ATSDR - Nansemond Ordnance Depot NPL Site in Suffolk, Va.

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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Releases Public Health Assessment for Review and Public Comment on the Former Nansemond Ordnance Depot NPL Site in Suffolk, Va.

Current Use of Site Poses No Apparent Health Hazard

For Immediate Release: Nov. 24, 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, today released a public health assessment regarding the former Nansemond Ordnance Depot (FNOD) National Priorities List (NPL) site in Suffolk, near Norfolk, Va.

FNOD is a former U.S. military facility where handling, processing and decommissioning of ordnance items (military weapons and ammunition) once occurred. Public health assessments are required by Congressional mandate for all proposed and listed NPL sites.

In the past, exposures to TNT and lead in soil were high enough to result in adverse health effects; ATSDR therefore classifies FNOD as a past public health hazard. At present, community members are not in contact with contaminants at high enough levels to result in health effects; therefore, ATSDR currently classifies the site as no apparent public health hazard. In the future, residential development is likely at the site; therefore, without proper cleanup or land use controls to prevent exposure to contaminants in soil or groundwater, the site could pose a future public health hazard.

The findings of the public health assessment will be presented to the community at the Restoration Advisory Board meeting on Dec. 4 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Bon Secours Health Center, located at 5818 Harbour View Blvd. in Suffolk.

ATSDR has made recommendations including continuing soil clean-up activities, testing soil, addressing physical hazards, following ordnance and explosives clearance procedures and educating potential landowners and occupants about possible hazards.

ATSDR's conclusions and recommendations are included in the public health assessment, which is available for review and comment from Dec. 1, 2003, through Jan. 20, 2004, at the following repositories:

Tidewater Community College
Portsmouth Campus Library
700 College Dr.
Portsmouth, Va. 23701

Norfolk Corps of Engineers
803 Front St.
Norfolk, Va. 23510

Click here for an html version of the public health assessment. This is a large file, it may take several minutes.

Comments on the public health assessment must be made in writing. Mail comments to

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, N.E. (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

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

For more information, community members can contact Environmental Health Scientist Jill Dyken or Environmental Health Scientist Barbara Cooper, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Tom Stukas also may be contacted at 215-814-3142. Callers should refer to the Nansemond Ordnance Depot site in Suffolk, Va.

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 with ATSDR staff by calling Jennifer Sarginson in the ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.

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Updated by R. Searfoss November 25, 2003
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
770-488-0700 or e-mail (news media)