[CPEO-MEF] Report examines toxins on base

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Alaska
FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
Report examines toxins on base
By Dan Rice
August 15, 2003

A federal agency this week concluded that residents near Fort Wainwright
have not been significantly exposed to toxins.

The summary of research conducted at the base after it was declared an
area of widespread contamination, said there hadn't been enough exposure
to the toxins to cause health problems.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is seeking public
comment on the summary, which is available for review at the Noel Wien
Library and Fort Wainwright's environmental office.

The comments, which will be taken through Sept. 15, will be added to a
final public health assessment report. The summary released this week is
the culmination of an assessment process that began in 1990 when Fort
Wainwright was declared a Superfund Site and Congress mandated that the
U.S. Army clean up dozens of contamination areas, said Sue Neurath,
environmental health assessor with ATSDR.

Although the agency initially planned an assessment at the time of the
Superfund Site designation, Neurath said more studies were needed before
assessors could draw any conclusions.

"At that time there was very little environmental data to look at," she
said.

In the years since the designation, she said the Army, the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Alaska Department of Environmental
Conservation have produced an extensive amount of research on Fort
Wainwright contamination.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~1572282,00.html

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