ATSDR - public health consultation on possible health effects from vinyl chloride contamination of the well water that formerly supplied drinking water for the Myrtle Grove Trailer Park (MGTP) community.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

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ATSDR MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
Public Comment Period for Health Consultation
on Vinyl Chloride-Contaminated
Drinking Water at Myrtle Grove Trailer Park
in Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, Louisiana

For Immediate Release: July 5, 2002

What: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announces a public comment period for its public health consultation on possible health effects from vinyl chloride contamination of the well water that formerly supplied drinking water for the Myrtle Grove Trailer Park (MGTP) community.

When: The public is invited to submit comments about the health consultation. The public comment period runs through August 20, 2002.

The public health consultation concludes that the MGTP site poses no apparent public health hazard. None of the health concerns reported by MGTP residents are likely to be the result of exposure to the levels of vinyl chloride or any other contaminant detected in the well water at MGTP.

The levels of vinyl chloride--4.9 parts per billion (ppb) to 13.8 ppb--detected in the MGTP well system would not be expected to produce adverse health effects either in adults or children.

Park residents formerly were exposed to vinyl chloride when drinking, showering, bathing, cooking, dishwashing, and swimming in water supplied by the MGTP well system. Since March 2001, park residents have been using city-supplied water.

The source of the vinyl chloride has not been determined. Areas around the MGTP site might be affected by the vinyl chloride groundwater plume although no one is known to be drinking vinyl chloride-contaminated groundwater at this time. ATSDR will evaluate the potential for exposure in these areas in a separate health consultation.

ATSDR's recommendations are to continue monitoring the vinyl chloride groundwater plume to better characterize the plume and determine its source, and to evaluate potential exposures to groundwater in areas surrounding the MGTP site that might be affected by the vinyl chloride groundwater plume.

Where: The health consultation just completed is available for public review and comment at the following repositories:

Iberville Parish Library	Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) Satellite Office
24605 J. Gerald Berret Blvd.	58038 Fort Street
Plaquemine, LA	Plaquemine, LA
Phone: (225) 687-4397	Phone:(225) 685-0729

Please send written comments to:

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop E-56
Atlanta, GA 30333

Comments received during the public comment period will be logged and become part of the administrative record for the health consultation. Comments (without indication of who made them) and responses will be included in an appendix to the final document. Although names of those who have submitted comments will not be included in the final health consultation, they will be subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act.

Community members who would like more information about the health consultation may contact Community Involvement Specialist Youlanda Outin or Public Health Assessor Danielle Langmann, toll free, at 1-888-422-8237. Callers should refer to the Myrtle Grove Trailer Park site. Regional representative Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Young may also be contacted in Dallas at (214) 665-8562.

Members of the news media are requested to make an appointment to interview ATSDR staff. Please phone John Florence or Kathy Skipper in the ATSDR Office of Policy and External Affairs at (404) 498-0070.

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This page last updated on July 8, 2002
For more information, contact ATSDR at:
1-888-422-8737 or e-mail: atsdric@cdc.gov(public inquiries)
(404) 498-0070 or e-mail: atsdrmediainquires@cdc.gov (news media)