The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today released the public comment version of its public health consultation on groundwater sampling in the Dupont Delisle community in Delisle, Miss.

ATSDR will hold a public meeting on June 5 to hear the community's health concerns about the Dupont Delisle site, which is a titanium dioxide facility Delisle, Miss.

At the meeting ATSDR's representatives also will discuss the results of its analysis of data from collected water samples and of mineral levels from hair samples. The meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Pass Christian City Hall, Council Room, 200 West Scenic Drive, Pass Christian, Miss.

After evaluating the data, ATSDR concluded that:

• Area wells are not currently impacted by the DuPont Delisle facility, thereby categorizing the site as a no public health hazard.
• The hair mineral analysis results pertaining to this site do not provide a reliable indication of either environmental exposures or the need for chelation therapy treatment for environmental disease. Chelation therapy is a form of treatment used to bind and purge metals and other substances from the body.

ATSDR recommends that:

• Further sampling be conducted in the four homes where water samples exceeded the technical treatment action level for lead or copper.
• Both physician and community environmental health education be provided to the Delisle community.

The public health consultation is available for public review and comment at the following location in Pass Christian: Pass Christian Public Library 111 Heirn Ave.

Comments on the public health consultation must be made in writing. Mail comments to

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Rd., N.E. (MS E-32)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged in to ATSDR's administrative record for this health consultation.

Comments received, without the names of individuals who submitted them, and ATSDR's responses to the comments will appear in an appendix to the final public health consultation. Names of those who submit comments, however, will be subject to release for requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of the public health consultation may contact Community Involvement Specialist Rose Jackson or Environmental Health Scientist James Durant, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Carl Blair also may be contacted in Atlanta at 404-498-1746. Refer to the Dupont Delisle site in Delisle, Miss., when you call.