ATSDR in Partnership With Kansas
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 a budget for 2004 of approximately $73 million. ATSDR assesses the
presence and nature of health hazards at specific Superfund sites, helps to
prevent or reduce further exposure and illnesses resulting from those hazards,
and expands 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 1990 through 2003,
ATSDR awarded more than
$1.1 million in direct funds and
services to
Kansas for financial support of specific
environmental health activities. 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 ATSDR'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.
Eighteen sites have been designated to the NPL in
Kansas.
A public health assessment is a written, comprehensive
evaluation of available data and information about 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 Kansas, has
conducted 20 public health assessments in the state, including
the following recent examples.
Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant—Sunflower
Army Ammunition Plant is a government-owned, contractor-operated
installation that operated from 1942 to 1992 near DeSoto.
The plant's primary mission was to manufacture smokeless gunpowder and
munition propellants for World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam
Conflict. Munitions testing also was conducted at the site. Since 1992,
maintenance, environmental stabilization, and remediation have been the
major activities at the site. The primary site contaminants are inorganics,
explosives, and nitrate compounds in on-site soil, sediment, and
groundwater.
In March 2002, ATSDR released a final public health assessment on the site.
This public health assessment concluded that recreational exposure to the
surface water and sediment in several nearby creeks are not expected to
cause adverse health effects in children who may play in the creeks.
The soil in many areas of the site is contaminated; however, access to the
site is restricted. Infrequent exposure to soil is not expected to cause
adverse health effects. At this time, the future use of the site is
uncertain. The public health assessment concluded that continued soil
sampling and appropriate remediation would be needed before the general
public has access to the soil at the site.
Groundwater at the site is contaminated; however, this water is not used as
a drinking water source. Therefore, no exposures are occurring, and no
public health hazards exist from on-site groundwater. Groundwater
contamination at the site is not negatively influencing the quality of
drinking water at 13 private wells near the site. The impact of groundwater
contamination cannot be determined for nine other private drinking water
wells because data are lacking. Therefore, ATSDR agrees that planned
sampling at three of those wells should continue and encourages plans be
made to sample the remaining four. Because sources other than the site have
the potential to affect the water quality at private groundwater wells,
ATSDR suggests that private well owners regularly test the water from their
wells to ensure that the water is safe to drink.
The U.S. Army is talking with Johnson County about turning
over the land to the county, and the county plans to turn it over to a
developer. The developer will have to continue cleanup efforts and plans to
make an industrial park out of the land. The Kansas Department of
Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) are part of those talks, and those two agencies will continue
monitored cleanup.
Tri-County Public Airport—In November 2002, ATSDR completed
its final release public health assessment for the proposed Tri-County
Public Airport NPL site in Delevan. The site is a former
World War II Army airfield. During its peak operating period, the airfield
consisted of more than 300 buildings and housed approximately 2,000
personnel. The airfield had a wastewater treatment plant, a 200,000-gallon
fuel storage tank, a warehouse area, barracks, and a recreation area. The
airfield was officially declared surplus in 1946 and deeded to the city of
Herrington in 1948.
Since 1948, the site has been leased to several companies. Operations at the
site have included aircraft restoration; aircraft storage; and manufacturing
of farm implements, black powder, and roofing materials. Most of the
buildings and structures have been removed, but two hangars, a water tower,
several water supply wells, and a few small buildings remain.
One completed exposure pathway was identified in the November 2002 public
health assessment: People were exposed to water from contaminated drinking
water wells off-site by ingestion, inhalation, or absorption. Three
potential exposure pathways also were identified: off-site surface water and
springs, on-site drinking water wells, on-site surface soil, and on-site
sediment.
ATSDR also concluded that adverse cancer and noncancer health effects are
unlikely near the site and that exposure to site-related contaminants via
drinking water occurred in the past. Exposure to drinking water contaminants
has been stopped by the installation of carbon filtration units at
residences where exposures exceed the maximum contaminant level.
ATSDR made four recommendations in the public health assessment for this
site: (1) provide a more permanent solution for safe drinking water to
residences near the site with contaminated well water, (2) continue periodic
monitoring of the groundwater plume to ensure that private drinking water
wells outside the plume do not become contaminated by migration of the
plume, (3) take appropriate preventive measures to mitigate exposure if
these wells become contaminated, and (4) inform trespassers and present
workers on the site that they should avoid unnecessary contact with site
soils and sediment.
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. A health consultation is
a more limited response than a public health assessment is. To date, 244
documented health consultations have been conducted at 61 sites
in Kansas, including the following recent examples.
