The Benton Harbor and Belding sites pose a public health hazard because workers in the
buildings have been exposed to radium-related radiation at levels of public health concern.(7)
Trespassers might also be exposed to radium, radon, and radiation at levels of public
health concern. Access to the warehouses has been restricted, but compliance with the
restrictions has not been verified.
The Bear Lake site posed an urgent public health hazard in the past, because the residents
of and visitors to the house on the site were exposed to radium-related radiation at levels
of serious human health concern.(8) The residents have been relocated from the property.
The house has been demolished and contaminated soil and debris removed from the site
for appropriate disposal.
Soil contaminated with radioactive materials has been found around the D & L Sales
warehouse. The warehouse property is adjacent to the Paw Paw River and contaminated
soil might be transported into the river. There is no information available on analysis of
water from the Paw Paw River. A preliminary survey found no radium contamination in
sediments from the River.
The radioactive material present in the Belding and Benton Harbor sites might spread in
the form of volatilized material or fly ash should a fire occur on either site.
MDCH supports the recommendations made by ATSDR in their Health Advisory.
Access to the D & L Sales and H & K Sales warehouses should continue to be restricted
until the contaminated areas are decontaminated.
MDCH, MDEQ, and U.S. EPA should continue to offer the former occupants of the Bear
Lake site medical testing to evaluate their exposure to radioactive materials.
Water and additional sediment samples from the Paw Paw River near the Benton Harbor
site should be collected and analyzed to determine whether radioactive material from the
site has reached the river.
In the case of a fire at the Belding or Benton Harbor sites, appropriate precautions must
be taken to limit the spread of radioactive material through volatilization and windborne
particulates. The U.S. EPA has held training sessions for Belding emergency response
personnel. Benton Harbor and Benton Township emergency response personnel have
undergone equivalent training as part of emergency preparedness program at nearby
nuclear power plants. Periodic refresher courses for all three communities' emergency
response personnel should be conducted until the remediation at the warehouses is
complete.
A Health Activities Recommendation Panel convened by ATSDR and MDCH has evaluated the
data and information developed for the Radium Dial Sites Public Health Assessment for
appropriate follow-up health actions. The panel determined that workers or residents at the three
sites have been exposed to radium-related radiation at levels of human health concern, though
radiological assessment of several of the workers did not find elevated levels of radioactive
material in their bodies. The panel recommended that MDCH and ATSDR continue to provide
health information to the former residents of the Bear Lake site, former employees of Aircraft
Components, Inc., and workers at the Benton Harbor and Belding sites concerning the potential
effects of their exposure.
Public Health Action Plans (PHAP) are developed to describe actions to be taken by ATSDR
and/or the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) at and in the vicinity of sites
subsequent to the completion of Public Health Assessments. The purpose of the PHAP is to
ensure that Public Health Assessments not only identify public health hazards, but also provide a plan of action designed to mitigate and prevent adverse human health effects resulting from
exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. The public health actions to be
implemented by ATSDR and/or MDCH are as follows:
Health Actions Undertaken
On April 26, 1995, the ATSDR issued a consultation to the U.S. EPA concerning the Bear Lake
site, identifying the site as posing an urgent public health hazard. The U.S. EPA arranged to
relocate the residents of the site, and began an emergency removal action at the site, which
included demolition of the buildings on the site and off-site disposal.
On June 28, 1995, the ATSDR issued a Public Health Advisory for the D & L Sales warehouse
and H & K Sales warehouse sites.
Health Actions Planned
In coordination with the U.S. EPA, ATSDR, MDCH, MDEQ, and local health departments will
continue to offer health information to the populations around the Radium Dial sites.
ATSDR and MDCH will coordinate with federal and state environmental agencies to carry out
the recommendations made in this assessment.
ATSDR will reevaluate and expand the Public Health Action Plan when needed. New
environmental, toxicological, or health outcome data, or the results of implementing the above
proposed actions and recommendations may determine the need for additional actions at these
sites.
