Jeffrey Myers of the Wisconsin Environmental Public Health Tracking program (WI EPHT) was recognized with the Henrik L. Blum Award for Excellence in Health Policy for his work at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources developing tools and methods for evaluating the public health consequences of environmental contaminants, and effectively applying the work to impact policy.
 |
| Blum Award winner Jeffrey Myers (left) being congratulated by Governing Councilor Karen Valenzuela (right) while Chair Elect Priti Irani looks on. Photo by Tom Piper. |
The model used in the current project is the Regional Air Impact Modeling Initiative developed by U.S. EPA Region 6. Mr. Myers led the efforts and collaborated with the model’s developers to utilize this cutting-edge technology for the evaluation of ambient air quality issues in Wisconsin. The approach is novel as it provides an assessment of many different contaminants from multiple sources in order to provide a more comprehensive estimate of human exposure and the potential for health impacts. More traditional techniques evaluate sources and contaminants individually, and thus are unable to accurately evaluate the cumulative exposure effects.
The technology enabled Mr. Myers to identify areas of high risk, isolate the major contributor, and develop a targeted approach for reducing the specific emission. Collaborative activities between the industry, health agencies and environmental agencies resulted in the elimination of the hazard from that source. The data and information from the WI EPHT program served as the basis for the emitting facility volunteering to change to production procedures that simultaneously benefited their objectives, improved air quality in the surrounding community and protected human health.
Mr. Myers thanked his collaborators Mark Werner, Marni Bekkedal, and Kristen Malecki for nominating the project in the first place, and Rob Thiboldeaux and Dr. Henry Anderson who were also instrumental in efforts to work with the company to reduce their emissions. He thanked his project team – John Roth, Dan Meinen, and Ted Cauwels. Finally he thanked his family – wife Dawn and daughters Elspeth and Gabrielle – saying “they have accompanied me on this trip, and I could not ask for better traveling companions.”
Dr. Henrik L. Blum was a professor of health administration and planning at the University of California, Berkeley, and a champion of public health as social justice. Among his contributions is that of using community organizing skills along with social and economic concepts in the development and implementation of health care delivery and health policy.