ATSDR - Public health assessment: U.S. Naval Engineering Station Lakehurst

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Search | Index | Home | Glossary | Contact Us

ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
ATSDR releases public health assessment on U.S. Naval Engineering Station Lakehurst for public review and comment

For Immediate Release: May 5, 2003

ATLANTA -- The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is issuing for review and public comment a public health assessment (PHA) for the 7,400-acre U.S. Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst (NAES Lakehurst) in central New Jersey.

The public comment period is from May 6 to June 9. This PHA evaluates the possible exposure of on-base and off-base residents to contaminants from NAES Lakehurst, and addresses area residents' health concerns that might be associated with current and past releases of contaminants from NAES Lakehurst.

ATSDR reviewed available data from many sources and consulted with various local, state and federal agencies to examine thoroughly current environmental conditions on and near the site. On the basis of this information, ATSDR draws the following conclusions and makes the following recommendations in its PHA about several possible sources of contamination:

Drinking or coming into contact with contaminated groundwater on or off the base. ATSDR concluded that groundwater contamination at NAES Lakehurst poses no apparent public health hazard. Monitoring wells and perimeter wells are in place to detect contamination before it could enter drinking water supplies in the future.

Possible contact with unexploded ordnance or chemical warfare materiel while hunting or playing on the base. The U.S. Navy has implemented several measures that have greatly reduced the possibility that someone might be injured or killed by coming in contact with these materials. Munitions that have been found to date have been removed and destroyed. Since 1921, the only time that possible chemical munitions were found, removed and destroyed was in 1952 during construction of the runway. A new Navy evaluation of all historical information, data, and health and safety measures was started this year.

Possible radiological contamination from eating deer harvested on the base. ATSDR concluded that eating deer meat harvested from the base is not a public health hazard. Deer retain a very small fraction of radioactive materials that they might eat, and the amount that is retained in the deer's body accumulates in body parts that are not commonly eaten.

Possible air pollution emanating from the base. ATSDR used a computer modeling analysis to evaluate the data for air quality. Results of this analysis suggest that emissions do not cause on-base or off-base air pollution to reach unhealthy levels. However, there are regional sources of ozone not related to the base. Ways to obtain information from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to reduce exposures to regional air pollution are identified by ATSDR in the public health assessment.

The document will be available for review on April 24 at the following repositories:

Ocean County Library
Toms River Branch
101 Washington St.
Toms River, N.J.

Administrative Record Room
Naval Air Engineering Station
Lakehurst, N.J.

Ocean County Library
Manchester Branch
21 Colonial Drive
Manchester, N.J.

The public comment period for the public health assessment is from May 6 through June 9. Community members are encouraged to provide ATSDR with written comments, which must be received by June 9, 2003.

Mail comments to the following address:
Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Mailstop E-60
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received, without the names of those who made them, and ATSDR's responses to the comments will be included in an appendix to the final public health assessment. Names of those who submit comments are subject to release to requests received under the Freedom of Information Act.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or content of the public comment version of the public health assessment may contact Charles Grosse at 1-888-422-8737. ATSDR Region II Representative Arthur Block also may be contacted at 212-637-3253. Callers should refer to the Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst site in New Jersey.

Members of the news media may request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling Elaine McEachern in the ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs at 770-488-0700.

Back to Media Center

Back to ATSDR Home page

This page updated May 8, 2003
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
770-488-0700 or e-mail (news media)