler wilt be the Medical- Authority." Assistant District Attorney, Ben Linton gave a summary of what Wally Hatch spoke about. He said that there -are some questions and some things we were not sure about in the past that we do want to clarify now. He said that is why we want to put it in writing. To make it very clear what the County, City, and the Board's responsibilities are: He said we want to make it very clear who can do what within the realm of deciding what is best for the health of the citizens of Hale County. Ben Linton continued to summarize the duties of the Health Department. He discussed how the- City operates the -Health Department and how the- County contributes to that. He said that the Health Department of the City does things for the County and the Board advises the City what is best for the City and the County. He states, "that is why we have representatives from both the City and the- County. People who have medical knowledge, and who have knowledge of their community and we wish to continue that." He continued by saying, "We also want you to be able to print your advice before things happen plus in the matter of expenditures, to look at those so that you know what has happened." Mr. Linton mentioned how he and Mr. Hatch have discussed new board member orientation. He says that he thinks there has been lack of understanding of what people's duties, powers and responsibilities are and how we will all need to work togethei-once-the agreements are in- place. He mentioned that eventually all existing board members would go through some of the same orientation to see if they are making understanding as well. Mr. Linton ended by saying that the -actions taken by the City regarding the Medical Director and Medical Authority were within the City's authority to do that. He states that the County or the -Board was not involved in the situation. He -said, "We may want to have a situation where the Board would review those types of personal matters before they are aetually implemented, though -we -do -need to -understand that it is the City that has the legal authority under the statute to make those decisions." Ericka then -gave an update on smoking. She said cigarette smoking is not the only issue, there is also smokeless tobacco. Smokeless tobacco causes tooth abrasion (which destroys the teeth), gum recession, increase in tooth decay, discoloration, bad breath, and nicotine dependency. She mentioned how nicotine in the chewing tobacco is much higher than in the smoking tobacco. Ericka went on to say how smokeless tobacco sales had declined by 1 percent in 1994. However, advertising increased sales by 46.5- percent and it gave- sales of 6.3 million, which was higher, then the 4.3 million dollars in 1993. She mentioned that 77 percent of kids have gone from cigarette smoking to chewing tobacco. Ericka then discussed Teen Pregnancy in Hale County. She mentioned how the Coalition has now been going since November 2000. She -said that when it was first started there were only a handful of people and how the Coalition is now up to 20 members. She continued to- discuss how the- Co-alition has gotten the approval to get into schools to teach abstinence to the children and how they went for the first time in December 2001. They played a game -called "The Marne of Life." She mentioned that the- response to- the game was great. She said that she hopes that in the future the Coalition will be able to help kids, decrease teen pregnancy, and think twice before -they decide that the- only thing they can do is have babies. She ended by saying, "We want them to get a good education and know there -is more out there for thea." Dr. Linton then asked if there were any questions on the expenditures for November and December. Margaret Kay had a question concerning the charges for copies that were made by the Health Department. She felt it was unnecessary to charge those amounts if we had the equipment. John Castro addressed the question by saying that the copy machine -at the Health Department was not working. He :mentioned that the employees at the Health Department were making eopies at City Hall. He explained how all- City departments have a number on their copy machines and the numbers of copies you make are charged to the right department. All were in favor toapproveexpenditures for November and December. John Castro then discussed marketing efforts at the Health Department. He mentioned how himself and- Assistant City Manager Elizabeth Regner were coming up --with ideas to make the people of Hale County aware that they do have a Health Department and what the Health- Department does. Ile said, "we're doing that through a series of newspaper articles, flyers that are going to be distributed to different health clinics and continue to do many clinics for the public at different places, such aa Excel or Wal-Mart." He mentioned it would be businesses that would allow us to do so. He continued by saying that the- people of Hale County should know about the Health Department. He said the people should know that we are out there, where we're located, what we- do, and- where to get information if they are not sure- whereto go. Mr. Castro ended by thanking Mrs. Regner for helping out on the marketing for the Health Department. He also wanted to take the opportunity to introduce -Dr. Bryan Peeler, the new health authority for the Health Department. Jim Jeffers, City Manager introduced the last topic that was discussed- at the Board of Health meeting. The topic was a citizens concern about Malathion spraying by the Boll Weevil Eradication Program He said, "the reason that this portion of the meeting .has been turned over to me is to serve as moderator. It is that the Health Board normally quarrels an obscurity and does not normally entertain to public comment." He mentioned that the procedures that are going to be used are the public hearing procedures that are utilized by the City of P-lainvi w. He reviewed the -procedures for the Board and then asked if there -were any questions or comments. He said that meeting would begin with the requesting party. Allowing them 15 minutes to- make