Kentucky Environmental Foundation

(Paducah) The Kentucky Environmental Foundation and Purchase District Health Department invite the public to a two-part "listening circle" for Paducah area and McCracken county residents in regard to the potential retrofit or retirement of the Shawnee Fossil Plant. The listening circles will take place on Tuesday July 9th and 16th at the Emerging T... echnology Center in the West Kentucky Community Technical College, Room 141. There is no charge for participation, and supper will be provided. To RSVP, contact Deborah Payne at Deborah@kyenvironmentalfoundation.org or call (859) 986-0868. The purpose of the listening circles is to collect community input on a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on Shawnee, to analyze and make recommendations on ensuring public health protection for either retrofit or retirement. The HIA process involves collecting data through community dialogue, surveys, and economic/jobs analysis to affect decisions on issues falling outside of the typical health arena. The format of the HIA requires that community feedback be an integral part of the process, resulting in recommendations that directly reflect community stakeholder concerns. So far, the HIA process has included an HIA training in early May that involved local community members, health professionals and industry representatives; personal dialogue and surveys with representatives from labor unions, small businesses and contractor companies, physicians, faith leaders and others; and are currently working on a scoping document an literature review.Read More