ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Releases Final Version of Its Public Health Assessment
on Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Main Site

Finding is No Apparent Public Health Hazard

For Immediate Release: July 16, 2004

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has issued the final version of its public health assessment on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Main Site (LLNL), Livermore, Calif. The lab is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.

LLNL was placed on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1987 on the basis of volatile organic compounds in monitor wells and nearby drinking water wells.

The purpose of the public health assessment was to evaluate the potential for community exposures to, and potential health effects from, LLNL-released substances that might be present in off-site groundwater, surface water, soil and sediment, air, and locally grown produce. The health assessment was previously made available to the public for review and comment. The final version includes the comments made by members of the public and ATSDR's responses to the comments.

ATSDR concludes in the public health assessment that past and ongoing operations and releases from the LLNL facility, including the Naval Air Station previously on this site, pose no apparent public health hazard. This conclusion means that although community exposures to site-related contaminants might have occurred or might be occurring, the resulting doses are unlikely to result in any adverse health effects and, consequently, are below levels of public health concern.

For more information, community members can contact Health Assessor Mark Evans, toll-free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Gwen Eng also may be contacted at 415-947-4317. Callers should refer to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory site in Livermore, Calif.

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.

###

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.