No on-site contaminants or dust releases from the Atlantic Station Redevelopment Project are at levels that would cause adverse health effects, according to the public health consultation the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is releasing today. The project is under multiphase construction near downtown Atlanta.

Atlantic Station is the site of a former steel mill and a fertilizer manufacturing plant. Contaminated site areas either have been cleaned up or covered with a site barrier.

A community member petitioned ATSDR to investigate the site to find out whether soil contamination left on the site could be a health hazard to future residents and workers and to the surrounding community during the project's construction phases.

The federal public health agency examined environmental data collected for site investigation reports, including soil sampling, air monitoring and groundwater sampling data. ATSDR also examined complaints of airborne dust from the site remediation and construction phases of the project, improperly removed asbestos-containing materials and the presence of radioactive materials. These radioactive materials are called orphan sources and are sometimes found in recycled scrap metal.

To prevent any future residential contact with soil contaminants, a 2-foot soil layer covers large areas of the western half of the site where residential, commercial and park space is planned. A conservation easement, in which the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia have limited ownership interest in the property, ensures that the soil barrier will remain in place.

ATSDR reached two conclusions after analyzing the site data: