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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
ATSDR releases Orote (Guam) Landfill site health consultation




For Immediate Release: December 4, 2002


The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today is releasing a health consultation that evaluates exposure and health concerns from chemical contamination near the Orote (Guam) Landfill.

In October 2001, ATSDR was asked by the US Navy, the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (Guam Public Health), and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (GEPA) to evaluate contaminant levels detected in fish collected in an area from Orote Point at the Spanish Steps to Facpi Point and to determine if people who ate seafood from these areas would be exposed to levels of contaminants that could cause illness. Sampling of fish by the Navy in June 2001 had revealed that fish in the area contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (dioxins), metals, and pesticides. This finding prompted Guam Public Health to issue a fish and seafood advisory in September 2001.

In March 2002, ATSDR conducted a site visit to meet with local, state and federal government officials and with community members to identify community health concerns. ATSDR also evaluated all available environmental data. As a result, the agency issues the following findings and recommendations:

  1. Eating seafood before advisories were in place is unlikely to cause adverse health effects. ATSDR's evaluation of likely seafood consumption patterns and the estimated levels of exposure to PCBs, dioxins, metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides in fish inside and outside the current Orote seafood advisory area (Orote Point including the Spanish Steps to Rizal Beach) shows that the possible exposures would not be at levels expected to be harmful. The agency's finding is, therefore, no apparent public health hazard for past or current consumption of contaminated fish.
  2. People should continue to follow the advisory from Orote Point (Spanish Steps) to Rizal Beach. Because higher concentrations of PCBs were detected in fish in this area, ATSDR recommends that people continue to adhere to the seafood advisory from Orote Point to Rizal Beach, including the Orote seawall and Spanish Steps. Currently, there is not enough information to determine the future safety of eating seafood in the advisory area because it is not possible to predict whether the concentrations in seafood are increasing or decreasing. ATSDR recommends that the Navy develop a plan for additional monitoring of fish and seafood in this area, taking into consideration such factors as season and tidal fluctuations.
  3. Advisory for seafood and fish from Rizal Beach to Nimitz Beach. After examining sampling data, currents, and tidal information, ATSDR supports lifting the advisory once imposed from Rizal Beach to Nimitz Beach. Fish sampling data from that area indicate that the level of PCBs, dioxins, metals, and pesticides are low and do not present a public health hazard.
  4. Advisory for Gabgab Beach. In May 2002, Guam Public Health issued an advisory recommending that people not eat seafood from Gabgab Beach because sampling of fish in that area showed higher than expected PCB concentrations. It is unclear why the levels were higher and whether the levels will increase or decrease. ATSDR concluded that eating fish from this area poses an indeterminate public health hazard and more sampling is needed to further investigate this issue.
  5. For people who choose to continue eating seafood from the advisory areas, ATSDR has identified ways to select and prepare fish to reduce exposure to PCBs. ATSDR believes it is prudent to reduce exposure to contaminants in seafood whenever possible. To reduce exposure to PCBs, select younger, smaller fish and other seafood, remove the skin and fatty tissue in the belly and along the sides, bake or broil seafood, and avoid eating the liver and other internal organs of the seafood where PCBs are most likely to be stored.

ATSDR's health consult on the Orote Landfill and surrounding areas will be available on or about December 4th, at these public repositories:

Nieves Flores Memorial Library, 254 Martyr Street, Hagatna, GU 96910
University of Guam RFK Library, Mangilao, GU 96923
University of Guam, Micronesia Area Research Center, MARC Learning Resources, (UOG Station), Mangilao, GU 96923

Community members who have comments or questions on the procedures or the content of the public health consultation should contact Health Assessor Charles Grosse, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737, or Community Involvement Specialist Maria MacIver at 1-800-422-8737, ext. 1754. Callers should refer to the Orote, Guam, site.

Members of the news media can request an interview by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.

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This page updated December 3, 2002
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
770-488-0700 or e-mail (news media)


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