What: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today announced the extension of the public comment period for its draft public health assessment for the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, in De Soto, Kansas.

ATSDR has released this public health assessment as a draft for public comment. The document 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. The following is a brief summary of ATSDR's conclusions:

• ATSDR does not expect that people living around the site are being exposed to harmful levels of airborne asbestos or lead generated during open burning operations of explosive-contaminated buildings.

• Environmental sampling of surface water and sediment detected contaminants, but concentrations were below levels which might be expected to cause illness for people, including children, during recreational use of Kill Creek, Spoon Creek, and Captain Creek.

• While soil in many areas of the site is contaminated, access to those areas is restricted by fences and only occasionally will people be exposed to that soil. However, since future use of the site is uncertain, ATSDR recommends continued soil sampling and appropriate remediation before the general public has access to those areas.

• The groundwater at the site is contaminated, but the water is not used as a source of public drinking water. Off-site, there are 22 private wells within one mile of the site. Data is available for 13 of those wells indicating that groundwater contamination from Sunflower is not influencing the drinking water quality. ATSDR cannot evaluate the remaining nine wells until additional sampling data is available.

When: The draft health assessment will be available for public review and comment on or about October 4, 2001. The public comment period for the health assessment will run until November 27, 2001.

Where: Copies of the document are available for public review at the following repositories:

How: Written comments can be sent to:

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop E-56
Atlanta, Georgia 30333

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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state and local health and environmental departments, concerning actions to protect public health.

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 responses will be included in an appendix to the final health assessment. Although names of those who have submitted comments will not be included in the final health assessment, they are subject to release under Freedom of Information Act.

For More Information: Community members seeking information on the procedures or content of the health assessment should contact 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 site." ATSDR Regional Representative Ben Puesta also may be called for information at (913) 551-1312 in Kansas City.