ATSDR - New Castle concerns related to Metachem Superfund site

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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR to hold public availability sessions in New Castle to explain agency role and hear community health concerns related to Metachem Superfund site

For Immediate Release: April 23, 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, plans to hold public availability sessions on Thursday, May 1, 2003, to meet with community members to discuss the public health assessment (PHA) on the Metachem Products LLC (Superfund) site in New Castle, Del., and to address outstanding health concerns the community might believe are related to the Metachem site. (The site previously was named Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc.)

The public availability meeting will be held in two sessions - from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. and from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. - in the Gunning Bedford Middle School Cafeteria. Additionally, a media session, at which members of the press may meet individually with agency representatives, will be held from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Gunning Bedford Middle School is located at 801 Cox Neck Road in New Castle.

ATSDR also is reopening the PHA's public comment period, which now will extend through Friday, May 16.

As contained in the public health assessment, ATSDR's conclusions and recommendations are provided below.

Conclusions:

The site currently poses no apparent public health hazard. No residences are near the site, the plant area is fenced and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is providing security for the site so public access or trespassing is not likely.
From the limited data available, it appears that the ball field area on the east side of the site is not contaminated with Metachem chemicals. Consequently, use of the field should not pose a public health hazard. However, if children or families attend ball games at the site, ATSDR recommends barriers be constructed to prevent children from entering contaminated areas of the site. ATSDR further recommends that children at the ball field be closely supervised by adults to prevent children from entering contaminated areas of the site.
Until remedial activities at the site are completed, ATSDR recommends that on-site air monitoring be continued, and that workers continue to wear personal protective equipment, as indicated by monitoring of site conditions.
It is not known if the site posed a past public health hazard during the two large spills that occurred on the site in the 1980s and during the containment and removal activities following the spills. The air might have contained contaminants at levels above the guidelines set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Workers on the site, employees of nearby companies or workers involved with the responses to the spills might have been exposed to contaminants through the air pathway (by inhalation). However, no monitoring data is available to determine what exposures might have occurred.
As specified in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Record of Decision, restrictions should be placed on the property deed to prevent future activities that would disturb any contaminated areas on the site where contaminants were left in place and capped as a remedial action to prevent future exposures. ATSDR also agrees with EPA that measures are needed to prevent the use of the Columbia aquifer near the site for drinking water.
The site will not pose a future public health hazard after remedial work at the site is completed, and the recommendations listed below are implemented.

Recommendations:

The public should comply with the state fishing advisories for Red Lion Creek and the Delaware River. The state should post warning signs at locations where people are likely to fish or enter the water via boat ramps, bridges, piers and parks.
Monitoring of air on the site and at the site perimeter should continue until the chemical products and other wastes are removed and while contaminated soil and sediment is excavated and treated. If monitoring at the fence lines indicates the presence of chemicals at levels of health concern, workers on the site and at the nearby Air Products facility should be notified, and anyone using the ball field on the east side of the site should be warned to evacuate the area.
Future off-site soil sampling should be taken in the area around the ball field to confirm that it is not contaminated with site-related chemicals.
ATSDR staff should continue to work with EPA and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to provide consultation and assistance regarding public health issues, as needed, during the removal of chemicals and wastes, closure and decontamination of the facility, and remedial activities at the site.

Public availability sessions are not intended to be large-scale meetings. Instead, community members are invited to drop in at any time during the session and meet one-on-one with ATSDR staff to learn about ATSDR's work at the site and to discuss health concerns that they believe are related to the Metachem site. Attendance is open to the public, and individual conversations with staff during the session will be confidential. No appointments are necessary.

The public comment period for this public health assessment continues through May 16, 2003. The document will be available for public review at the following repositories:

Site information and Restoration Branch
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
391 Lukens Dr.
New Castle, Del.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III
Public Reading Room, 6th Floor
1650 Arch St.
Philadelphia, Pa.

Delaware City Library
407 Clinton St.
Delaware City, Del.

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged into ATSDR's administrative record for this health assessment. The comments - without the names of the individuals who submitted them - and ATSDR's responses to the comments will appear in an appendix to the final PHA. Names of those who submit comments, however, will be subject to release to requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Community members seeking information on public availability session procedures may contact Environmental Health Scientist Betty Willis or Health Communications Specialist Youlanda Outin, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Lora Werner also may be contacted at 215-814-3141. Callers should refer to the Metachem site in New Castle, Del.

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.

This page updated April 23, 2003
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
770-488-0700 or e-mail (news media)