ATSDR

ATSDR Releases Health Consultation For Soil Lead Levels At Oxford Lake Softball Complex

Calhoun County, Oxford, Alabama

Friday, October 27, 2000

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced today that its health consultation evaluating lead in soil at the Oxford Lake Softball Complex in Oxford, Alabama, will be available for public review and comment beginning October 27, 2000.

ATSDR prepared the health consultation after reviewing soil sampling data collected and provided by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Based on the data, and knowledge of site specific conditions, ATSDR concluded that soil lead levels on the ball fields and the children's play area are below levels of health concern, and pose no apparent public health hazard.

An ATSDR health consultation provides conclusions and recommendations on specific public health issues related to actual or potential exposure to hazardous substances. ATSDR prepares about 1,000 health consultations every year. Most of the requests come from the EPA and state and local health and environmental departments.

The health consultation will be available for public review and comment on or about October 27, 2000, at the following repositories:

Bethel Baptist Church
520 E. 6th Street
Anniston, AL 36207

First Missionary Baptist Church
1100 Pine Grove Rd.
Anniston, AL 36201

Community Against Pollution Headquarters
1012 West 15th Street
Anniston, AL 36201

Mars Hill
Baptist Church
1508 W. 6th Street
Anniston, AL 36201

Anniston Public Library
108 East 10th Street
Anniston, AL 36202

Seventeenth Street Baptist Church
801 W. 17th Street
Anniston, AL 36201

Carver Library
722 West 14th Street
Anniston, AL 36201

Oxford Public Library
213 Choccolocco Street
Oxford, AL 36203

EPA Community Relations Office
1313 Noble Street
Anniston, AL 36202

Sweet Valley/Cobbtown Environmental
Justice Task Force
7733 Highway 78 West
Eastaboga, AL 36260

The public comment period for the health consultation will run from October 27 until November 29, 2000. Please send written comments to:

Chief, Program Evaluation, Records and Information Services Branch
ATSDR
1600 Clifton Road, NE, Mailstop E-56
Atlanta, Georgia 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 health consultation. Although names of those who have submitted comments will not be included in the final health consultation, they are subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act.

Community members seeking information on the procedures or the content of this health consultation should contact ATSDR Health Assessor Clement Welsh, toll free, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Callers should refer to the "Oxford Lake Softball Complex site" when asking to speak with a Health Assessor in the Division of Health Assessment and Consultation. The ATSDR Regional Representative, Carl Blair, also may be called for information at (404) 562-1786 in Atlanta.

For more information about lead and health effects related to exposure, please visit the ATSDR Web site, at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov, and click on the ToxFAQs.

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