 "Photo: Erik Reyna")
The lack of affordable health services and industrial pollution are some of the problems affecting the health of East Austin residents, panelists said at a seminar Tuesday.
The UT School of Social Work and the Center for Social Work Research hosted the first of a series of open seminars highlighting issues of health disparity in the Austin community.
"We are holding this seminar to lay a foundation for a collaboration between university academics, health and social work organizations and the community in the interest of health disparities," said social work professor Laura Lein. "We want to see what can be gained through a collaborative effort."
Discussion of a Pure Casting facility near Zavala Elementary School was prevalent at the seminar.
The facility, which manufactures various metal castings, uses chemicals that are harmful when inhaled in dust form and generates more than 220 pounds of industrial waste per month, according to a report from People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources.
"We are concerned about hazardous chemicals, especially for children, since the facility is located next to a school," said Susana Almanza, co-director of the environmental organization, one of the organizations that co-sponsored the event.
The Pure Casting facility is one of many industrial facilities located in the middle of East Austin communities, left over from Austin's 1928 Master Plan. According to a report from the East Austin Environmental Project, this plan moved every "undesirable industry" as well as Austin's poor minorities to affordable areas east of Interstate Highway 35.
Data presented by Marva Overton, executive director of the Alliance for African American Health, showed that blacks lead mortality rates in 10 of the 15 leading causes of death. Nearly 25 percent of the state of Texas now finds itself without health insurance, according to census data, providing a significant challenge to health care providers and widening the health care disparities in the Austin
community.
"There are many causes that lead to poor health outcomes," Overton said. "We can't take care of all of them, but we want to be able to weigh in on core issues."
