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AEHS
Announces Peer Review of Risk Assessment Studies for the Fox
River
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dr. Paul Kostecki
January 10,
1999 413-549-5561
paul@aehs.com
Amherst, MA. - The
Association for the Environmental Health of Soils (AEHS), a
nationally renowned group of environmental professionals,
announced today that it has formed an independent panel of
experts to review potential human health and ecological
risks from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) detected in
Wisconsin's Fox River
AEHS formed the panel at the
request of the Fox River Group (FRG), which is seeking to
ensure the quality of studies being used by various the
federal and state agencies considering restoration plans for
the river. AEHS has recruited a team of seven nationally
known academic scientists, who will review the various
assessments of the risk posed by the presence of PCBs,
chemical once common in the manufacture of transformers and
carbonless paper.
Panel members will visit the
site and meet with representatives of the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources, the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and other technical experts who can
provide data on the site. The panel will also review and
comment on the scientific validity of human and ecological
risk assessment reports from the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources and the Fox River Group. The panel will
publish its findings in the journal of Human and Ecological
Risk Assessment (HERA), an international peer-reviewed risk
assessment publication, for public availability.
Fox River Group is also
supporting a peer review board formed by the American
Geological Institute to evaluate various computer models
used in predicting the impact of restoration alternatives on
the fate of PCBs.
AEHS officials believe that
this type of review panel may usher in a new concept for
handling sites of public concern. Previously, state or
federal agencies would review studies conducted by owners of
contaminated sites (or their consultants). In some cases,
the agencies might conduct their own investigations (or hire
other consultants to investigate). AEHS believes, since this
process adds an independent layer of study to the
environmental assessment operation, that other groups will
use this 'review panel' procedure to ensure objectivity,
validate environmental findings, and assure neighbors that
appropriate measures are being taken at sites where action
is needed.
AEHS is an organization of
multidisciplinary, environmental professionals and was
created to facilitate communication and foster cooperation
among those concerned with soil protection and cleanup. AEHS
is devoted to enhancing the flow of information between the
regulatory and regulated communities; scientists and
non-scientists, theoreticians and practitioners; and the
public and private sectors.
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