Cotter Corporation NSL Cañon City, Colorado

 Rachel Alexander

The Daily Record

Two public meetings Thursday discussed the draft Public Health Assessment of the Lincoln Park/Cotter Superfund Site by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Representatives from ATSDR’s Atlanta and Denver offices were in Cañon City to meet with members of the public about the assessment.

Teresa Fowler, environmental health scientist and one of the authors of the document said the agency used data gathered during the last 30 years by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Environmental Protection Agency, Cotter and Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste.

Fowler and her co-author, Michael Brooks, senior health physicist, looked at various pathways of contamination, including groundwater, local produce, sediment, soil, surface water and air.

The officials explained their findings and answered citizens’ questions about the document and the process.

“The main point is, if they have a private well in the contamination area, the water should not be used domestically,” Fowler said.

She said as a precaution, the water should not be used to water vegetables either.

The agency made four main conclusions in the document:

— Drinking water for many years from contaminated private wells could have harmed people’s health. ATSDR recommends people do not use contaminated well water for household use.

— Accidentally eating or touching soil and sediment near the Cotter Mill property or in Lincoln Park will not harm people’s health. However, ATSDR cannot make conclusions about soils near Cotter Mill if the properties closest to the facility are developed for residential or other non-industrial uses in the future.

— Residents should limit their use of contaminated well water to irrigate their vegetables. Exposure to molybdenum through locally-grown vegetables irrigated with private well water is not thought to be at levels that would harm people’s health; however as a precaution the vegetables should be thoroughly cleaned prior to eating them. Residents who eat many locally-grown fruits and vegetables could be at higher risk for arsenic exposure. This exposure is thought to be a regional concern.

— Air emissions of particle-bound radionuclides have not resulted in exposures to the public at levels that could cause health effects.

“It was ground water, it’s still ground water,” Brooks said. “We recommend using the public water supply.”

Both scientists said public concerns were very important in developing the report.

“CCAT was heavily involved in requesting that air data be evaluated,” Brooks said.

“We hoped for solutions in their action plan, and recommendations requiring removal of the contamination to protect the public from exposure,” Sharyn Cunningham, of CCAT, said. “Instead, ATSDR places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of citizens, offering a short-term education on how to live with a long-term hazard.”

The document is open for public comment until Nov. 9. It is available online at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/ HCPHA.asp?State=CO or at the Cañon City Public Library.

“We don’t always get everything right the first time,” Debra Joseph, of ATSDR, said. “It’s important to allow the public to correct us when we’re wrong.”

Public comments can be submitted via e-mail to ATSDRRecordsCenter@cdc.gov or by mail to Attn: Rolanda Morrison, Re: Lincoln Park Cotter Uranium Mill Site, ATSDR Records Center, 4770 Buford Highway, NE (MS F-09), Atlanta, GA 30341.