Chemical Commodities Inc. (CCI)—This site,
which occupies about 1½ acres, is in a largely residential area of
Olathe. From 1951 until 1989 the facility stored surplus or
outdated chemicals. In January 2003, EPA asked ATSDR for technical
assistance in evaluating newly collected air samples from crawl spaces and
living spaces of eight homes near the site. ATSDR's March 2003 health
consultation evaluated those samples to address EPA's response action
decision to install ventilation systems and conduct additional air sampling
in the affected areas.
ATSDR concluded that inhalation of contaminants (primarily trichloroethene)
in living spaces of homes overlying the site may pose a public health hazard
because of the potential for cancer and noncancer health effects. ATSDR's
conclusion was consistent with EPA's conclusion about the potential for
health effects from exposure.
ATSDR also concluded that contamination detected in crawl spaces is not
likely to pose a health hazard because exposure in those areas is expected
to be of limited duration and frequency (for example, during maintenance
activities). However, the presence of contaminants in crawl space air
indicates the potential for higher levels of contaminants to enter the home.
Additional air sampling is needed to further evaluate the likelihood of this
occurrence.
ATSDR recommended additional air monitoring to determine whether levels of
contamination from crawl spaces enter living spaces in the homes as a result
of seasonal changes, heating and ventilation system changes, and other
factors. On the basis of this recommendation, EPA began the additional data
collection in December 2003. Data collection is ongoing. ATSDR also
recommended that if additional data confirmed the presence of indoor air
contaminants at concentrations found in the fall 2002 samples, activities
should be undertaken to reduce exposure to the residents. Such activities
might include the installation of ventilation systems.
Neodesha Refinery (Former Amoco Refinery)—In January 2002,
ATSDR received a letter petitioning the agency to evaluate community
exposures to lead waste buried near the New Beginnings building at the
Neodesha Refinery in Neodesha. The New Beginnings building
is an on-site facility for developmentally disabled adults and includes a
playground area. In addition, community children use a nearby baseball field
also on the Neodesha Refinery site. ATSDR agreed to evaluate the public
health issues associated with the potential exposures to lead and other site
chemicals in a public health consultation released for public comment in
October 2003.
The refinery operated from 1897 until 1970. On-site operations included
crude distillation, catalytic cracking, vapor recovery, alkylation, platinum
reforming, treating, blending, and steam generation. Crude oil and products
were stored in on-site tanks at the former tank farm.
Investigations for the former site owner determined that groundwater
contamination exists both on-site and off-site. A contaminant plume of
benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes extends from the site, east and
south under Neodesha. City residents do not have private drinking water
wells. The public water supply is obtained from a surface water source.
Health Studies
Health studies are investigations to determine the relations between
exposures to hazardous substances and adverse health effects. Health studies
also define health problems that require further investigation through, for
example, health surveillance or an epidemiologic study. Following is an example
of a health study or investigation that ATSDR conducted or supported in
Kansas.
Childhood Lead Levels—The Kansas
Department of Health and Environment received a grant to conduct a
follow-up study of childhood blood lead levels after environmental cleanup.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether major intervention (soil
remediation and a community and professional health education campaign)
initiated in 1991 in Galena had reduced the mean blood lead
levels of all children, thereby reducing the proportion of children with
elevated blood lead levels.
The sampling period began July 1, 2000, and ended August 31, 2000. Blood
samples were obtained from 100 Galena children aged 6-72 months of age. A
parent or guardian of each child involved in the study responded to
questions about behavioral risk factors associated with blood lead levels.
Environmental sampling was conducted at 72 homes. Sampling included dust
wipes of window sills and floors and composite soil samples from yards.
Additional soil sampling was conducted at homes with a garden, with an
unpaved driveway, or at which soil from outside the contaminated area had
been brought in. Fluorescent x-ray was used to measure lead levels on the
exterior and interior of the houses.
Interim study results reveal 6 of 100 children tested had blood lead levels
greater than 10 µg/dL. In 34 of the 72 homes involved in the study, at least
one environmental sample had elevated lead levels. The Kansas
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is collaborating with
The University of Kansas Medical Center to publish the
final report, which should be available in fall 2004.
Resource Materials
ATSDR develops materials for public health professionals and medical care
providers to use to assess the public health impacts of chemical exposures.
These 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 50 chemicals. These guidelines were designed
to aid emergency department physicians and other emergency health care
professionals, such as first responders, who manage acute exposures
resulting from chemical incidents. 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. The toxicological profiles are primarily used as a
comprehensive resource by health professionals at all levels. 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
Kansas.
ATSDR also has developed extensive resources for community members.
March 2004