ATSDR Invites Public to Comment on Draft Public Health Assessment for Hidden Lane Landfill Site, Sterling, VA

Thursday, January 29, 2009

ATLANTA - The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has completed a draft public health assessment (PHA) evaluating the public health impact of chemicals released from the Hidden Lane Landfill site near Sterling, Virginia. Former operations of this closed landfill resulted in contamination of private wells in the area with volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethylene.

The draft PHA is available for the public to review during normal operating hours at the following document repositories:

• Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Road, Sterling, VA 20165; phone: 703-430-2203
• Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Place, Potomac Falls, VA 20165; phone: 703-444-3228
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch Street, Second Floor, 3PM52, Philadelphia, PA; phone: 215-814-5364

The public can also review the draft PHA on ATSDR's website by going directly to the document at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/HiddenLaneLandfill/ HiddenLaneLandfillPublicHealthAssessment(PublicComment)1-12-09.pdf [PDF, 493 KB] or by accessing it from the Public Health Assessments and Consultations page at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/pha/index.asp.

ATSDR will accept written public comments on the draft PHA until February 27, 2009. Written comments should be sent to ATSDR at the following address:

ATSDR will issue a final PHA in the near future with an appendix containing the written public comments and ATSDR's responses.

The draft PHA focuses on exposure of residents to contaminated private well water. Many affected wells have been identified and are being treated with carbon filtration systems installed by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and/or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, some potentially affected wells in the area have not yet been identified or tested for contaminants.

As shown in the draft PHA, ATSDR recommends identifying and testing all potentially affected wells and treating them with carbon filtration systems if necessary. ATSDR also recommends further evaluation to address other ways people might be affected by the site, such as gas buildup in homes, chemical exposures from trespassing on the site, or physical hazards (fire, for example). ATSDR plans to do another PHA on these subjects using additional information that EPA is collecting about the site.

For more information about the Hidden Lane Landfill site and the ATSDR PHA of the site, call Jill Dyken at 770-488-0768 or CDCInfo at 1-800-CDC-INFO.

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.

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Members of the news media can request an interview by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0700 or e-mail (news media).

• Page last reviewed: February 9, 2009
• Page last updated: February 9, 2009
• Content source: Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry