What: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced today the availability for public comment of its public health assessment (PHA) for the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) site, an Air Force facility on Fort Dix, N.J.

In 1960, weapons-grade plutonium was released into the environment during a non-nuclear explosion and fire at the missile site.Radioactive contamination from the accident was covered with a concrete and asphalt barrier, and a 6-foot chain-link fence was installed around the site to restrict access. The BOMARC facility was deactivated in 1972. The Air Force now is remediating the BOMARC property by removing structures, debris and soil to an off-site disposal facility.

Findings: ATSDR evaluated ways in which people could have been exposed to radiologically contaminated media and to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the ground water and nearby streams. After reviewing available information, ATSDR reached the following conclusions:

• On the basis of available information, no public healthhazards are associated with the 1960 explosion and fire at the BOMARC site.
  Estimates, including worst-case-scenario estimates, of past potential exposure suggest that workers would not be expected to develop long-term adverse health effects or cancer as a result of their exposure.Due to restricted access to the BOMARC site and the presence of a concrete and asphalt barrier, on-site contamination is not expected to pose a current or future public health hazard.
  
  
• No public health hazard is associated with the VOC-contaminated ground water.
  An area of groundwater containing (VOCs), called a plume, is migrating eastward from the BOMARC site toward Colliers Mill Wildlife Management Area. No public or private drinking water wells draw water from the vicinity of the plume, so area residents are not expected to be exposed to VOCs when they drink water. The plume discharges into a stream at the Success Branch at Colliers Mill Wildlife Management Area, which is not used as a source of drinking water. People wading, fishing, or hunting in or near the stream are not expected to come in contact with potentially harmful levels of VOCs.

Where: The BOMARC public health assessment is available for public review at the following repositories:

Comments regarding the BOMARC health assessment must be made in writing by July 25, 2002.

Comments should be mailed to:

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Rd., NE, Mailstop E-56
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged and become part of the administrative record for the health assessment. Comments (without indication of who made them) and ATSDR responses will be included in an appendix to the final health assessment. Although names of those submitting comments will not be included in the final health assessment, they are subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act.

Requests for a copy of the public health assessment should also be sent to the address above.

Background: ATSDR public health assessments report information about hazardous substances in the environment and evaluate whether exposure to those substances in the past, present or future could harm people in the area. They identify health studies or other activities that might be needed and make recommendations to other government agencies, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency and state and local health and environmental departments, concerning actions to protect public health.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of the BOMARC public health assessment should contact ATSDR Health Assessor Paul Charp, toll free, at 1-888-42ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "BOMARC" site.