Byline: Frank Munger
May 12--OAK RIDGE -- An environmental activist group Wednesday blasted a federal report that said nuclear discharges here didn't pose a public health threat in the past, present or future.
The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance said the conclusions could not be 'supported by science or common sense' and called the report 'unconscionable' and 'flat-out false.'
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a report earlier this week that evaluated the health impacts of radioactive materials discharged into the Clinch River and Watts Bar Lake. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has released a variety of nuclear elements into the downstream waters via White Oak Creek, which runs through the lab's nuclear burial grounds.
A statement released by ATSDR, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said: 'People who have used or might continue to use the Clinch River and Watts Bar Reservoir for recreation, food or drinking water may have been exposed. However, this radiation dose is well below levels associated with a health hazard. Therefore, use of the waterways does not pose a public health hazard.'
Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the environmental peace alliance, said, 'ATSDR's finding is either the result of half-hearted work or simple duplicity.'
Hutchison served on the steering panel for a state-supported study of Oak Ridge pollution in the 1990s. He said it makes no sense for ATSDR to acknowledge that people were exposed to radiation but conclude there were no health effects.
'Radiation health experts agree on few things, but there is consensus that there is 'no safe level' for exposure to radiation,' he said.
He also said there's a conflict of interest when ATSDR, a federal agency, does health assessments on federal operations.
'This conflict is never clearer than today, when the federal government gives itself a high five for being such a good, clean citizen in Oak Ridge,' Hutchison said.
In addition to evaluating the health impacts of historical pollution, the ATSDR team analyzed drinking water samples around the cities of Kingston and Spring City from 1990 to the present. The report said the water was considered safe for consumption and other potable uses.
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