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New ATSDR Report on Coldwater Creek; Public Hearings June 27, 28
Coldwater Creek Group Optimistic of
Public Health Assessment Despite Report
ATSDR has released a draft report evaluating community exposure to radiological contaminants left over from the Manhattan Project in the Coldwater Creek area. The Coldwater Creek – Just the Facts Community is currently reviewing the information and is optimistic of the preliminary results.
The ATSDR has confirmed the concerns of Coldwater Creek residents’ past exposure and validated the need for continued cleanup of Coldwater Creek by the Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate potential current exposures. The report stated that radioactive contaminants that polluted Coldwater Creek from the 1960s to 1990s could have raised the risk for bone cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia. The risk of developing skin and breast cancers was smaller.
The Coldwater Creek group stated in a press release, that it looks forward to reviewing the public health assessment in depth and providing feedback to the ATSDR during the public comment period, which ends on August 31.
Two public hearings will be held next week June 27 from noon to 3 p.m. and 28 from 5-8 p.m. at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 315 Graham Road, Florissant, to discuss the report’s findings.
“This is a regional health issue requiring the support and collaboration of all parties involved in order to accelerate cleanup of affected areas,” said spokesman Mark Behlmann. This would promote health education and awareness in the community, and initiate early disease detection, intervention and prevention programs, he said.
In 2013, the founders of the Coldwater Creek Group created a health survey and shared information they had collected with health officials. They include the St. Louis County Department of Health (DOH), Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and Washington University.
The group requested a formal health study of the zip codes surrounding the watershed of Coldwater Creek. In 2014, The Coldwater Creek Group, in consortium with the STL DOH, MO DHSS, CDC, ATSDR, EPA, Washington University and St. Louis University, continued to expand upon the health survey that affected all of St. Louis County. In 2015, the ATSDR announced plans to embark on a Public Health Assessment of the Coldwater Creek area.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR protects communities from harmful health effects related to exposure to natural and man-made hazardous substances.
