Groundwater beneath some properties along Lane Street in Elkhart, Indiana is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene (TCE), the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)concludes in its draft public health assessment. All homes with contaminated private wells have been switched to municipal water. However, a few of the wells contained TCE at levels that could have increased the risk of harm to children of women who used the water regularly while pregnant.
ATSDR recommends that anyone still using private wells in the area have their water tested regularly. ATSDR also recommends EPA conduct further tests to assess whether chemical vapors from the groundwater could be entering and building up inside homes in the area.
ATSDR will host a public meeting to discuss the findings and answer questions on Monday, August 22 at 7:00 pm at the Osolo Elementary School, 24975 County Road 6 East, Elkhart. US Environmental Protection Agency, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and Elkhart County Health Department officials will also be present to answer questions about their activities at the site.
The ATSDR report on the Lane Street Ground Water Contamination site is available for review at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/HCPHA.asp?State=IN. A copy of the report has also been placed at the main branch of the Elkhart Public Library, 300 South Second Street, Elkhart.
ATSDR welcomes public comments on the Lane Street Ground Water Contamination Public Health Assessment through September 23, 2011.
Comments on the public health assessment must be made in writing. Comments received during the public comment period will be kept in the ATSDR administrative record for the public health assessment. Comments received (without the names of individuals who submitted them) and ATSDR's responses to these comments will appear in an appendix to the final public health assessment. Names of those who submit comments, however, will be subject to release in answer to requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Send comments to: ATSDRRecordsCenter@cdc.gov, or mail to:
Attention: Rolanda Morrison
RE: Lane Street Ground Water Contamination
ATSDR Records Center
4770 Buford Highway, NE (MS F-09)
Atlanta, GA 30341
For more information about the public health assessment, community members can contact Jill Dyken, Environmental Health Scientist, in Atlanta at JDyken@cdc.gov or 770-488-0768. Community members can also contact Mark Johnson, Senior Regional Representative, in ATSDR’s Chicago Office at 312-886-0840.
For more information, call 1-800-CDC-INFO.
Members of the news media can request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling the NCEH/ATSDR Office of Communication at 770-488-0070.
4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
Media inquiries: 770-488-0070
ATSDR Web site: www.atsdr.cdc.gov
ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the potential for adverse human health effects due to exposure to hazardous substances in the environment.
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