ATSDR - Tar Creek Superfund Site: ATSDR’s Plan for the Tar Creek Superfund Site

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ATSDR’s Plan for the Tar Creek Superfund Site - November 21, 2006

Introduction
Public Health Concerns
Table 1: Summary of Public Health Concerns
Other Activities
Outreach
Ongoing Activities
Tribal Consultation
Consumption of Fish
Consumption of Wild Foods
Child Health Issues
Health Outcome Data Review
Air Quality
Transportation of Chat
Review of Environmental Data from the Chat Piles
Riverview Park, Miami
Comments or Questions?
Appendix A

Introduction

This is the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) response to public health concerns at the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. ATSDR has created a plan that describes the public health concerns it will address. The plan is based on ATSDR’s review of environmental data from the site and on meetings with tribal representatives, Local Environmental Action Demanded (LEAD) Agency, Inc., and staff members from federal, state, and local agencies. The plan also informs ATSDR’s partners of the agency’s goals and activities.

The plan’s goals are 1) to describe those public health concerns of which ATSDR is aware, 2) to determine whether the agency can or will address these concerns, and 3) to state those reports, if any, ATSDR will prepare and distribute. This plan is ongoing; as ATSDR evaluates public health concerns at the Tar Creek Superfund Site, the plan can be modified, and the status of ongoing activities can be updated.

A team of ATSDR staff members conducts ATSDR’s evaluation. The ATSDR team members are listed in Appendix A, which also contains a map of the Tar Creek Superfund Site.

Public Health Concerns

As of August 2006, ATSDR identified the public health concerns that the agency will address:

Request for Tribal Consultation with the 10 tribes affected by the Tar Creek Superfund Site,
Concerns about fish consumption from the Neosho River and Spring River watershed,
Concerns about wild food consumption from the Tar Creek Superfund Site and from the Neosho and Spring Rivers watershed,
Concerns about health issues in children who live in Ottawa County,
Concerns about disease and illness in Ottawa County and in the Tar Creek area,
Concerns about air quality near the chat piles,
Concerns about transporting chat,
Concerns about environmental contamination from chat piles and from mine waste, and
Concerns about flooding from the Neosho River and any consequent contamination of parks, particularly Riverview Park.

These public health concerns are summarized in Table 1 and are described in further detail in the following subsections.

Table 1: Summary of Health Concerns for the Tar Creek Superfund Site

Project #	Public Health Concern	Description	Status	ATSDR Staff Lead	Requestor
1	Tribal Consultation	Official meeting with tribal leaders and their representatives to determine how ATSDR and tribes will work together and what public health activities ATSDR will address	Tribal Consultation held July 13, 2006	Campbell	ATSDR
2	Fish Consumption	Consumption of fish from the Neosho and Spring Rivers watershed	ongoing	Mellard	Tribes
3	Wild Food Consumption	Consumption of native wild foods from the Tar Creek Superfund Site and from the Neosho and Spring Rivers watershed	ongoing	Mellard	Tribes
4	Child Health Issues	Possible arsenic exposure in some children from Ottawa County	ongoing	Mellard	Ottawa Co. Health Department
5	Health Outcome Data	The rate of various diseases and deaths for Ottawa County and the Tar Creek area	Public Health Assessment released Fall 2006	Dearwent, Lyke	Residents
6	Air Quality	Exposure to windblown contaminants from the chat piles	ongoing	Mann	Residents
7	Transportation of Chat	Exposure to windblown contaminants from roads used by vehicles carrying chat	ongoing	Mann	Residents
8	Review of chat pile data set	Review of EPA’s environmental data set for the chat piles, mine and mill residues, and for smelter waste. Determine other possible pathways of exposure	ongoing	Mann	ATSDR
9	Riverview Park, Miami	Evaluation of sediment data from Neosho River and the potential impact of flooding on Riverview Park and other areas	ongoing	Mann	Residents

Other Activities

As ATSDR staff members work with residents, tribal leaders, and staff members from other agencies, this plan could be revised to add new activities to the list or to describe the final outcome of listed activities. Changes in the plan will be indicated by revised text and a change in the date.

Outreach

ATSDR is committed to addressing the public health concerns of the communities affected by the Tar Creek Superfund site. ATSDR expects to provide updates to its plan for the Tar Creek Superfund Site once or twice a year as public health activities are conducted and completed. To be notified of updates to the plan, please join our mailing list at one of our public meetings or notify La Freta Dalton, Health Communication Specialist at 404-498-1743 or LDalton@cdc.gov. You can also call toll free (1-800-CDC-INFO) and ask to be transferred to Ms. Dalton. The customer service representative who answers the telephone for CDC-INFO will transfer you to an ATSDR operator who will forward your call to Ms. Dalton. We welcome your comments and involvement with our activities.

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Ongoing Activities

The descriptions that follow describe the nine public health concerns that ATSDR has will address as part of its plan.

Tribal Consultation (Campbell)

Status-to-Date

ATSDR hosted an official Tribal Consultation for the 10 tribes potentially affected by the Tar Creek Superfund Site. The Tribal Consultation was held June 14, 2006 in Wyandotte, OK. The consultation’s purpose was to talk with elected officials of the 10 tribes or their representatives and to develop jointly a plan that addresses public health issues related to the Tar Creek Superfund Site.

