Health impact assessment and community involvement in land remediation decisions

This paper describes a collaborative health impact assessment (HIA) of land remediation options at the site of a former smokeless fuel factory, where action had been delayed by conflict between stakeholders. The likely impacts of the processes involved on the physical and mental health of the community were examined in terms of the relevant scientific and medical literature, history of the site and evidence of local people. Although all remediation options were likely to have some adverse health effects, they could be mitigated by making choices based on the best evidence. The steering group concluded that the adverse effects of remediation would be relatively short term and could be justified by the medium- to long-term benefits of removing toxic substances. The HIA steering group's recommendations were accepted by the project working group, resulting in the resolution of long-running conflict between the residents, activists and those responsible for site remediation, which has now commenced.