whatever comment he wishes. After that, a representative of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program would have 15 minutes to discuss anything he wished to discuss. Then a representative- of the Texas Agricultural Department would have 15 minutes as well. After that, he said any individual comments will be entertained and those individuals will have -3 minutes to make whatever remarks they wish. Mr. Rusty Donelson began the topic on malathion, listing 3 principles that apply to public health officials. The -first principle is when you have the worst turnout. You are- dealing with amendment of the health issues. Then he said, principle #2 is when you have a significant percentage of thepeople turn out for a public-health issue to -claim that it is not a public health -issue at altChances are he said,, those individuals are the problem Lastly, principle #3 is the closer a public- advisory board or a health board gets to making an actual corrective action for recommendation, the more pressure is put on public health officials and ex offcos to steer those health advisory boards away from that corrective measure. Mr. Donelson said, "Those are the 3 universal principles that apply to all public health officials." He -ended by saying -"Safe -air for everyone. 1 think that is what most people came to hear." After Mr. Donelson- spoke, a concerned mother named Jennifer Warren addressed the Board. She began by saying, "1 have been speaking on the phone with a lot of mothers that are concerned about their children's health and their safety." She said that their concerns were based on facts. She mentioned that malathion is making kids sick, including her daughter that is 3 1 years aid. She went on to say that exposure to Malathion could cause brain tumors, cancer, liver and kidney failure. She mentioned how many communities have- choses not to use malathion, because of birth defects, Mrs. Warren said, "The boll weevil people are spraying it in our community, on our kids, and all over our homes." She -stated that many of the mothers she had been talking to were puzzled why their kids have been so sick. They have had allergies, nausea, diarrhea, and a loss of appetite She asked, "Why are the numbers going up? Why are there so many kids getting ill?" She went on to say that the public health officials are the only ones. They are the only things that stand between a sick child and economic interest of the boll weevil program and the people that use the chemical. She voiced, "Our health board- needs to stand up- against these people who are -hurting our children and making the boll weevil richer." She then asked why the Health Department did not investigate Malathion before it was sprayed. Lastly, Mrs. Warren mentioned how she and many others have tons of toxicology reports that prove- that malathion is not safe: She- stated, "from my own research as a mother, 1 have found that it is not safe and I feel like the public needs to know." Charles Noan, director for the Bolt Weevil Eradication Foundation approached the podium. He began by talking about the eradication program. He said that the program was put together and funded by the -growers. He -mentioned how it is a non-profit organization. He went on to say that the purpose of the program is to eliminate the boll weevil completely and to do -it in -the- most economically and -environmentally friendly way there is to do it. Also he mentioned getting it done as quickly as possible, so there will not be spraying of boll weevil again. Mr. Noan said, "The -objective of our whole program is to eliminate this pest that has been around for over 100 years and that growers have been having to deal with, a large -part of the time with insecticide." Charles Noan continued to speak on the Boll Weevil Program. He said that cotton is the only thing that the boll weevil program treat. He stated, "we know exactly where- the aircraft is, we know when it is spraying and when it is not. We evaluate those plots on a Bail basis. We monitor the amount of material that is applied to make sure that nothing more or nothing less is sprayed." He said that- after the first year all treatments are applied based on boll weevil trap eases. Noan said, "In other words, if there are no weevils or if we are not able to locate weevils on the land, we do not treat that land." Mr. Now discussed the process for spraying in sensitive sites. Such -as churches, schools, hospitals, or individuals that indicate that there is a health risk or a health concern that they are concerned about. He -said that in those- cases, the boll weevil program would send an environmental monitoring group that goes out and monitors the flight. If the wind is on a direction that could- possibly be blowing towards that site, then that application is not made and will be put for a later date. Mr. Noan then went on to mention the -progress on the- eradication program. He said that in the San Angelo area 250,000 acres are free of boll weevils. Meaning there is no spraying done there anymore He said, "we are -making huge progress in the plains and are looking at only 2 or 3 applications for this year. Our intention is to move through that and get the boll weevil eradicated as soon as we -possibly can and at that point there would be no more spraying." Charles Noan continued by stating that there are all kinds of things that people use everyday that can cause us harm. He mentioned that fluoride toothpaste has a warning on the label that it is toxic if you swallow it. He -compared aspirin to malathion, stating that aspirin is 2.2 times more toxic then malathion. He said nicotine is 38 times more toxic then malathion. Caffeine is 16 times more toxic then malathion. He ended the topic by saying that malathion has been around since the 1950s and it has been used on fruits, vegetables, field crops and domestic animals. Lastly, Mr. Noan briefly discussed safety. He said that the USEPA finds malathion safe fol boll weevil eradication and mosquito control He- ended by saying, "If they didn't think it was safe they wouldn't label the product. They have looked at all of the research and by virtue of