ATLANTA – Public water is safe to drink, says the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in its public health assessment report for the Commerce Street Plume site.
Elevated levels of volatile organic compounds, primarily trichloroethylene (TCE), were found in groundwater under commercial buildings on Commerce Street and under homes on South Brownell Road and Kirby Avenue. Several private drinking water wells were found to contain levels of TCE and the homeowners were placed on public water.
In July 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency completed its Remedial Investigation -- in-depth data gathering needed to determine the nature and extent of contamination at a Superfund site. ATSDR has incorporated these and other recent data in the health assessment report.
ATSDR recommends:
- Continued monitoring of TCE concentrations in groundwater.
- No one in the future use shallow groundwater as a source of drinking water.
The public is invited to comment on the health assessment. The report is available for review at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/pha/publiccomments.asp.
A copy of the document released today can be also reviewed during regular hours at:
Dorothy Alling Memorial Library
21 Library Ln.
Williston, VT 05495
(802) 878-4918
ATSDR will accept public comments on the public health assessment until May 29, 2014.
Comments on the document must be made in writing, and those received during the public comment period will be addressed in the final version. Comments (without the names of persons who submitted them) and ATSDR’s responses to the comments will appear in an appendix to the final health assessment. Names of those who submit comments will be subject to release should requests be made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
Send comments to: ATSDRRecordsCenter@cdc.gov, or mail to:
ATSDR Records Center
Attn: Rolanda Morrison
Re: Commerce Street Plume PHA
4770 Buford Highway, NE (MS F-09)
Atlanta, Georgia 30341
For more information about the PHA, community members can call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636). The caller should state they are requesting information about the Commerce Street Plume PHA in Williston, Vermont.
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ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the potential for adverse human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances in the environment.