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
Conrail site. Therefore, ATSDR categorizes the site as "No Public Health Hazard."

The public comment period for the health assessment continues through Aug. 30, 2004.

Copies of the public health assessment are available for review at
Elkhart Public Library
300 S. Second St.
Elkhart

Holben Elementary School
County Road. 16
Elkhart

Public health assessment comments must be made in writing. Comments should be mailed to
Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, NE (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

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:

• Issuing deed restrictions that prohibit private well drilling within the contaminant plumes.
• Enforcing building codes that require new construction to have vapor mitigation systems installed.
• Providing vapor mitigation systems in buildings as monitoring indicates and expanding areas of investigation as needed.
• Providing information to area residents, especially new residents, about ways to avoid or minimize exposures to area groundwater and soil gas contamination.

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.