DOVER CHEMICAL CORPORATION
DOVER, TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, OHIO
The Dover Chemical Company site poses a public health hazard because of the possibility of past exposure to dioxin and BHC contaminated soil and dust and because of the potential for exposure to several chemicals in drinking water supplies, and exposure to dioxin from eating garden produce grown in areas with contaminated soil. There is at least one garden close to the site. The available data do not indicate that people are currently being exposed to on-site contaminated soil or dust at levels that would adversely effect their health.
On-site and off-site groundwater contained different chemicals above levels of concern. No data indicates that people are using the contaminated groundwater as a drinking water supply. Monitoring wells just 500 feet from the city of Dover public water supply wells contained site-related chemicals above levels of concern. People could be exposed to chemicals above levels of concern, if ongoing remediation (pump and treating groundwater) and monitoring of the well field fails to detect chemicals entering the water supply. One private well at a local business south of the site contained several VOCs. Water from this well is not used for drinking water. At this time, water from this well does not pose a health risk because the levels of the chemicals are fairly low, exposure doses should not exceed levels of concern, and exposure would occur only occasionally. This well and the other private wells sampled during the RI need to be resampled to ensure that contaminant levels do not exceed levels of concern. The private wells that are no longer in use should be closed in accordance with Ohio regulations.
The site also poses an indeterminate public health hazard. There is a potential for people eating fish caught in the lagoon and in Sugar Creek to be exposed to site-related chemicals, but the data are insufficient to determine the risk of exposure. The fish sampled were to small, whole bodies were used in the analysis, and the number of fish making up each sample varied by as much as 20. In order to determine the level of contamination in the fish from the lagoon and Sugar Creek, samples must consist of fillets of fish of legal catching limit, with three to five fish per sample.
There is also a potential for people to be exposed to dioxin by eating contaminated vegetables grown in gardens near the site. However, there are no environmental monitoring data to determine the risk of exposure.
The following Public Health Action Plan (PHAP) for the Dover Chemical site contains a description of actions to be taken by ODH and/or ATSDR at and in the vicinity of this site subsequent to the completion of this public health assessment. The purpose of the PHAP is to ensure that this public health assessment not only identifies public health hazards but also provides plan of action designed to mitigate and prevent adverse human health effects resulting from exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. Included in this plan is a commitment on the part of ATSDR/ODH to follow-up on this plan to ensure that it is implemented.
ODH will continue to work on community education efforts in the community and incorporate fact sheets and public availability meetings to reach community members.
ODH will evaluate any environmental monitoring data collected at the site.
ODH will provide input to fish tissue sampling and residential soil sampling.
Tracy Shelley, M.S.
Chief, Health Assessment Branch
Bureau of Epidemiology and Toxicology
Ohio Department of Health
Robert Frey, Ph.D
Geologist, Health Assessment Branch
Bureau of Epidemiology and Toxicology
Ohio Department of Health
Irena Scott, Ph.D
Researcher, Health Assessment Branch
Bureau of Epidemiology and Toxicology
Ohio Department of Health
Reviewed by B. Kim Mortensen, Ph.D
Chief, Bureau of Epidemiology and Toxicology
Ohio Department of Health
ATSDR Regional Representative
Louise Fabinski
Regional Operations
Senior Health Scientist
Region V
ATSDR Technical Project Officer
Richard Kauffman
Environmental Health Scientist
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, Superfund Site Assessment Branch
CERTIFICATION
This Dover Chemical Company Public Health Assessment was prepared by the Ohio Department of Health under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). It is in accordance with approved methodology and procedures existing at the time the public health assessment was begun.
Richard R. Kauffman, M.S.
Technical Project Officer
Superfund Site Assessment Branch
Division of Health Assessment and Consultation (DHAC)
ATSDR
The Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, ATSDR, has reviewed this public health assessment, and concurs with its findings.
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GLOSSARY
Carcinogen: Any substance that produces cancer.
Chronic exposure: An exposure over a long period of time. In people it usually refers to a persons lifetime.
Cone of Depression: A cone-shaped depression in the water table immediately surrounding an area of groundwater pumping, due to the pumping of the groundwater by one or more water wells.
Epidemiology: The study of the spread of diseases.
Immune system: The body's natural defense system that protects against harmful disease agents.
Leukemia: A group of often fatal diseases characterized by an uncontrolled increase in leukocytes or white blood cells.
MRL: An estimate of daily exposure to a dose of a chemical that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of adverse effects for chemicals that do not cause cancer.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Organic compounds that are grouped together based on
similar properties. There are many chemicals which are considered to be VOCs, such as benzene,
xylene, and trichloroethene.
