Solano Asthma Coalition
Well-planned Advocacy Reduces Woodsmoke Particulates
[2/10/04 by Jeni L. Miller et al]
At the start of the CAFA initiative, when the Solano Asthma Coalition (SAC) looked at the environmental factors affecting children with asthma in the county, they asked themselves "What would have an impact on the whole county?" recalls Valerie Ansley, SAC's Program Director. Through a long and sometimes arduous year of strategic planning, they finally found their target. Solano County, they discovered, was behind the curve on an important environmental issue—wood smoke from fireplaces and wood burning stoves. It was the only county in California not to have any wood burning ordinances in place.
In 2001, Solano County received the dubious distinction of ranking number one in the self-reported prevalence rate for asthma of all the counties in the state, according to the California Health Interview Survey. In the Bay Area, wood smoke accounts for 40% of the airborne small particulate matter during certain times of the year, making it a significant asthma trigger. These small particulates (smaller than 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter) are especially dangerous, because they are not filtered out by the nose or mouth, and they can lodge deep within the lungs causing long-term damage. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), one of the two air quality districts in which Solano County resides, has been advocating wood smoke ordinances since 1998. The other, the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD) was presented the issue by SAC in January 2004 and passed their “Rule” in December. Clearly, this was an important issue for the county, and one, the coalition felt, whose time had come.
Made up of a wide range of stakeholders, SAC was in a good position to take it on. The county health department founded the coalition, along with healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente, and the American Lung Association of the East Bay. "The coalition has a lot of support and commitment," notes Anne Kelsey Lamb, of the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Initiative (RAMP). "Many organizations in the area are members." Partnership Health Plan, the other major area healthcare provider, joined, as did the Travis Air Force Base, parents, Head Start, medical and healthcare professionals, and representatives from both air quality districts. "Having them [the air quality district representatives] on was very valuable," remarks Kelsey Lamb. "That's a good lesson learned about coalition development, and about what allies you need."
The other lessons SAC's experience teaches are thoughtful, strategic advocacy, and dogged persistence. Step by step, the coalition worked this issue into community awareness, and into the consciousness of decision makers in city halls across the county. Thanks to its ongoing work, the coalition could take advantage of World Asthma Day 2003. "We received proclamations for our asthma work in all the cities in the county," explains Ansley, "and we wrote about wood smoke/appliances in each proclamation. We also mentioned it in all our thank you letters and follow up calls." They included all the cities, and the county, when they mailed their sample ordinance in November 2003.
Simultaneously, the coalition ran a public information campaign on the issue, placing ads on the screens of area movie theaters and distributing brochures. The coalition took full advantage of open mike opportunities at city hall meetings to press their wood burning/appliances concerns. "Finally, we were able to get it onto the agenda," at city council meetings says Ansley. Once on the agenda, the coalition arrived with a sample ordinance in hand, modeled on the ordinance passed in Sebastopol.
The fruits of SAC's efforts are starting to come in. As of November 2004, the city of Fairfield passed a wood burning ordinance, the city of Benicia is looking at strengthening their current ordinance, and the coalition is working with other cities and the county to follow suit. Step by step. SAC succeeded by addressing an issue whose time in Solano had come, and marshalling the examples of surrounding counties and the recommendations of the region's air quality-regulating bodies. As they raised awareness of the problem among the public and among decision makers, they also offered a tested solution. In the telling, the process sounds easy, belying SAC's years of commitment and hard work on the part of children with asthma. |
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