Tennessee Department of Health Mortality Data

Average Mortality Data for Selected Counties - 1990 1997
Deaths per 100,000 people, all causes, age adjusted
 

County	Mortality Rate	Home to:
Anderson	489.86	Oak Ridge & Y-12
Roane	524.08	ORNL & ETTP
Knox	518.38	ORR Workforce
Hamilton	544.55	Chattanooga
Davidson	588.94	Nashville
Shelby	628.41	Memphis
Tennessee	555.56	All counties

Source: Statistical Profiles of Tennessee, TN Department of Health Web Pages

Low values of the mortality rate are good and imply a high longevity. There is no way that this data can be reconciled with a reduced longevity of "decades" for the Oak Ridge area. Likewise, it is difficult to reconcile a serious level of environmental pollution with this data.

Clearly, the mortality data indicate that Oak Ridge and its surrounding counties (Anderson, Roane and Knox) are the preferred place to live compared to the other major TN population centers.

One is tempted to stop at this point but there is a great deal more supplemental information.

Lower East Fork Poplar Creek (LEFPC)

Around 1960, the Y-12 plant discharged large quantities of mercury into LEFPC, which traverses the Oak Ridge community.  The discharges were quickly reduced but the flood plain was contaminated. This had a potential for serious contamination but fortunately most of the mercury was found to be a very insoluble form, probably mercury sulfide, which is not readily absorbed on ingestion and is even used in Chinese traditional medicine. DOE under EPA regulation was planning to clean up several hundred acres at a cost of $270 million despite a study performed by the state that found no elevated levels of mercury in the human population and other studies that showed the same for livestock grazing on the LEFPC floodplain. Members of the public, after examining site-specific data, felt that this extensive cleanup was unwarranted, and based on their input, the limit for mercury concentration in soils was raised to 400 ppm, and the area to be remediated was reduced to 18 acres.

Currently, the mercury discharges to LEFPC meet drinking water standards but not environmental standards which are lower to protect the food chains. Control of sources at Y-12 continues to reduce mercury levels in the water, and the completed remediation ensures that significant secondary sources in the floodplain have been removed.

The Scarboro Soils Study

The Scarboro community lies closer to a DOE production facility than any other residential neighborhood and thus is a candidate for all kinds of pollution rumors especially uranium and mercury from the Y-12 plant. In 1998, the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and subcontractors studied the soils of the Scarboro community, measuring uranium, mercury and other metal and several organic compounds. What has not been widely advertised is that the samples were deliberately biased to detect a problem. The results are quoted below:

"Mercury concentrations obtained in this study ranged from 0.021 mg/kg to 0.30 mg/kg. These values are generally within the range of values given in the BSCP report [Background Soil Characterization Project for the Oak Ridge Reservation].

"Radionuclide results including total uranium concentrations were within the expected ranges. However, approximately 10% of the soil samples showed evidence of enrichment of uranium-235.

"Upon examining the [gamma] readings taken within the Scarboro community the majority of the readings are within the range of the average background level.

"Dose estimates for all sample locations were estimated in the range of 0.08 to 0.3 mrem/year, more than 300 times below the primary dose limit for members of the public currently recommended by national and international radiation protection authorities (100 mrem/year). Also, for purposes of comparison, the radiation dose from natural radiation present in the environment is approximately 300 mrem/yr."

After 55 years of operation, the Y-12 plant has contributed surprisingly little contamination to its closest neighbor. The slight increase in uranium enrichment could be accounted for by a very small influx of enriched uranium, perhaps 1%. This study confirms the findings of several previous studies and the Scarboro monitoring station maintained by DOE.

Scarboro Respiratory Health Study

In 1998, individuals and the Nashville Tennessean alleged that the children of the Scarboro community had an abnormally high incidence of asthma and other respiratory diseases. The US Center for Disease Control and the Tennessee Department of Health carried out a community survey and medical examination of children that had symptoms or a history of respiratory illness. The following is the conclusion reached: "I'm confident through the survey and physical exams that were done that children in Scarboro are generally healthy, and that while some children in Scarboro do have respiratory illnesses of one form or another, neither the severity, nor pattern, nor prevalence is abnormal," said Dr. Paul Ervin, East Tennessee Regional Director for the Health Department.

Earlier studies have indicated that ill effects on workers are rarely seen, with the exception of beryllium disease in sensitive individuals and small statistical increases in lung cancers in some occupations. Fewer studies have addressed the public's health, but neither a pattern of respiratory illness nor any causal relationship to Department of Energy activities has been found.

