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 availability of the final version of its public health assessment for the Brandywine Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO), Brandywine, Maryland.

ATSDR prepared the public health assessment following the site's listing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities-or Superfund-List (NPL). ATSDR is mandated by Congress to assess the public health impacts of each site listed on the NPL.

ATSDR reviewed available environmental and health outcome data and community health concerns to determine whether adverse health effects are possible from exposure to contaminants from the site. Based on this evaluation, ATSDR concluded that while there is environmental contamination due to past activities at the site, the site poses no past, current, or future public health hazard since people are not being exposed to contaminants at levels which could cause them to become sick.

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 also identify other activities that might be needed to better understand the health effects associated with the site. Public health assessments also 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.

In preparing public health assessments, ATSDR health assessors rely on various sources of information. These sources may include: 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 can include reports of injury, disease, or death in the community, as well as information on the known health 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 available for public review on or about May 10, 2001, at the following repository:

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 document.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of this public health assessment should contact ATSDR Health Assessor Jeffrey Kellam, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "Brandywine DefenseReutilization and Marketing (DRMO) site" when asking to speak with a Health Assessor in the Division of Health Assessment and Consultation. The ATSDR Regional Representative, Tom Stukas, also may be called for information at (215) 814-3142 in Philadelphia.