ATSDR Study on health
effects of PCBs in Monroe
and Owen Counties
No health threat now,
but leaking PCBs a concern
Federal study suggests leaks may
contaminate drinking-water wells
by Steve Hinnefeld
December 1, 1996
reprinted with permission of the Sunday Herald-Times, Inc.
Conclusions of a public health assessment for Monroe an Owen county PCB
sites by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:
Current conditions present no appparent public health hazard to the
general population
There isn't enough information to know if people who were exposed to
PCB sites in the past were adversely affected.
Not enough information is available for a comprehensive evaluation of
PCB cleanup alternatives.
A federal study of PCB sites in Monroe and Owen counties concludes that
they currently don't pose a threat to public heath. That's the good news.
The bad news is that PCBs do seem to be leaking out of old landfills and
a sewage treatment plant raising questions about whether there will be health
risks in the future.
Of particular concern, the pubfic health assessment says.is the potential
that PCBs could get into drinking water near Neal's Dump South of Spencer.
The assessment was performed by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, -- ATSDR -- a division of the U.S. Public Health Service.
Loretta Bush, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the thrust of the report
is that there needs to be ongoing monitoring not only of uhe half-dozen
PCB sites themselves but of the streams, fish and wildlife that they could
affect
"They still need to monitor these areas of concern long-term effects,"
Bush said.
Westinghouse Electric Corp. used PCBs, or polychloinated biphenyls at
its Bloommgton capacitor factory from 1953 to 1977. The chemicals, which
may cause cancer and reproductive problems, found their way into several
dumps city sewers.
Westinghouse agreed in 1985 to dig up and incinerate PCB waste from six
sites: Neal's Dump, Neal's Landfill, Lemon Lane Landfill, Bennett's Quarry,
Winston-Thomas sewage plant, and a small part of Monroe County's Anderson
Road landfill.
But the incinerator plan met publicopposition, and in 1994, Westinghouse
and government agencies agreed to find a different cleanup method.
Meanwhile, the toxic substance regitry agreed to assess the health impact
of the PCB sites in response to a 1992 request by U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar,
and U.S. Rep. Frank McCloskey.
The three volume report, completed in November, can be seen at seven
locations in Bloomington, Elletsville, and Spencer.
Unlike most ATSDR public health assessments, it tries to evaluate potential
health risks of cleaning up the PCB sites - either by incineration or some
other method
But it says that while there are obvious risks to moving amd handling
PCB materials, there just isn't enough known about the sites, or the potential
cleanup technologies, to reach firm conclusions
The report says people living Monroe amd Owen counties aren't now being
exposed to PCBs at levels that would damage their health.
"Current conditions present no apparent public health hazard to
the general population," it says.
But it says private wells used by people living near Neal's Dump in Owen
County "may be affected in the future." PCBs haven't yet turned
up in deep residentual wells, it says. but they have in shallow test wells.
And it isn't known if water flows between the shallow and deep auquifers.
Citing information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the assessment
says PCBs seem to be leaking from Bennetts Quarry, Lemon Lane landtfill,
Neal's Landfill and the Winston-Thomas sewage plant.
But it says it's unhkely that people are eating fish from the small creeks
downstream from the PCB sites in large enough quantities to affect their
health.
The report also plays down the health risk of PCB-contaminated spnngs
near Lemon Lane landfill on Bloomington's west side. While area residents
have said children sometimes play in the spring0s the report says they aren't
accessible to very young children. Older children, even if they play in
the Springs aren't likely to ingest enough tainted water or sediment to
hurt them.
Copies of the public health asseesment for PCB sites in Monroe and Owen
counties are available for public viewing at:
Earth Tech, 5010 Stone Mill Road, Bloomington
Monroe County Public Llbrary, 303 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington.
Monroe County Public Llbrary, 600 W.Temperance St., Ellettsville.
Spencer-Owen Public Library, 110 E. Market St, Spencer.
Monroe County Board of Health, 119 W. Seventh St., Bloomington.
IU School of Public & Environmental Affairs Library, 10th Street
and Fee Lane, Bloomington
IU Main Library, Government Publications Department, 10th Street and
Jordan Avenue, Bloomington.
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