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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR Issues Public Health Assessment
on Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va.

For Immediate Release: Jan. 26, 2004

ATLANTA - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, today is issuing a public health assessment (PHA) on the Norfolk Naval Shipyard site (NNSY) in Portsmouth, Va.

The public health assessment will be available to community members for review at the Portsmouth Main Library, 601 Court St., Portsmouth.

In the public health assessment, ATSDR evaluates past, current and potential future exposures to contaminants originating from NNSY. In 1999 and 2002, ATSDR visited NNSY to collect information about how people on-site and off-site might be exposed to environmental contamination, to review environmental sampling data and to learn about community health concerns.

After analyzing the available data, ATSDR recommends the following actions:

ATSDR concurs with the current Navy remediation efforts and the Navy's ongoing Pediatric Lead Poisoning Prevention (PLPP) program. ATSDR recommends review of the current status of housing conditions, and results of blood lead screening of children to ensure that blood lead levels have remained below levels of concern and that all children potentially exposed in housing areas are tested.

ATSDR recommends that families in Portsmouth participate in the current Virginia Department of Health (VDH) childhood lead poisoning prevention program, called Lead-Safe Virginia. This includes families in the Cradock area, the New Gosport areas and other neighborhoods identified by VDH as high-risk areas. Participation in a blood-screening program that meets or exceeds CDC guidance combined with the recommended steps to clean, remove, renovate or remediate lead in and around houses should be health protective and reduce lead exposure.

Any future feasibility study to assess possible future reuse of the Paradise Creek Disposal Area should consider possible methane levels at the Site 3 landfill, as well as potential exposures to chemical contamination, including VOCs.

As a precaution, people should follow all seafood consumption advisories issued by federal and state agencies, including the prohibition on eating shellfish, except crabs, from the Elizabeth River and its tributaries.

For more information, community members can contact Environmental Health Scientist Charles Grosse or Health Communications Specialist Debra Joseph, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Callers should refer to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard site in Portsmouth, Va.

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.

Back to ATSDR Home page

Updated by R. Searfoss January 27, 2004
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
1-888-422-8737 or e-mail (public inquiries)
404-498-0080 or e-mail: atsdrmediainquires@cdc.gov (news media)