ATSDR Media Announcement

ATSDR Releases Final Health Assessment on Air Pathway for the
Isla de Vieques Bombing Range Site, Vieques, Puerto Rico

Finding is No Apparent Public Health Hazard

For Immediate Release: September 15, 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 final public health assessment (PHA) that investigated the air pathway for possible contaminants from the U.S. Navy's bombing range site on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

The PHA finds that exposure to air contaminants potentially released from Navy property on Vieques poses no apparent health hazard.

In May 1999, an island resident asked (petitioned) ATSDR to evaluate whether any health problems of Vieques residents might be associated with potential releases of hazardous substances from military training activities on the island. ATSDR responded by conducting a series of focused public health assessments, on groundwater/drinking water, soil, fish and shellfish, and air pathways. After completing its evaluations, ATSDR assessed these exposures are much lower than levels known to be associated with adverse health effects.

For the air exposure pathway, ATSDR also concludes the following:

• Air samples have shown that levels of particulate matter are much lower than health-based air quality standards. Thus, wind-blown dust from the live impact area (LIA) is not a health hazard.
• Most of the contaminants released to the air during past military training exercises involving live bombs were dispersed to extremely low concentrations over the 7.9 miles that separate the center of the LIA from the nearest residential areas of Vieques. ATSDR's best estimates of ambient air concentrations suggest that past exposures during the live bombing exercises were at levels below those associated with adverse health effects.
• Open burning and detonation operations to treat unused munitions and unexploded ordnance have released contaminants to the air. However, ATSDR's modeling analysis indicates these emissions do not cause levels of pollution that could present a public health hazard.
• Residents of Vieques are not exposed to levels of environmental contamination that could present a public health hazard, whether chemical or radiological, as a result of the Navy's limited past use of depleted uranium penetrators during military training exercises.

ATSDR recommends the following actions be taken:

• No live bombing has occurred on Vieques since 1999 and all training activities ceased in May of 2003. If the Navy ever were to resume exercises, ATSDR recommends that PREQB collect daily samples in Esperanza and Isabel Segunda of particulate matter, metals, volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds.
• ATSDR recommends that any residents using rainfall collection systems for a drinking water supply read the documents that ATSDR has placed in the records repositories regarding good sanitation practices for harvesting rain water.
• ATSDR plans to review cancer registry information and data gathered by the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH). ATSDR's review will follow the official release of PRDOH's review of the cancer registries, but it is not known when that will occur.

The final health assessment will be available for public review on or about Sept. 12, 2003 at the following records repositories:

The Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust
Calle Flamboyan 138
Vieques, PR

Biblioteca, Municipio de Vieques
Calle Carlos Le Brun 449
Vieques, PR

University of Puerto Rico
School of Public Health
Medical Sciences Campus Library
Industrial Hygiene Department
San Juan, PR

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of the public health assessment may contact Environmental Health Scientist Jeff Kellam or Health Communication Specialist Maria Teran-McIver, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Arthur Block also may be contacted at 212-637-4307. Callers should refer to the Isla de Vieques Air PHA (final), Vieques, Puerto Rico.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 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 may request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling Elaine McEachern or Jennifer Sarginson in the ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs at 770-488-0700