Note for correspondents: ATSDR will host a media availability session on Wednesday, May 31, from 3:00 until 4:00 p.m. at the Lakehurst Community Center in Lakehurst, N.J. ATSDR staff will be available to answer questions about agency activities at the McGuire Air Force Base and BOMARC Missile sites. If you are unable to attend or would like additional information, contact Kathy Skipper or Mike Groutt, ATSDR Office or Policy and External Affairs, at (404) 639-0501.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, will host two public availability sessions in New Jersey. The purpose of the sessions is to provide members of the community with an opportunity to learn more about ATSDR activities in the area, and to talk with ATSDR staff about health concerns related to two sites: the McGuire Air Force Base site, and the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) Missile site.
Public availability sessions are not intended to be large-scale meetings. Instead, community members are invited to drop in at any time during one of the sessions and meet one-on-one with ATSDR staff to discuss health concerns related to either of the two sites. Attendance is open to the public.
The sessions will take place at the following locations and times:
Wednesday, May 31, 2000 Lakehurst Community Center
5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Intersection of State Hwy 70 and County Route 547
Lakehurst, NJ
Thursday, June 1, 2000 New Hanover Community Center Meeting Room
5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. 2 Hockamick Road
Municipal Complex
Cookstown, NJ
Information gathered at the public availability sessions will be used by ATSDR staffers as they prepare public health assessments for each of the sites. Public health assessments (PHA) 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 (U.S. EPA) and state and local health and environmental departments, concerning actions to protect public health.
McGuire Air Force Base was listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List (NPL) in October 1999. ATSDR visited McGuire AFB in November, 1999, to initiate a PHA as required on all NPL sites.
ATSDR is also conducting a PHA on the BOMARC Missile site, an Air Force facility located on Fort Dix, N.J. The BOMARC missile site was identified for evaluation by ATSDR during the Fort Dix PHA. In 1960, weapons grade plutonium was released into the environment during a fire at the missile site.
For more information about the public availability sessions, or about ATSDR activities at the two sites, contact ATSDR Community Involvement Specialist Maria Teran-MacIver, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-ATSDR) (ext 6021). ATSDR Regional Representative Tom Mignone can also be contacted for information at (732) 321-4463 in New Jersey.