ATSDR To Hold Meetings About Its Public Health Assessment for the Conrail Rail Yard Superfund Site in Elkhart, Ind.Elkhart County, Elkhart, Indiana Thursday, July 29, 2004 The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will hold a public availability session followed by a public meeting Aug. 3, 2004, about the Conrail Rail Yard Superfund Site in Elkhart, Ind. The agency recently issued the public comment version of its public health assessment for the site. At the public availability session from 4:30-6:30 p.m., ATSDR representatives will be available to talk one-to-one with community members about health concerns they believe are related to possible exposure to contaminants from the Conrail site. From 6:30-7:30 p.m., ATSDR staff members will discuss the findings in their public health assessment. They also will solicit comments about the health assessment from community members. After the meeting, ATSDR representatives will be available to answer additional questions from community members. Both gatherings are at Jimtown North Elementary School (formerly Harley Holbin Elementary School), 30046 C.R. 16, Elkhart, Ind. The health assessment was done at the request of community members and to update a preliminary public health assessment completed in 1989. At present, no exposure is occurring at levels of health concern in the area
near the The public comment period for the health assessment continues through Aug. 30, 2004. Copies of the public health assessment are available for review at Holben Elementary School Public health assessment comments must be made in writing. Comments should
be mailed to In the past, people were exposed to a wide range of levels of chemicals that were of public health concern from the Conrail site. Of these, most significant were trichloroethylene and carbon tetrachloride. Because contaminants remaining in neighborhoods northwest and north of the site could take decades to degrade, ATSDR's public health action plan includes recommendations to prevent future exposure. These recommendations include the following:
Comments received during the public comment period will be logged in to the ATSDR administrative record for this 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 Health Communication Specialist Debra Joseph or Environmental Health Scientist Gail Godfrey, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Senior Regional Representative Mark Johnson also may be contacted at 312-886-0840. Callers should refer to the Conrail Rail Yard site in Elkhart, Ind. 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. Related News Releases For Elkhart County, Elkhart, Indiana
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ATSDR Releases for Public Comment Its Public Health Assessment
for the Conrail Rail Yard Superfund Site in Elkhart, Ind.
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