ATLANTA - The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has completed its health consultation report for water in private wells near the Homestake Mining Company Mill site in Milan, New Mexico. According to the final report, no apparent public health hazard exists from well water near the site.

ATSDR says test results show that wells being used as a drinking water source do not contain levels of contamination known to be high enough to cause adverse health effects. However, ATSDR says a few wells that are not being used for drinking water have uranium concentrations well above the background concentration, and these wells should continue not to be used.

ATSDR used testing results from 2005 through 2007 to calculate amounts of contaminants to which people would be exposed from water in private wells not connected to the Milan water supply. Then ATSDR checked those amounts against health comparison values and other reference values.

On the basis of its calculations and comparisons, ATSDR categorized the water in these wells as presenting "no apparent public health hazard." This designation means that people may have been exposed to chemicals related to the Homestake Mining Company Mill site in the past, and those exposures may still be occurring, but the exposures are not at levels likely to cause adverse health effects.

A draft version of the health consultation for the Homestake Mining Company Mill site was released for public comment in 2008. ATSDR considered the public's comments and incorporated changes in the final document to respond to the comments. Interested persons can access the final version of the health consultation on the Internet at the following URL: