Overview of the Environmental Health Division

Mission:

Our mission is to identify and sustain environmental conditions that promote healthy people and healthy communities in Seattle and King County. Environmental Health focuses on prevention of disease through proper sanitation, safe food, proper disposal of waste and toxics, and management of disease-carrying pests.

Environmental Health is an integral part of the public health infrastructure in King County, and our approximately 175 professional, technical, and clerical staff work in teams to ensure that residents live in a clean and health-promoting environment.

Responsibilities:

The public’s health depends on some basic fundamentals: clean water, clean soils, adequate waste disposal, pest-free homes and businesses, hygienic restaurants and wholesome food. To prevent disease and promote health, Environmental Health staff educate and inform customers and clients about healthy environmental practices, utilizing state and local rules and regulations to safeguard the health of our people. Each year we provide tens of thousands of inspections and consultations to individuals and businesses throughout King County.

Services:

The Environmental Health Division is organized into three sections:

Food and Facilities Protection
Environmental Hazards
Community Environmental Health

Section One: Food and Facilities Protection

Restaurants, swimming pools and other public facilities that can spread disease must be kept sanitary and healthy. The food and facilities protection program environmental health professionals work to ensure that these public businesses are operating with the public’s health in mind.

Food Protection: Foodborne illnesses from causes such as e-coli and salmonella have the potential to affect thousands of people. Restaurants and other food establishments can be the source of these illnesses if they are not operated using health-protecting principles. Most of the 10,000 food facilities in King County are visited at least three times a year by health inspectors, who check for proper food handling and storage and rodent and insect control. Inspectors issue permits, provide education to food workers, and review restaurant plans. Staff also investigate foodborne illness outbreaks and participate in product recalls.
Meat inspection: Ensuring that meat, fish, and poultry are wholesome and properly labeled is the job of Environmental Health’s meat inspectors. Over 4,500 inspections are conducted at retail establishments each year.
Living Environment: Pools, spas and beaches have inherent safety concerns and are the potential source of disease. Inspections are performed, construction plans are reviewed, and permits are issued at almost 5,000 locations each year. Staff review shoreline development permits, Environmental Impact Statements, and coordinate with the Corps of Engineers on environmental projects.

Section Two: Environmental Hazards

The proper management of environmental hazards is an essential component of public health. Working in cooperation with state and other local agencies, Environmental Hazards teams manage chemical wastes, educate about toxic exposures such as lead and arsenic, supervise solid waste disposal, control rodent infestations, coordinate responses to vector-borne illnesses such as West Nile virus, respond to indoor air quality and noise pollution problems, and investigate illegal drug laboratories.

Solid Waste & Vector/Nuisance Program
Staff review plans for waste handling facilities, and monitor and inspect solid waste treatment sites, transfer stations, and landfill disposal sites to ensure that state and local solid waste codes are being followed. Solid Waste staff also investigate unlawful dumping complaints – about 800 per year.

Vector/Nuisance Program staff investigate complaints about rodent and insect infestations of public health significance, provide information and education to prevent and reduce rodent populations, and enforce state and local regulations for managing these disease carriers. The Public Health veterinarian provides advice regarding rabies and other zoonotic diseases, and fields phone calls from physicians and the general public. Within the City of Seattle, inspectors conduct routine surveillance of sewer mains and place rodent bait to control the sewer rodent population.
Local Hazardous Waste Management Program
Small businesses such as dry cleaners and autobody shops produce large quantities of hazardous waste each year, all of which need to be identified, handled and disposed of correctly. Households can also be burdened with hazardous waste – old paints and insecticides, for example. The Waste Characterization team helps individuals and businesses identify the toxicity of chemical wastes and the appropriate disposal site for the wastes. In addition, Industrial Materials Exchange (IMEX) connects businesses that have waste materials that other businesses can use. The Local Hazardous Waste team coordinates activities with the City of Seattle, suburban cities and public agencies in King County to reduce these hazardous wastes and to provide long-term planning.

The Hazards Line and Business Waste Line staff answer 20,000-plus telephone calls each year from consumers with questions – everything from what to do with a pesticide spill to concerns about health risks from household mold.
Physical and Chemical Hazards
A number of special activities are conducted in the Hazards section. Some of these hazard assessment teams operate under grants from the Washington State Department of Ecology, while additional monies come from local hazardous waste funds and other funds.
- Site Hazard Assessment Team: Over one hundred hazardous sites are investigated each year in by the Site Hazard Assessment Team, which evaluates these contaminated sites for potential health hazards and site clean-up.
- The Illegal Drug Lab Abatement Team oversees the decontamination of properties that have been used for the manufacturing of illegal drugs such as methamphetamines.
- The Indoor Air Quality and Chemical Physical Hazards team investigates complaints about mold and other indoor air irritants in residences, particularly those related to asthma.
- The Tacoma-Smelter Plume Team focuses activities on the evaluation and communicating of health risks associated with the heavy metal contamination of King County soils due to the historic operation of the ASARCO copper and arsenic plant located near Tacoma, Washington.

Section Three: Community Environmental Health

The public’s health depends on clean drinking water supplies and adequate sewage management and disposal. Environmental Health specialists in this section protect the community’s health through monitoring, inspecting, and enforcing regulations pertaining to sewage, plumbing, water, and septic systems in King County.

Sewage Disposal/Platting and Land Development
The staff in this program review sewage disposal and septic system plans. Hundreds of sewage systems and septic tanks installations are inspected each year, since faulty tanks and systems may result in the leakage of raw sewage into the ground and surface water systems. The staff educate installers and sludge haulers, investigate complaints about sewage leaks, and conduct surveys of areas with high rates of failing systems. In unincorporated King County, staff evaluate land development projects to assure adequate water supply and sewage disposal systems.
Water Quality
Numerous small public water systems provide water to people living in King County. Inspectors work with these smaller systems on proper well site locations, planning, and system installation. They also evaluate and test individual water systems, provide about 3,500 consultations and perform about 300 inspections per year.
Plumbing and Gas Piping
Plumbing installations, including waste drains, vent piping, and gas piping systems are inspected each year for compliance with local regulations and the uniform plumbing code. Approximately 32,000 plumbing and gas piping inspections are conducted each year by the Plumbing and Gas Piping team.