ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Releases Final Report on Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant

Agency Finds No Health Hazard at Site

For Immediate Release: September 7, 2005

ATLANTA - A report released by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) says that people exposed to chemicals from the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) in Bedford, Mass. are unlikely to become ill.

The public health assessment states that the area where volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contamination is present is not widely used or accessible to the public. VOCs are VOCs are a class of chemicals; VOCs generally include solvents and fuels. The assessment also states that contamination occurs at levels too low to cause health effects or has been removed from the site.

The assessment was previously made available to the public for review and comment. No comments from the public were received.

The assessment recommends the affected Hartwell Road Well Field be treated and tested for water quality if the field is restored to public use. ATSDR has verified that the Bedford Department of Public Works has no plans to use the field in the near future. ATSDR also recommends that residents with private wells continue to use municipal water for household uses due to area groundwater contamination.

The public health assessment is available at:

Members of the community that have questions about the report can contact Health Communication Specialist Januett Smith-George or Environmental Health Scientist Laura Frazier, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737.

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.

###

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