ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Finds Current Chemical and Radioactive Levels at Fernald
Would Not Cause Adverse Health Effects

For Immediate Release: Sept. 2, 2004

ATLANTA - The low levels of chemicals and radioactive materials to which nearby residents at the Fernald Environmental Management Project in Hamilton, Ohio, may be exposed are not at levels that would cause adverse health effects, finds the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in its public health assessment released recently.

The 1,050-acre site, currently owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), was formerly known as the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) and is located 17 miles northwest of downtown Cincinnati. From 1951 through 1988, the facility produced uranium metal products for the defense industry. Contamination of soil, groundwater, surface water, and air occurred as a result of disposal and operational practices. The site has been on the Superfund National Priorities List since 1989.

Begun in 1991, remediation is ongoing at the site, with completion targeted for December 2006, pending continued funding by DOE.

According to the data reviewed for the public health assessment, ATSDR finds no known current exposure pathways that could pose a public health hazard to neighboring residents under current conditions at the site. However, site research projects indicate that while FMPC was operating, neighboring residents were exposed to radioactive materials from the site that resulted in a higher-than-expected risk for lung cancer. Also, neighboring residents might have elevated amounts of uranium in their kidneys from past exposure, primarily from drinking contaminated water in privately owned wells in the groundwater remediation area south of the site known as the South Plume.

ATSDR recommends the following:
— analyze boundary air monitoring filters for site-related chemicals and particle diameters;
— continue to monitor groundwater for potential site-related contaminants along the east site boundary and in the South Plume and include analyses for contaminants that may be drawn into the South Plume from other sources as a result of groundwater remedial activities at this site;
— assess in-depth past exposure to airborne non-uranium chemical contaminants and chemical contaminants in privately owned residential wells near the site if pertinent information becomes available; and
— continue to monitor for radon and the products of radon decay (known as radon daughters or radon progeny) in the neighboring off-site area during remedial activities at the site, especially those involving the K-65 silos.

The public health assessment was previously made available to the public for review and comment. The final version includes the comments made by members of the public and ATSDR's responses to the comments.

The public health assessment will be available to the public for review at
Fernald Public Environmental Information Center
7400 Wiley Road
Hamilton, Ohio

For more information, community members can contact Health Physicist Carol Connell, Environmental Health Scientist Lawson F. (French) Bell, or Community Involvement Specialist Ruby L. Palmer, toll-free, at 1-888-422-8737. Callers should refer to the Feed Materials Production Center/Fernald Environmental Management Project site in Hamilton, Ohio.

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.

###

Members of the news media can request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling Jennifer Sarginson or Jill Smith in the ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.