What: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has released the final version of its public health assessment for the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, in De Soto, Kansas.

The public health assessment provides the results of ATSDR's assessment of available environmental data for the site to evaluate exposure pathways and to address community concerns about past, current, and potential future exposures to contaminants originating at Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant.

Where: The final version of the public health assessment will be available for public review on or about March 18, 2002, at the following repositories:

Background: 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.

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 (EPA) and state and local health and environmental departments, concerning actions to protect public health.

The public health assessment was originally released as a draft for public comment in October 2001. The public comment period ran through November 5, 2001, and was later extended until November 27, 2001. ATSDR publishes documents in this manner in order to give members of the community an opportunity to review the agency's findings, ask questions, provide comments, or discuss additional information which may be pertinent to the health assessment.

Comments received during the public comment period have been logged and are now part of the administrative record for the health assessment. Comments (without indication of who made them) and responses have been included in an appendix to the final health assessment.

For more information: Community members seeking information on the procedures or content of the health assessment should contact ATSDR Jeff Kellam, ATSDR environmental health scientist, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant" when calling the toll free number. You may also contact ATSDR Regional Representative Denise Jordan Izaguirre in Kansas City at (913) 551-1310.