Michigan Department of Community Health, Environmental Epidemiology
Division
John Filpus, Environmental Engineer
Michele Borgialli, Community Health Educator
James Bedford, Environmental Toxicologist
Robin Freer, GIS Specialist
Brendan Boyle, Program Manager
John Hesse, Principal Investigator
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Drinking Water and Radiological
Protection Division
David Minnaar, Chief, Licensing and Registration Section
ATSDR Regional Representative
Louise Fabinski
Regional Services, Region V
Office of the Assistant Administrator
ATSDR Technical Project Officer
William Greim
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation
Superfund Site Assessment Branch
CERTIFICATION
The Michigan Sites of Radium Dial Contamination Public Health Assessment was prepared by
the Michigan Department of Community Health under a cooperative agreement with the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). It is in accordance with approved
methodology and procedures existing at the time the public health assessment was initiated.
William Greim
Technical Project Officer, SPS, SSAB, DHAC
The Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, ATSDR, has reviewed this public health
assessment and concurs with its findings.
Michigan Department of Public Health, Division of Radiological Health. Sites
Contaminated with Radium from Aircraft Gauges, Detailed Summary. October 2, 1995.
Michigan Department of Public Health, Division of Radiological Health. Radioactive
Contamination at Benton Harbor, Michigan. October 2, 1995.
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. July 14, 1995.
Michigan Department of Public Health, Division of Radiological Health. Radioactive
Contamination at Belding, Michigan. October 2, 1995.
Adler, K., Allen, C., U.S. EPA. Letter to Belding residents, Subject: Clean-up of Belding
Warehouse Site. February 6, 1997.
Skowronek, R., MDEQ DWRP. Memorandum to D. Minnaar, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. April 14, 1997.
Charp, P.A., ATSDR. Letter to Karl, R., U.S. EPA, on Bear Lake Radioactive
Contamination site. April 26, 1995.
Michigan Department of Public Health, Division of Radiological Health. Radioactive
Contamination at Bear Lake, Michigan. October 2, 1995.
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. January 5, 1996.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Public Health Advisory for Aircraft
Components (D & L Sales), Benton Harbor, Michigan, and H & K Sales, Belding,
Michigan. June 28, 1995.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. GIS Spatial Analysis Data Charts.
1995.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1990 Census Data.
Copeland, G., MDPH Division of Health Statistics. Memorandum to D. Dolanski, MDPH
Division of Health Risk Assessment, Subject: Certificates of Death. October 16, 1995.
Minnaar, D., MDEQ DWRP. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. May 31, 1996.
Skowronek, R., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. July 21, 1995.
Ecology and Environment, Inc. for U.S. EPA. Removal Action Plan for Benton Harbor
Radiation, Benton Harbor, Berrien County, Michigan, Draft. March 14, 1996.
Michigan Department of Public Health. Cleanup and Disposal Guidelines for Sites
Contaminated with Radium-226. October 31, 1995.
Ecology and Environment, Inc. for U.S. EPA. Removal Action Plan for Belding
Warehouse Site, Belding, Ionia County, Michigan, Draft. March 14, 1996.
Skowronek, R., MDEQ DWRP. Personal communication. April 25, 1997.
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. September 29, 1995.
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. January 26, 1996.
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. November 9, 1995.
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. November 15, 1995.
Bruchmann, G., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to F. Watt, Subject: Radium Dial Update.
December 7, 1995
Minnaar, D., MDPH DRH. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium Gauge
Update. December 21, 1995.
Skowronek, R., MDEQ DWRP. Memorandum to G. Bruchmann, Subject: Radium
Gauge Update. June 28, 1996.
Minnaar, D., MDEQ DWRP. Letter to J. Ledford. July 16, 1996.
Skowronek, R., MDEQ DWRP. Comments on draft Public Health Assessment. May 27,
1997.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Public Health Assessment Guidance
Manual. March 1992.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxicological Profile for Radium.
ATSDR/TP-90/22. December 1990.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxicological Profile for Radon.
ATSDR/TP-90/23. December 1990.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. White
Paper on Risk Harmonization. September 1995.
Dolanski, D., MDPH DHRA. Memorandum to G. Copeland, MDPH Division of Health
Statistics, Subject: Certificates of Death. July 24, 1995.
Smith, E., U.S. EPA. Personal Communication. July 1, 1996.
