ATSDR in Partnership With West Virginia
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is the lead
public health agency responsible for implementing the health-related provisions
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of
1980 (CERCLA). ATSDR is an Atlanta-based federal agency with more than 400
employees and an annual budget for 2003 of approximately $82 million. ATSDR is
responsible for assessing the presence and nature of health hazards at specific
Superfund sites, helping to prevent or reduce further exposure and illnesses
resulting from those hazards, and expanding the knowledge base about the health
effects of exposure to hazardous substances.
ATSDR works closely with state agencies to carry out its mission to serve
the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health
actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful
exposures and disease related to toxic substances. ATSDR provides funding
and technical assistance to states and other partners through cooperative
agreements and grants to identify and evaluate environmental health threats
to communities. These resources enable state and local health departments
and other grantees to further investigate environmental health concerns and
to educate communities. From
fiscal years 2001 through 2003,
ATSDR awarded more than
$594,000 in direct funds and
services to
West Virginia for comprehensive support of its
environmental health unit. In addition to direct funds and services, ATSDR
staff provides technical and administrative guidance for state-conducted
site activities.
ATSDR Site-Specific Activities
Public Health Assessment-Related Activities
One of the agency's important mandates is to conduct
public health
assessments of all National Priorities List (NPL) sites and of
other sites where a significant threat to public health might exist.
Eleven sites have been designated to the NPL in
West
Virginia.
A public health assessment is a written, comprehensive
evaluation of available data and information on the release of hazardous
substances into the environment in a specific geographic area. Such releases are
assessed for current or future impact on public health. ATSDR, in collaboration
with public health and environmental officials from West Virginia,
has conducted 13 health assessments in the state, including the
following recent examples.
Vienna Tetrachloroethene (PCE)—This
site is near the Vienna City Hall and surrounded by private
businesses and single-family dwellings. Former waste disposal practices at
an on-site dry-cleaning facility resulted in PCE and trichloroethene (TCE)
contamination of 4 of the town's 12 municipal drinking water wells. These
wells provided drinking water for more than 14,500 people. In June 1992, the
city discontinued use of the four contaminated wells. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) used emergency funds to build two new municipal
wells that were brought on-line in March 1997.
The initial public health assessment for this site was published in August
2000. Public comments on the assessment were published in November 2000, and
the final report was released in February 2001. On the basis of applicable
data and observations, ATSDR categorized the site as a public health hazard.
The data showed that individuals living near the site were likely exposed to
low levels of PCE and TCE from soil and groundwater contamination. In
addition, if the groundwater plume expands to reach the municipal water
wells in use, residents near the site could be further exposed to PCE and
TCE at levels that could cause adverse health effects. Therefore, ATSDR's
assessment recommended continued characterization and remediation of the
groundwater plume. EPA has now completed its remedial
investigation/feasibility study for this site, and recently issued a
proposed remedy.
Big John Salvage/Hoult Road—The Big John Salvage/Hoult Road
site is an abandoned salvage facility in Fairmont. The site is in a mixed
industrial/residential area of Fairmont. This unoccupied site was used for
many years as a coal tar manufacturing facility. In 1973, the property was
sold to Big John Salvage. The Big John Salvage facility was a metal, glass,
and oil salvaging operation until it closed around 1985.
Wastes generated when the facilities were in operation have contaminated
on-site soils, sediments, and surface waters. Sampling results indicate that
hazardous substances from the site are migrating off-site to the nearby
Monongahela River. The waste that is known to have contaminated the site is
coal tar waste.
This site was proposed for inclusion on the NPL in 2000. As mandated by
Congress, ATSDR prepared an initial health assessment for the site. ATSDR
staff reviewed and evaluated all available data pertaining to the site and
presented that information in an initial health assessment. The health
assessment evaluates whether exposure to site-related contaminants is
occurring and whether health effects could result from exposures.
The health assessment concluded that the site does not currently pose a
public health hazard, primarily because the facility is no longer in
operation and because access to the site has been restricted by new fencing.
