A 45-year career in public health comes to an end

Aug. 30--Jim Devald has been making a difference in the health of Niagara County's residents for more than four decades.

Devald has been the director of environmental health since 1988, managing the division's 30 employees. He started on June 1, 1970 as a junior engineer.

Now, 45 years later, the ride has come to an end. Devald's last day with the county was Friday.

The environmental health division has two sections. The first deals with engineering and with public water supply, public sewage disposal, hazardous waste and engineering plans for a variety of different programs.

The second section is community and environmental health. That section is tasked with monitoring food service, swimming pools, children's camp, migrant labor camps, bathing beaches, temporary houses -- hotels, motels, rooming houses and bed and breakfasts -- the environmental lead program, rabies and the West Nile virus. The section also would respond to any spills -- water, air or on the ground -- where a substance is released into the environment.

Environmental health would be the division that weekly samples Olcott's Beach for contaminants. For example, the beach was closed on Wednesday because of the level of bacteria in the water. The water was then resampled on Thursday and the area was reopened on Friday, after results were received by noon that day.

Devald grew up in Kenmore and went to college at the University at Buffalo, where he earned a chemical engineering degree.

"That was the time when pollution was a big thing and there was a lot," he said. "I had an interest in chemistry and there was a lot of publicity about cleaning up the environment, so I developed an interest in that, as a result."

Throughout his time working in Niagara County, there have been many things that have stuck with him.

He recalls the big rabies scare that occurred in New York state and the county back in the mid-90s, especially with raccoons. The county got involved with the Oral Rabies Vaccination program, which is when rabies vaccine bait is dropped from an airplane. When a raccoon bites into the packet, which resembles small ketchup packets, the animal is vaccinated.

The program is now run by the USDA and Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and it has been administered in Niagara County for 19 years.

One of the latest things Devald said the county health department is dealing with is new emergency regulations with regards to cooling towers and Legionella. He said with the recent outbreak in New York City, where people became sick and 10 died from the bacteria found in water. The outbreak was traced back to a cooling tower that wasn't taken care of and maintained properly.

As a result, the state came out with emergency regulations to make sure all cooling towers are registered and a maintenance program is in place. The county will be in charge of those facilities that have cooling towers, such as hospitals and nursing homes.

Devald's favorite project is the Healthy Neighborhoods grant, funding given to Niagara County by the state health department.

The program, which started in Niagara Falls, consists of workers going into underserved areas within the city, visiting door to door.

"They dealt with fire safety, lead poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning," he said. "If there were any other issues these families were having, where we could refer them to social services or legal aid or food stamps, they would do that."

The county lost the program in 2014 after 20 years, but shortly thereafter the state health department reinstated it. Devald said throughout those 20 years, the program had provided service in limited amounts for the Lockport and North Tonawanda areas, mostly running in Niagara Falls. Now, the program can run throughout the entire county, to any place where it is needed.

Devald has seen many advancements and changes in the field. One of the major changes he has seen is with health regulations, many of which are now based upon science.

"When I first started I could probably hold the regulations in my hand and now there's volumes and volumes," Devald said. "Those have increased over the years and got better defined."

He has also seen how wastewater treatment facilities have been upgraded in municipal, industrial and commercial sectors.

Devald also witnessed the clean up of the majority of hazardous waste sites in the county, and the extension of both the public sewer and water systems in a lot of areas.

"I will miss the people and I will also miss the job," Devald said. "I enjoy what I do and I think that is what's helped me last this long."

He said the support the department has received from both administration and the Niagara County Legislature "has always been very good."

"They've always supported us and the programs we do," he said.

Devald has lived in the county since 1970. Upon retirement, he is looking forward to spending time with his children, Jason and Rachael and his four grandchildren, Natalie, Ava, Ryan and Owen. He also plans to golf, fish and "take it easy." He also said he may consider some volunteer work in the future.

Contact reporter Rikki Cason at 439-9222, ext. 6252.

___

(c)2015 the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, N.Y.)

Visit the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, N.Y.) at lockportjournal.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.