ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Extends Public Comment Period for Oak Ridge Reservation Groundwater Public Health Assessment

For Immediate Release: August 4, 2005

ATLANTA – The public comment version of the public health assessment evaluating off-site groundwater adjacent to the Oak Ridge Reservation has been extended. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) document is available for public comment and review through Sept. 22

This health assessment focuses on human exposure to off-site groundwater. Findings include:

• People using private residential wells near the Oak Ridge Reservation are not being exposed to site-related groundwater contaminants. Therefore, the off-site groundwater does not pose a public health hazard.
• Site-related contaminants have not been detected in residential wells near the Oak Ridge Reservation.
• Site-related contaminants have not been detected in off-site groundwater near East Tennessee Technology Park and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
• Site-related contaminants have been detected off-site in the area immediately east of the Y-12 Complex. However, people are not exposed to the contaminants in the groundwater because there are no private wells in this area.

The public comment period is an opportunity for residents to review and comment on agency findings or proposed activities noted in the assessment. The assessment can be viewed at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/region_4.html#groundwater, and will be available for public comment and review through Sept. 22, at

Oak Ridge Public Library Harriman Public Library
Civic Center 1 Waldon Ave.
Oak Ridge, TN 37830 Harriman, TN 37748

ATSDR Oak Ridge Field Office Kingston City Library
197 South Tulane 1004 Bradford Way
Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Kingston, TN 37763

Roane State Community College Rockwood Public Library
276 Patton Lane 117 N. Front Ave.
Harriman, TN 37831 Rockwood, TN 37854

Please send requests for copies of the public health assessment and comments concerning the document to:

Chief, Records Management Activity, ATSDR
ATTN: Oak Ridge Reservation
1600 Clifton Road, N.E. (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged into the ATSDR administrative record. All comments that are received along with ATSDR responses will appear in an appendix to the final version of the report. The names of individuals and groups who submit comments will not appear in the report. However, the names will be subject to release for requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Members of the community who have questions about this public health assessment or ATSDR activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation may contact Dr. William Taylor in ATSDR’s Oak Ridge Field Office at 865-220-0295.

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 by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.