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 release of the draft results of its public health assessment for the Feed Materials Production Center (U.S. DOE ) a.k.a. Fernald Environmental Management Project in Fernald, Ohio, Butler and Hamilton Counties. The document will be available for public review and comment beginning May 31, 2000.

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

Public health assessments rely on three sources of information: environmental data, health data and reports of community concerns. Environmental data detail the chemicals at a site and indicate their potential pathways to reach humans. Health data include statistics on disease or death in the community, as well as information on the known human effects of chemicals at the site. Reports of community concerns document the public's descriptions of how the site affects their health and quality of life.

The health assessment will be made available for public review and comment beginning May 31, 2000 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 from May 31 through June 30, 2000. Please send written comments 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.