The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) Annual Site Environmental Reports

This report is issued each year by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory issues and contains voluminous, detailed site monitoring data. This includes many monitoring stations, incident reports and sample measurements. The results are too voluminous to reproduce here except for the following quote from 1997:

"The maximally exposed off-site individual could have received a 50-year committed EDE [Effective Dose Equivalent] of about 0.41 mrem/yr from airborne effluents from the ORR. This dose is below 10 mrem per year, the limit prescribed in the CAA [Clean Air Act] for DOE facilities. … This [dose to the surrounding population] represents about 0.004% of the 264,000 person-rem that the surrounding population would receive from all sources of natural radiation."

The hypothetical, maximally exposed individual would have received 2.8 mrem in 1997 or 2.8 % of the standard maximum exposure of 100 mrem/year , or 0.93% of the background level of 300mrem/year.

Earlier annual reports reach similar conclusions that doses to the public and workers are small.

Aerial Radiological Surveys of the ORR

There is contamination on the ORR but most of it is buried behind fences, gates and guards. The locations are known and precautions taken. Periodically, the ORR, the City of Oak Ridge and some surrounding land is surveyed for gamma radiation by helicopter. These measurements detect all of the known ORR radiation sources including some minor spots on the Clinch River and along the CSX railroad tracks. They reflect the progress in cleanup. Two sources show up at locations where there are no nuclear operations: 1) the fly ash pits of the TVA Bull Run Power Plant (potasium-40 from coal), and 2) an outcropping of Chattanooga shale (a uranium bearing rock). Other areas in and around the city show a typical background pattern. It is clear that in the past some radioactive material has gone into the Clinch River. It is now buried in the deep channel sediments under new sediment. Except for the unmixed effluents from White Oak Creek (WOC), the Clinch River meets drinking water standards. Steps are underway to bring WOC (which is largely behind fences) into compliance before releasing the adjacent land.

There are no surprises in the aerial surveys and they are confirmed by the walkover surveys and monitors.

The PCB Fish Advisory on the Clinch and Lower Watts Bar Reservoir

Many lakes and rivers the world over are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). About 25% of the PCBs in the Clinch River and the Lower Watts Bar Reservoir (LWBR) are attributed to the DOE operations. They pose a threat only to heavy eaters of large predatory fish and bottom feeding fish. The fish advisory gives recommendations for limiting fish consumption. A recent study of heavy fish eaters on LWBR showed PCB and mercury blood serum levels no different from the general population. Few local people seem to be overly concerned.

ORR Worker Studies

Over the years there have been many epidemiological studies of workers seeking to find adverse effects of the radiation workplace. To date, only one has found an effect at a significant level and this was marginal.

There is a known problem, primarily in the past, with beryllium exposure and sensitivity. The problem is understood and protective measures are now taken. Unfortunately workers were exposed to beryllium before these dangers wee understood. There was no direct exposure to the general public except the exposure to broken fluorescent light bulbs in the same era.

The current concerns for worker occurs at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) where about 50 workers allege that their largely unexplained symptoms are due to occupational exposure. Unfortunately there is little publicly available data from which to judge the merits of the case. The studies by several outside agencies, that have sought the sources of the various pollutants suggested, have turned up negative or levels too low to account for the illnesses. Alleged toxic agents that have been so investigated include cyanide and various emissions from the TSCA incinerator. An on-going medical examination of the ill workers by occupational physicians has reported the workers are ill but the final results on the type of illness and causes have not been reported. Preliminary results indicate that some workers, but not all, were exposed to molds in storage vaults.

A large, multi-agency study of the general, non-occupational Oak Ridge health is in the planning stage and a compendium of the numerous past studies is being prepared. The evidence is that DOE and the federal government addresses all health and safety questions in an appropriate manner but medical science does not know all the answers.

In Conclusion

The above is but a small portion of the evidence indicating the lack of exceptional health or environmental problems in residential Oak Ridge or in the workplace. All environmental and health studies have shown the health of Oak Ridge to be typical or better than average. No study has shown a general health problem. This does not mean that there are no concerns. Oak Ridgers get sick like anyone else and some feel that the workplace is responsible but the several studies intended to show this have not confirmed it. However, these concerns without proof do not warrant damning Oak Ridge as an unsafe place to live. Some concerns may warrant investigation and appropriate studies continue. We await the results and will judge each case on the merits of the data.

Clearly, some areas of the ORR behind the fences need remediation but not because they pollute the residential areas of Oak Ridge and its surroundings. The currently low levels of aqueous pollutants need to be reduced even more. The waste areas need stabilization and the streams need to meet the state regulations before the land can be released.

When reading claims of the health hazards in Oak Ridge, we ask the public to consider the objective facts and to consider both sides of the question. Oak Ridge is a great place to live. It is also a safe place to work.