Remedial activities scheduled for the site should eliminate any future
on-site exposure pathways and future concern for off-site migration of
contaminants. ATSDR is recommending that additional data on potential
exposure pathways be collected. Potential pathways include residents living
near the site and persons using the Monongahela River for recreational or
food-gathering purposes.
ATSDR's cooperative agreement partners at the West Virginia Bureau
for Public Health (WV BPH) are updating this
initial health assessment and plan to release a public comment version of
the document this fiscal year.
A health consultation is a written or oral response from
ATSDR to a specific request for information about health risks related to a
specific site, chemical release, or hazardous material. It is a more limited
response than a public health assessment is. To date, 66
documented health consultations have been conducted at 35 sites
in West Virginia, including the following recent examples.
Williamson Area—In response to the
petition of a resident of the Lick Creek community, WVDHHR
evaluated possible exposures to hazardous chemicals in the unincorporated
communities of Lick Creek, Rawl, Merrimac,
and Sprigg, near Williamson. The
petitioner alleged that the residents in this area have been and are being
exposed to toxic chemicals from the old Williamson Landfill, the Norfolk
Southern Railroad railcar clean-out area, and coal mining activities from
Rawl Sales and Processing. The petitioner claimed that all these activities
have contaminated the environment in these communities. The petitioner
supplied photographs to ATSDR illustrating several of the concerns. The
petitioner alleged that cancer and tumors of all types, respiratory
problems, and Alzheimer's disease are being caused by exposure to chemicals
from these sites. A health consultation released for public comment in
September 2003 evaluated whether local residents have been, are being, or
might be exposed to contaminants in the future from these facilities in
concentrations that could cause adverse health effects.
The health consultation categorized these sites as no public health hazard.
The exposure pathways from these sites were not likely to be the source of
chemical exposures that could cause adverse health effects for the past,
present, and future.
Marion County Landfill—The Marion County (Idamay)
Landfill, south of Farmington, is an inactive sanitary
landfill and former property used by the Bethlehem Mines Corporation. In
response to the petition of a resident of the nearby Idamay community, the
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WVDHHR)
evaluated available Marion County Landfill site information to determine
whether exposure to contaminated site media is occurring, has occurred in
the past, and whether a health threat is present. The petitioner was
concerned about the incidence of multiple sclerosis, aneurisms, and various
forms of cancer in the Idamay community.
In a health consultation released in August 2003, WVDHHR and ATSDR concluded
that the Marion County Landfill site poses no public health hazard for past,
present, or future residential groundwater/surface water use scenarios.
According to the West Virginia Cancer Registry, cancer
incidence in the Idamay Community between 1993 and 2001 appears to be
consistent with what would be expected. The cancers observed are of the
types usually seen in West Virginia.
Kanawha Motive Power Site—At EPA's request, ATSDR conducted a
health consultation on the Kanawha Motive Power site (a former mining
battery repair business) in April 1999. The health consultation classified
the site as a public health hazard, particularly to young children, on the
basis of soil lead levels. The objectives of a follow-up health consultation
released in December 2000 were to identify those children and at-risk
persons potentially exposed to lead in soil at the site who would benefit
from screening, and to ensure that these persons receive the services they
need.
The 2000 health consultation concluded that the site had been remediated by
EPA to a clean-up level that is protective of public health for residential
use of the property. Under current conditions, exposures are not at levels
expected to cause adverse human health effects.
The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning
Prevention Program has implemented a comprehensive public health
action plan for blood-lead-level screening and surveillance of children and
pregnant women at the site.
A
public health advisory is a statement of findings by
ATSDR that a substance released into the environment poses a significant
risk to human health. It includes recommended measures to reduce human
exposure and eliminate, or substantially mitigate, the significant risk. The
advisory is issued to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
inform state and local officials and the public about recommended actions.
Following is an example of such an advisory in
West Virginia.
West Virginia Ordnance Works—In 1994,
ATSDR issued a public health advisory at this NPL site in Mason
County after determining that asbestos and physical hazards at the
site were an imminent public health hazard. From 1942 to 1945, the ordnance
works manufactured trinitrotoluene explosives (TNT). After operations ceased
in 1945, the facilities were salvaged or disposed of by the U.S. government.
