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Hernando Today

Forum Offered For Contaminant Concerns

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By TONY MARRERO

Published: February 17, 2008

Mitchell Heights residents who have unanswered questions about pollution in their neighborhood will get a chance to grill local and state officials next week at an open house hosted by the Hernando County Health Department.

The Hernando County Health Department will host an open house from 3 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, at its Brooksville office, 300 N. Main St.

There is no formal presentation planned. Instead, officials from the local health department and from the Florida Department of Health who gauged the amount of contaminants in the neighborhood that may have spread from the county's former public works site on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be on hand to speak one-on-one with residents.

"They'll be happy to review their findings and answer questions people might have," said Ann-Gayl Ellis, spokeswoman for the county health department.

Health officials have done numerous tests in the area to determine whether pollutants from the site have leeched into the soil and groundwater, threatening the health of residents in the surrounding neighborhood.

Officials were particularly concerned about the pesticide malathion that had been stored at the compound. They tested vegetables from the gardens of nearby residents but did not find that chemical, according to a report issued last year.

The levels of other metals and chemicals in the produce did not reach unsafe levels and "are not likely to cause illness," according to the report.

As well, blood tests of 20 residents showed lead levels not high enough to cause illness, according to the report.

Lead in the subsurface soil of one property along A Street, however, suggests that residents of the home were at a slightly increased risk of hypertension, tooth decay and decreased kidney/immune system function, researchers concluded.

The full reports outlining the testing and the results are available on line at www.myfloridaeh.com/community/superfund/index.html....

Richard Howell, director of the Health Awareness and Mitchell Heights Restoration Board Inc., suspects that the health effects go beyond that.

The non-profit group, known as HAMHRB, had an open house Saturday at its recently-opened headquarters, 407 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Howell argues that health officials should be studying information on contaminant levels collected in the early 1990s to get a better sense of the effects residents might be dealing with today.

"We just don't think they're using the right data," Howell said.

HAMHRB, working with grant money from the state department of heath, distributed health surveys to residents at Saturday's event to glean information about conditions ranging from chest pains to depression that could be linked to the public works site.

The group planned to collect 100 of the surveys, Howell said.

Howell said he is warning residents who attend the health department's open house this week to "listen very carefully, ask a lot of questions and not sign anything."

If you go

WHAT: Question-and-answer session for Mitchell Heights residents about contaminant testing at county's former public works site.

WHEN: 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21.

WHERE: Hernando County Health Department, 300 N. Main St., Brooksville.

CONTACT: Albert Gray, 540-6802, or Ann-Gayl Ellis, 540-6817.

FORUM

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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