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 Defense Depot (DDMT) site in Memphis, Tennessee This public health assessment was written to evaluate new sampling data for the Memphis Depot National Priority List (NPL) site, to review existing data on the Dunn Field portion of DDMT, and to respond to health issues and concerns raised by residents living near the site. This health assessment is the fulfillment of a commitment made in 1997 by ATSDR to revisit the original DDMT health assessment which was issued in 1995.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) determined that no known exposures to DDMT contaminants exist off-site, or have existed since 1989, that could result in health effects. ATSDR was unable to determine whether exposures to contaminants from DDMT prior to 1989 could have resulted in health effects because of a lack of environmental data. 

Surface water and sediment, and ground water are the principal ways DDMT contaminants can move, are moving, or have moved off the site. For surface water and sediment, human contact with water from DDMT is almost entirely restricted to 3 surface-water drainages. These drainages are the Tarrent Branch that flows off the west side of the Main Facility, the ditches that flow from Dunn Field into or by the Rozelle neighborhood, and the drainage that flows south from the southeast corner of the Main Facility. Between 500 and 3,000 individuals could potentially have contact with water in these 3 drainages. The current levels of the site-contaminants in those drainages do not represent a public health hazard. Data are lacking on whether DDMT contaminants in these 3 drainages could have been a past public health hazard. For ground water, movement of site contaminants off site is primarily restricted to the northwest corner of Dunn Field. No one drinks this contaminated ground water.

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 reports of injury, 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 available for public review on or about December 1, 2000 at the following repositories:

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 health assessment.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or content of the health assessment should contact ATSDR Health Assessor John Crellin, toll free at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "Memphis Defense Depot site" when asking to speak with a health assessor in the Division of Health Assessment and Consultation. ATSDR Regional Representative Benjamin Moore also may be called for information at (404) 562-1784 in Atlanta.