their labeling product declare that it's safe." Michael Hare, a toxicologist for the Texas Department of Agricultural in Austin, spoke at the meeting. He -began by mentioning that if anyone is exposed to a pesticide in the state of Texas, then they can file a complaint with the Texas Department of Agricultural and it will be investigated. He -stated that since 199--8 there -has been 1 complaint from the -use of malathion in Hale County. He said, "many people are scared of pesticides primarily because they know so- little about them and as a rule we generally fear what we don't know." Mr. Hare said that people have a problem with perspective, because it is a synthetic chemical. He said that people perceive synthetic chemicals to -be more harmful than the natural occurring chemicals. The example he used was coffee, which is natural occurring. He mentioned that there are 20 million carcinogens i a cup of coffee, but that no one associates a risk with that because we all know about coffee. David Brito who lives at Route 2, Box 228, Plainview, began the individual comments an the topic concerning malathion. He spoke against the use of malathion. He said, "Our only purpose -for being here- is to stop these people from making more and more money." Weldon Melton, who lives at Route 3-, Box 53, Plainview spoke on how he -was for malathion spraying, to eliminate the boll weevils. He said that the farmers approved this program by over 88%. He stated that the -farmers recently finished voting on the $oll Weevil Program again, 4 years after the program started. Rebecca Willard, who lives at Rural Route- 2, Box 196, Plainview voiced her concernon malathion. She mentioned having headaches before, then after September 11, 2001, when the -planes quit flying, the headaches stopped. Then she said the headaches started up again after the planes started flying again. She said, "It would be nice to know when planes are there. I didn't realize there was someone that 1 could even call that would let you know they were coming." She closed by saying that she would like notice when planes were -fixing to spray near her area. Rachel Mingle from Abilene, Texas —a representative of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation- spoke -at the meeting. She mentioned haw she -wanted to address a point that was made about how often the planes were spraying. She said, "on the first year in any eradication program, wetreat every field, every week." Ms. Mingle also wanted to address the -comma that was madeabout=-the headaches stopping on - September l e then starting back_ She said, "One of the points that need td be made is malathion is not just now being used in the Northern High Plains or in any area in the state." She mentioned how malathion was not a new chemical being introduced. It has been used orr mosquito-inbaternent programs since 1969. She then said that the boll weevil program does let people know ahead of time when they are going to spray. Mac Ray who lives in Shallowater, Texas made a comment. He said that he could testify that the lady who just spoke was incorrect. He says he asked to be notified ahead of time before spraying near his area and they haven't done so. Wayne. Gilbreath, who lives at 2105 W_ 9dt,r Plainview asked a question. "Are there ` special safety procedures and are they being followed." A resident out of Lubbock, Texas made a comment. She said that she stays away from chemicals and that she -has never been notified before spraying. Delbert Mooney, who lives at Route 1, Box 13A, Hale Center had a question. He wanted to know why the boll weevil -was not following the rules on- contacting people ahead of time. Patrick Burse, a representative for the -Foundations of Health out of Lubbock, wanted to clarify some safety procedures. He mentioned how the Boll Weevil only sprays cotton fields. He also -reassured that if anyone wants to- be -contacted ahead of time before being sprayed, they would be contacted_. Roger Hanabul who lives in Crosby County made a comment. He- s -aid that he works for Plains Cotton Growers and they stand firmly behind the Texas Bou Weevil Eradication Foundation. Val Ellis, who is a resident of Rails, Texas, spoke on malathion. He talked about the concentrations of malathion. He said that the program is using 100% straight malathion and no water. He said, "that makes it 262 times stronger then what we spray in our garden and is quite toxic at those levels." He mentioned how malathion ruins the paint on cars and should- be rinsed off right away. Mr. Ellis also talked about wind speeds. He mentioned the report that the Boll Weevil Program mails tot -he -farmers on the days their fields were- sprayed and the wind speeds. He said, "I think it is kind of unusual for these areas to have on a lot of days 4mph, a lot of days 6mph, a few days of 8mph." He said our average wind speed is 9.8mph and the summer is one of our windier times. Steve Olson a resident of Plainview -made a comment that he wanted to see the boll weevil eradicated. Mr. Rusty Donelson made his closing remarks. He said that he felt that the meeting had served a very important purpose. He mentioned that the Boll Weevil Program is not contacting people before they spray. He- said, `there are a lot of people here that are offended by the conduct of the Boll Weevil folks, impending their character and essentially calling- them- liars." Weldon Melton made closing remarks in -behalf of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation. He mentioned that the goal for the program is to safely eradicate the boll weevil and keep the health of the community in Hale County as safe- as possible. He said, "we are concerned with the safety of the citizens of Hale County. If you want to be notified please let us know, you will be -notified." Mr. Melton said that the -program is to eliminate the use of pesticides and to eradicate the boll weevil. Jim Jeffers ended -by saying, "due to the length of the meeting, we -have lost our quorum, therefore the board cannot take no action on this item, so this meeting is adjourned. Thank you." Nancy Cornett Secretary Plainview -Hale County Health- Department