ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Releases Public Comment Version of its Consultation
for the Sunoco Refinery Site in Oregon, Ohio

For Immediate Release: Aug. 26, 2004

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released for public comment its public health consultation for the Sunoco Refinery site in Oregon, Ohio. The document will be available for public review and comment at the Oregon Branch Library and the East Toledo Family Center through Oct. 5.

Air monitoring during the exposure investigation near the Sunoco Refinery did not detect volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide, or sulfur dioxide at concentrations expected to cause adverse health effects. These conclusions are limited to Oct. 29, 2003, through Jan. 20, 2004, the time period during which ATSDR air sampling took place.

ATSDR recommends additional air monitoring for sulfur dioxide because levels of this contaminant were occasionally near the threshold for potential adverse health effects in sensitive asthmatics.

The public comment period is an opportunity for residents to review and comment on agency findings or proposed activities noted in the consultation. The consultation will be available for review at:

Oregon Branch Library
3340 Duston Road
Oregon, Ohio

East Toledo Family Center
1020 Varland Ave.
Toledo, Ohio

Comments on the consultation must be made in writing. Mail comments to:

Chief, Records Management Activity
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, N.E. (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged in to the ATSDR administrative record for this public health consultation. Comments received, without the names of individuals who submitted them, and ATSDR responses to the comments will appear in an appendix to the final public health consultation. Names of those who submit comments, however, will be subject to release for requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Community members seeking information about the procedures or the content of the public health consultation may contact ATSDR Environmental Health Scientist Jennifer Freed or Health Communications Specialist Dawn O'Connor toll-free at 1-888-422-8737. ATSDR Regional Representative Michelle Colledge also may be contacted at 312-886-1462.

ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances.

Established by Congress in 1980 under the Superfund law, ATSDR conducts public health assessments at each of the sites on the EPA National Priorities List, as well as other sites when petitioned. Headquartered in Atlanta, ATSDR is staffed by more than 400 health professionals including epidemiologists, physicians, toxicologists, engineers and public health educators.

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Members of the news media can request an interview with ATSDR staff by calling Jennifer Sarginson or Jill Smith in the ATSDR Office of Communication at 404-498-0070.