ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Report Finds TSCA Incinerator Does Not Pose Public Health Hazard

For Immediate Release: March 11, 2005

ATLANTA - A public health assessment evaluating the contaminants released from the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Incinerator at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in Roane County, Tenn. will be released by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) on March 22. The assessment will be available for public comment and review through May 6.

The assessment was designed to determine whether local residents have been harmed by contaminants released by the TSCA Incinerator. ATSDR found that the TSCA Incinerator releases very small amounts of contaminants into the environment, but the amounts are far below levels associated with health effects. Continued operation of the TSCA Incinerator is not expected to cause harmful exposures because numerous safeguards, pollution controls, and strict permitting requirements are in place to prevent unsafe operating conditions from occurring. Therefore, the assessment concludes that the TSCA Incinerator is not a public health hazard.

The assessment also responded to specific community health concerns about the TSCA Incinerator and made recommendations to help ensure that the incinerator continues to operate safely in the future.

The public comment period is an opportunity for residents to review and comment on agency findings or proposed activities noted in the assessment. The assessment can be viewed at www.atsdr.cdc.gov, and will be available for public comment and review through May 6, at

Oak Ridge Public Library
Civic Center
Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Harriman Public Library
1 Waldon Ave.
Harriman, TN 37748

ATSDR Oak Ridge Field Office
197 South Tulane
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Kingston City Library
1004 Bradford Way
Kingston, TN 37763

Roane State Community College
276 Patton Lane
Harriman, TN 37831

Rockwood Public Library
117 N. Front Ave.
Rockwood, TN 37854

Please send requests for copies of the public health assessment and comments concerning the document to:

Chief, Records Management Activity, ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, N.E. (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged into the ATSDR administrative record for this public health assessment. Comments received, without the names of individuals who submitted them, and ATSDR 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 for requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

For more information, community members can contact the ORRHES Designated Federal Official, Marilyn Palmer Horton, toll free at 1-888-422-8737 or by calling 404-498-1751. Health Communications Specialist Loretta Bush can be reached at 404-498-1742. Environmental Health Scientist Bill Taylor also may be contacted in the ATSDR Oak Ridge Field Office at 865-220-0295. Callers should refer to the Oak Ridge site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

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 the ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700.