During the Tribal Consultation, ATSDR staff presented a draft of the agency’s plan for Tar Creek, and participants discussed the nine activities identified in the plan. During the meeting, tribal leaders and their representatives raised various health concerns about the Tar Creek Superfund Site, which concerns have been added to the plan. Notes from the meeting were prepared and were shared with tribal representatives.

Following the meeting, ATSDR established the Tar Creek health team. It consists of representatives from the tribes, LEAD Agency, the Ottawa County Health Department, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, and ATSDR. The health team enables ATSDR staff to work closely with the agency’s partners while evaluating and completing plan activities. The team’s first conference call was July 13, 2006.

Next Steps

ATSDR will continue to hold monthly conference calls with members of the Tar Creek health team as the team evaluates and progresses through the ATSDR plan. Currently, the health team is evaluating the fish issues identified in item #2 of the health plan summary (Table 1).

Current or Expected Products

ATSDR established the Tar Creek health team to address public health concerns at the Tar Creek Superfund Site. Team members include tribal representatives, LEAD Agency staff members, local health officials, and ATSDR staff members.

Accomplishments

ATSDR held an official Tribal Consultation on June 14, 2006. Tribal leaders from many of the 10 tribes affected by the Tar Creek Superfund Site attended.

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Consumption of Fish (Mellard)

Status-to-Date

Residents in Ottawa County have requested that ATSDR evaluate the available fish data from the Neosho and Spring Rivers watershed to determine whether fish from the watershed are safe to eat. Residents also are concerned about eating fish from ponds within the boundaries of the Tar Creek Superfund Site.

In 2002, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) collected fish samples from ponds in the Tar Creek Superfund Site and from the Neosho and Spring Rivers down to Twin Bridges State Park. ODEQ presented its findings and recommendations in a report available from: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/LPDnew/Tarcreek/GovrTaskForce/TarCreekFishReport.pdf.

Members of the Tar Creek health team reviewed the ODEQ report and agree with its findings. The team plans to forward recommendations to Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) concerning the future collection of fish samples. The Tar Creek health team will also develop a fish consumption health education plan. When new data are available from ODEQ, ATSDR may decide to write a public health assessment that focuses on fish consumption.

Next Steps

The Tar Creek health team will evaluate available fish data and identify data gaps.
The team will communicate its findings to ODEQ regarding those data gaps.
The Tar Creek health team will work with ODEQ in developing a plan to educate residents about consumption of fish from the Neosho and Spring Rivers watershed.

Current or Expected Products

A health education plan about fish consumption from the Spring and Neosho Rivers and from ponds within the boundary of the Tar Creek Superfund Site is expected by spring 2007.

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Consumption of Wild Foods (Mellard)

Status-to-Date

Residents in Ottawa County have expressed concerns about eating wild foods collected from the Tar Creek Superfund Site and from other areas in Ottawa County, particularly along the Neosho and Spring Rivers watershed.

During ATSDR’s Tribal Consultation, staff members discussed with tribal representatives consumption of wild foods. Several participants raised concerns about the confidentiality of some native foods. Tribal representatives also expressed concerns about the following foods:

Plants growing in the flood plain of the Neosho and Spring Rivers,
Field crops,
Plants used in native remedies,
Plants used in arts and crafts, and
Game such as deer and turkey.

The Tar Creek health team will review these issues and recommend an appropriate course of action. ATSDR and the health team will need to determine whether available soil and sediment data will support public health decisions about native foods or whether such foods must be collected and analyzed for site-related contaminants. These efforts may or may not lead to a public health assessment about consumption of native foods — that decision will be made at a later date.

Next Steps

The health team will identify sediment and wild food data.
The health team will evaluate and identify data gaps.
ATSDR will talk with tribal representatives about wild foods and jointly develop a plan for answering their questions.
The health team will decide the value and necessity of a public health assessment focused on consumption of wild food.

Current or Expected Products

Possibly a public health assessment focused on wild-collected foods (spring 2007).

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Child Health Issues (Mellard)

Status-to-Date

The Ottawa County Health Department contacted ATSDR concerning possible arsenic exposure in several children that occurred over the past few years. ATSDR is establishing a confidentiality agreement with a physician in Tulsa and his employer to share medical information and to develop case reports for each child. These confidential case reports will contain medical and environmental information and will be used to determine the possible presence of a common environmental factor.

ATSDR staff members met with the Tulsa physician in June 2006 to discuss the cases. Following evaluation of the case reports, ATSDR will work with the local health department to decide on appropriate public health actions.

Next Steps

ATSDR will

Complete a confidentiality agreement between ATSDR and the above-referenced local physician.
Prepare case reports.
Review case reports for common environmental factors.
Work with local and state health officials to decide on necessary public health actions, for example, a public health assessment focusing on child health issues.

Current and Expected Products

Confidential case reports (fall 2006).
A possible public health assessment focused on child health issues (2007).

