Note to correspondents: ATSDR will host a media availability session on Thursday, June 22, from 6:00 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. at The Plantation. ATSDR staff will be available to answer questions about the public health assessment and other agency activities at the Fernald DOE facility. If you are unable to attend or would like additional information, contact Kathy Skipper or Mike Groutt, ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs, at (404) 639-0501.
(ATLANTA) -- The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will hold a public meeting in Harrison, Ohio, to discuss the public health assessment for the Feed Materials Production Center (also known as the Fernald Environmental Management Project) in Fernald, Ohio.
The meeting will take place on Thursday, June 22, 2000, from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at The Plantation, 9660 Dry Fork Road, Harrison, Ohio.
During the meeting, ATSDR representatives will discuss the recently released public health assessment. Members of the community will have the opportunity to ask questions about the assessment and other agency activities at the site.
The Fernald facility is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). From 1951-1988, the facility produced high-purity uranium metal products for the defense industry. The site was added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989.
In the public health assessment, ATSDR scientists evaluated environmental and health information for the site and identified pathways through which people are currently being exposed, have been exposed in the past, or may be exposed in the future to chemicals or radioactive materials from the site.
The health assessment can be reviewed by accessing ATSDR's Web page at www.atsdr.cdc.gov . The document is also available for public review and comment at the following repository:
Fernald Public Environmental Information Center
10995 Hamilton-Cleves Highway
Cincinnati, Ohio 45253
The public comment period for the health assessment will run through June 30, 2000. 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
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 the Freedom of Information Act.
Community members seeking information on the procedures or content of the health assessment should contact ATSDR Health Assessor Carol Connell, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to "Fernald" when asking to speak with a Health Assessor in the Division of Health Assessment and Consultation.