ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR issues public health assessment on Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard site

Soil, water and sediment categorized as "no apparent public health hazard"

For Immediate Release: Aug. 6, 2004

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) today released a public health assessment for public review and comment on the Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard site in Baltimore.

ATSDR found that contamination in on-site surface soil, surface water and sediment poses "no apparent public health hazard." Contamination in fish and crabs poses no apparent public health hazard if the fish and crab are consumed in portions no greater than recommended by the fish advisories issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for the entire Patapsco River basin, which includes the site.

Therefore, ATSDR recommends that recreational fishermen follow all MDE fish consumption advisories. For more information on MDE's fish advisories, go to http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/fish/advisory_summary.pdf.

The public health assessment will be available for public review and comment through Sept. 13, 2004, at the following repositories:

North County Library
1010 Eastway St.
Glen Burnie, MD

Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
Public Affairs Office
2401 Hawkins Point Road, Mail Stop #5
Baltimore

Comments on the public health assessment must be made in writing. Mail comments to

Chief, Records Management Activity
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, NE (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged in to the ATSDR administrative record for this health assessment. Comments received, without the names of individuals who submitted them, and ATSDR responses to the comments will appear in an appendix to the final public health assessment. Names of those who submit comments, however, will be subject to release for requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

For more information, community members can contact Environmental Health Scientist Katherine E. Hanks or Toxicologist Scott Sudweeks, toll-free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Tom Stukas also may be contacted at 215-814-3142. Callers should refer to the Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard site in Baltimore.

ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances.

Established by Congress in 1980 under the Superfund law, ATSDR conducts public health assessments at each of the sites on the EPA National Priorities List, as well as other sites when petitioned. Headquartered in Atlanta, ATSDR is staffed by more than 400 health professionals including epidemiologists, physicians, toxicologists, engineers and public health educators.

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Members of the news media can request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling Jennifer Sarginson or Jill Smith in the ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.