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Health Outcome Data Review (Dearwent and Lyke)

Status-to-Date

LEAD Agency released a health survey indicating that among Ottawa County residents, several diseases are elevated. In discussing the LEAD Agency survey, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), agreed to work with ATSDR and jointly review available health outcome data. Both agencies worked with representatives from LEAD Agency to identify those diseases and health conditions to be covered in the health outcome data review. OSDH and ATSDR are writing a joint report that will be available to the public in fall 2006.

Next Steps

ATSDR and OSDH will release a public health assessment focused on health outcome data.
ATSDR will work with local health care providers to ensure that Indian Health Service (IHS) data are considered.
ATSDR and OSDH will hold public availability sessions to inform residents of the public health assessment’s conclusions and recommendations concerning health outcome data.

Current or Expected Products

A public health assessment focused on health outcome data (fall 2006).
A public availability session to announce the public health assessment’s findings (fall 2006).

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Air Quality (Mann)

Status-to-Date

Residents in Ottawa County have expressed concern about air quality from windblown contaminants from the chat piles. Because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Harvard University are collecting air quality data for Ottawa County, ATSDR will hold discussions with EPA and other agencies to determine what air quality data are available. If sufficient air quality data are available, ATSDR will evaluate these data and determine the feasibility of a public health assessment focused on air quality. ATSDR may evaluate the types of data currently collected to determine whether those data are sufficient to evaluate the public health significance of local air quality.

Next Steps

ATSDR will request air quality information from EPA and from other agencies and institutions.
The Tar Creek health team will identify and review available air quality data.
The Tar Creek health team will decide the feasibility of an air-quality public health assessment.

Current or Expected Products

·Possibly a public health assessment focused on air quality issues (summer 2007).

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Transportation of Chat (Mann)

Status-to-Date

Residents are concerned about breathing windblown contaminants from 1) roads covered with chat and from 2) trucks loaded with chat. ATSDR will hold discussions with EPA and other agencies or institutions to determine what data are available for windblown contaminants from roads and from trucks carrying chat. ATSDR will decide the feasibility of a public health assessment focused on airborne chat transport.

Next Steps

1.ATSDR will hold discussions with technical staff from EPA, from Oklahoma state government, and from and other agencies and institutions currently conducting air monitoring in the Tar Creek area.
2.The Tar Creek health team will identify and review air data associated with the chat transportation.
3.The Tar Creek health team will decide the feasibility of a public health assessment focused on chat transportation.

Current or Expected Products

Possibly a public health assessment focused on chat transportation issues (summer 2007).

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Review of Environmental Data from the Chat Piles (Mann)

Status-to-Date

EPA has collected environmental data as part of operable unit 4 (OU4), which involves the environmental investigation of the chat piles, the mine and mill residues, and smelter waste.

ATSDR and the Tar Creek health team will review these data to determine whether residents are currently exposed to hazardous waste from the Tar Creek Superfund Site. That is, ATSDR will determine whether a human exposure pathway has been overlooked and whether this exposure pathway requires further attention by ATSDR or by other federal, state, or local agencies.

Next Steps

ATSDR will identify and review data from OU4.
ATSDR and the Tar Creek health team will evaluate human pathways of exposure.
ATSDR and the Tar Creek health team will review the data to determine whether anyone is currently being exposed to contaminants via a pathway that was previously overlooked.

Current and Expected Products

Possibly a public health assessment focused on human pathways of exposure (2007).

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Riverview Park, Miami (Mann)

Status-to-Date

A resident raised a concern about contaminated sediments deposited on surface soil at Riverview Park, Miami.

ATSDR will evaluate the availability of appropriate sediment and soil data from the Neosho River watershed to determine whether flooding of the Neosho River onto Riverview Park could create a health hazard. ATSDR also will evaluate other areas along the river where people might come in contact with flood-deposited sediment. This evaluation may lead to a public health assessment focused on sediment contamination in public parks.

Next Steps

ATSDR will determine whether sediment data from the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies are adequate for public health purposes.
ATSDR and the Tar Creek health team will review sediment data from the Neosho River watershed.
ATSDR and the Tar Creek health team will determine whether a pathway of exposure connects humans to sediments deposited by flooding of the Neosho River onto Riverview Park and onto other areas people might frequent.
ATSDR and the Tar Creek health team will decide the feasibility of a public health assessment focused on areas where flood water might deposit contaminated sediment.

Current and Expected Products

Possibly a public health assessment focused on flooded areas (summer 2007).

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Comments or Questions?

We welcome your comments and questions concerning ATSDR’s plan. You can direct comments or questions to Ms. Jennifer Lyke in ATSDR’s Dallas regional office (214-665-8363, JLyke@cdc.gov) or to Dr. David Mellard in Atlanta, Georgia (404-498-0443 or toll-free at 1-888-CDC-INFO; DMellard@cdc.gov).

Please call Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time. You may leave a message if you call after business hours. Someone will return your call as soon as possible. When calling ATSDR’s toll-free number, please ask to be transferred to David Mellard with ATSDR.

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Appendix A.

Map of Tar Creek Superfund Site [PDF, 396KB]