ATSDR found site-related human exposures to friable, asbestos-containing
material and various physical hazards at and near the site. The public
health advisory outlined risk management procedures to eliminate the public
health hazards. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, state of West
Virginia, and Mason County implemented these risk management procedures. By
1995, approximately 200 cubic yards of asbestos-contaminated material was
removed. These swift actions eliminated the imminent public health hazards
identified in the public health advisory.
An
exposure investigation collects information on specific
human exposures through biologic sampling, personal monitoring, related
environmental assessment, and exposure-dose reconstruction. Following is an
example of an exposure investigation conducted in
West Virginia.
Spelter—In 1996, ATSDR, in conjunction with the
West
Virginia Bureau of Public Health and the
Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department, conducted blood-lead testing
of 25 children living in the town of
Spelter. This
investigation was initiated because high levels of lead were detected in
tailings piles located around a former zinc smelter in the town. Blood-lead
testing focused on children aged 6 months to 6 years, but any resident up to
16 years of age was eligible to participate. Only one child had an elevated
blood-lead level, and that level was only slightly elevated. The results
helped relieve the residents' concerns about adverse health effects. Because
the percentages of blood-lead levels in the tests were normal, consideration
of emergency removal activities at the tailings piles was not warranted.
Health Education and Community Activities
West Virginia has only been a participant in ATSDR's
cooperative agreement program since 2001. Under this program, the
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has received
funding and technical assistance for the development of community education
and activities associated with human exposure to hazardous substances in the
environment. During FY 2003, educational materials were developed in support
of environmental health needs assessments and town meetings in support of
the FIBAIR, Inc. and Marion County Landfill sites.
In November 2003, ATSDR collaborated with EPA's Superfund program,
WV BPH,
West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection (
WV DEP),
West Virginia
Department of Natural Resources, and the
Heizer Manila
Watershed Organization to ensure that permanent signs advertising
the state's fish consumption advisory were posted at 11 locations along the
Kanawha River from Dunbar to Point Pleasant. The signs advise anglers not to
eat carp, catfish, suckers, and hybrid striped bass. All other fish should
be eaten at only one meal per month.
The reason for the advisories is that EPA and WV DEP found dioxin in the
tissue of a wide range of fish in the Lower Kanawha and related waterways in
the region. The levels of dioxin could be harmful to sensitive people if
they eat too much fish. The signs were posted at public access points where
anglers might access the river, and were an outgrowth of ATSDR's previous
health consultation and health education work in the community.
Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics
Through a national cooperative agreement with the Association of
Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC), ATSDR supports
two
occupational and environmental health programs in
West Virginia.
This support is provided to improve education and communication related to
surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness or injury
related to exposure to hazardous substances. The two member institutions in
West Virginia are the
Marshall University School of Medicine
(
Huntington) and the
Institute of Occupational and
Environmental Health,
West Virginia University School of
Medicine (
Morgantown). The Marshall University
program focuses on issues associated with the railroad, nickel alloy, steel
mine, coal mine, and chemical and gas-manufacturing industries. The West
Virginia University program focuses on environmental diagnoses associated
with lead exposure, etiologic evaluation, and respiratory disease.
Resource Materials
ATSDR develops materials that public health professionals and medical care
providers can use to assess the public health impacts of chemical exposures.
Resources are available in print, on the ATSDR Web site, and on CD-ROM. For
example, medical management guidelines are available for acute chemical
exposures to more than 40 chemicals. ATSDR's toxicological profiles
comprehensively describe health effects; pathways of human exposure; and the
behavior of more than 250 hazardous substances in air, soil, and water at
hazardous waste sites. In the last 5 years, more than
12,200
of these profiles have been sent to requesters, including representatives of
federal, state, and local health and environmental departments; academic
institutions; private industries; and nonprofit organizations in
West Virginia. ATSDR has also developed extensive resources for
community members.
December 2003