Not much comment on Swann Park, officials say

by Mary Helen Sprecher
newsroom@baltimoreguide.com

Anybody out there?
That’s pretty much what the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry wants to know. They’ve been waiting for written comment on their report on Swann Park. And they haven’t heard much.
“We’ve only received one written comment,” said Lora Werner, senior regional representative with ATSDR.
That’s better than the Baltimore Health Department did, according to Rianna P. Brown, director of legislative affairs.
“So far, I haven’t received any comments,” Brown noted. (Those who send comments to ATSDR have been asked to copy the health department in on their correspondence).
Problem is, people just aren’t making those comments, much less making copies of them, despite the fact that they seem to be interested in the goings-on in the park.
In mid-April, the agency (a sister organization to the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC) released its report, which noted that although park users and officials had been exposed to arsenic in the soil of Swann Park over a period of several decades, normal park uses “do not pose significant risk.”
The results of the report were released at a meeting, and did elicit some public comment at that time, said Werner.
“There was feedback, and it did run the gamut. There are still people with concerns out there.”
Once the 22-page report was published and made available online at www.baltimorehealth.org, the comment period was open, allowing for written remarks on the report to be sent in for consideration.
Deadline for all remarks to be received is Monday, July 30.
Only problem is that remarks do not appear to be forthcoming.
Perhaps, because this is the electronic age, people are opposed to the old paper and stamp method of expressing their thought.
That’s okay, too, according to Werner, who says that she is willing to allow people to e-mail their comments directly to her at the Centers for Disease Control.
Her address is lkw9@cdc.gov.
“Really, the purpose of doing this is to give the community members the opportunity to comment on the report and to express their concerns,” she said.
According to Werner, ATSDR is working on a more extensive report about Swann Park, and will release that report upon its completion.
The agency initially faced a choice, she said, of releasing a shorter, less detailed report first, and then following it up with one containing more data — or waiting until all information was compiled, then releasing the report in its final form. ATSDR chose the first option, she said, to allow for maximum disclosure with minimum delay.
“We really wanted to be able to come out with something for people to have right then (in April),” said Werner.
The next report, she added, will contain more detail.
“The schedule for publishing the updated report will depend on when we receive the outstanding pieces of data we are expecting from Honeywell, and then we would need to plan for the time for our review of that information, incorporation of the community comments, and agency review and clearance. I would expect we would be able to move through this process before the end of 2007, but that is just an estimate.”
In addition to containing further information about the results of tests performed on soil samples from the park, the new document will most likely take into consideration some of the information released last week in the first report of the Swann Park Task Force.
That report, which was a review of historical documents from the 1970s written by and about the Kepone Task Force (a panel of federal, state and local health officials convened in 1976 to study data concerning chemicals in the soil of Swann Park) contained what was to many a rather alarming revelation: that Allied Chemical (which at one time operated a chemical manufacturing plant adjacent to the park, and which had paid for soil testing to be done in the 70s) had failed to disclose findings about elevated levels of arsenic in the soil.
The Swann Park Task Force will release several other reports before the end of the year, with the final report being recommendations for keeping such problems from recurring.
In the meantime, Werner and her colleagues continue to hope that those with an interest will provide their comments on the ATSDR’s April report before the July 30 deadline.
“That’s what this process is for,” Werner said simply. “We want people to use it.”
Additional note: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) s seeking public comment on its report on Swann Park. All comments received through July 30 will be accepted. If using e-mail, comments should be sent to Lora Werner at the address of  lkw9@cdc.gov. Mailed comments should be sent to Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, ATTN: Records Center, 1600 Clifton Road, NE (Mail Stop E-60), Atlanta, GA 30333. The Baltimore City Health Department requests that copies also be sent to: Rianna Brown, Baltimore City Health Department, 210 Guilford Avenue, Baltimore MD 21202.
Documents and information about Swann Park can be found at /www.baltimorehealth.org/swannpark.html