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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

ATSDR to hold public availability meetings in Pahokee and South Bay

ATSDR officials will discuss their public health consultation for the Pahokee
and South Bay Municipal Water Systems Site in Palm Beach County, Fla.

For Immediate Release: May 14, 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, will hold public availability meetings in Pahokee and South Bay to present information about its public health consultation addressing exposure to total trihalomethanes (THMs) detected in the Pahokee and South Bay municipal water systems in Palm Beach County, Fla.

The agency found that the current level of THM is not a health concern.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked ATSDR to determine if the amount of THM in Pahokee and South Bay water was a health issue. When municipal water is treated with chlorine to kill germs, THM is the most common byproduct of the process.

The meetings will be held at the following times and locations:

Tuesday, May 18, 2004
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Loula V. York Branch Library
525 Bacom Point Rd.
Pahokee, Fla.

Tuesday, May 18, 2004
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Glades Academy
1200 E. Main St.
Pahokee, Fla.

Wednesday, May 19, 2004
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Clarence E. Anthony Branch Library
375 S.W. 2nd Ave.
South Bay, Fla.

Wednesday, May 19, 2004
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
City Hall
335 S.W. 2nd Ave.
South Bay, Fla.

ATSDR earlier released for public review and comment a public health consultation addressing exposure to THMs detected in the Pahokee and South Bay municipal water systems.

Comments on the health consultation must be made in writing and will be accepted through May 21, 2004. Comments should be mailed to:

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, N.E. (MS E-60)
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged into ATSDR's administrative record for the health consultation. Comments received, without the names of individuals who submitted them, and ATSDR's 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 to requests made under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

ATSDR's public health consultation is available for review at the following repositories:

Loula V. York Branch Library
525 Bacom Point Road Rd.
Pahokee, Fla.

Clarence E. Anthony Branch Library
375 S.W. 2nd Ave.
South Bay, Fla.

Belle Glade Branch Library
503 South Main St.
Belle Glade, Fla.

Glades Academy
1200 East Main St.
Pahokee, Fla.

For more information, community members can contact Community Involvement Specialist Youlanda Outin, toll free, at 1-888-422-8737. Regional Representative Benjamin Moore also may be contacted, toll free, at 1-800-241-1754, ext. 21784. Callers should refer to the Pahokee and South Bay Municipal Water Systems site in Palm Beach County, Florida.

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.

###

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.

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

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