The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today announced that a meeting of Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee (ORRHES) will be held on June 3.

The meeting will be held from noon to 8:00 p.m. at the Department of Energy (DOE) Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Parkway, Oak Ridge, Tenn. Members of the community are encouraged to attend and will have the opportunity to make comments between the times of 4:30 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 6:40 p.m.

ORRHES, a federal advisory committee created in 1999, is comprised of a representative group of citizens that live in the communities surrounding the Oak Ridge Reservation. The group provides advice and recommendations to ATSDR and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the two agencies' public health activities and research regarding the Oak Ridge Reservation site. ORRHES members work with private citizens, advocacy groups, state agencies and federal agencies in the region and provide community members with an opportunity to communicate directly with federal public health agencies. It holds regular meetings to update the community on ongoing activities.

ORRHES member Herman Cember, Ph.D., P.E., C.H.P., will make a presentation about the impact of public health policy on the development of radiation safety standards. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will present an update on the epidemiologic studies addressing DOE workers conducted under the Occupational Energy Research Program. ATSDR will make a presentation about chemical screening process, surface water and ground water (Scarboro Review).

ATSDR Assistant Administrator, Henry Falk, M.D., M.P.H., is scheduled to present an overview of the collaboration between the agency and ORRHES.

The entire agenda for the public meeting can be viewed by accessing the following link:

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/oakridge/meet/agenda/m06_03_03.html

Members of the community who have questions about these meetings, ORRHES or ATSDR activities at the Oak Ridge Reservation may contact the ORRHES Designated Federal Official, La Freta Dalton toll free at 1-888-422-8737 or Environmental Health Scientist Bill Taylor at 865-220-0295 in the Oak Ridge office. Callers should refer to the Oak Ridge site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.