What: 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 media availability session and a public meeting on March 4, and two public availability sessions on March 5, 2002, in Harrisville, Rhode Island, to discuss the agency's work related to water contaminated with Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) in the Pascoag Utility District in the latter half of 2001.

Where & When:

*Public availability sessions are not intended to be large-scale public meetings. Instead, members of the public are invited to drop in at any time during the session to talk one-on-one with representatives from the agencies about their health concerns related to the site. While the session is open to the public, individual conversations with agency representatives are private.

Background: Residents of the area became aware of the MTBE because of an objectionable odor in their drinking water. They expressed their health concerns to Senator Jack Reed, who petitioned ATSDR to look at whether MTBE in the drinking water represented a health risk

ATSDR is a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR's mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated with exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, unplanned releases, and other sources of pollution present in the environment.

For More Information: Members of the news media who cannot attend the media availability session, or who would like additional information about ATSDR's work at the site or the meetings, can contact Mike Groutt or John Florence, ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs, at (404) 498-0070.

Additional information on the health effects of MTBE can be found in the ToxFAQs section on the ATSDR web site at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov