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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 1210.012 2006-2008 Murashige, Laura From: Dr. J. W. Morrow Owmorrow@att.net] Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 12:34 PM To: Hawaii County Council Subject: Resolution 639-08 12-10) 2008 MY 16 AM 2 Attachments: jwmorrow.pdf {~L DUNI jwmorrow.pdf (173 KB) Testimony attached. Thanks. J. W. Morrow, DrPH 1481 S. King St., #548 Honolulu, HI 96814 Tel: (808) 942-9096 E-mail: jwmorrow@att.net co„ 17olOoll Ref, Tb& Ref, Date. MAY 2 0 2008 1 J. W. MORROW 1481 South King Street, #548 Honolulu, HI 96814 May 14, 2008 Chairman Pete Hoffmann and Members Hawaii County Council 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 Dear Chairman Hoffmann and Members, Subject: Resolution 639-08 1 regret that I was unable to participate in the public hearing relating to the subject resolution yesterday. I was working off-island and only found out about it upon my return to Honolulu last evening. Please accept the attached testimony as my addition to the public record on the subject of depleted uranium (DV) at Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) and the proposed Council resolution. Thank you. Sincerely, iV James W. Morrow, DrPH JWM:sm Enclosure TESTIMONY BEFORE THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL RELATED TO RESOLUTION 639-08 May 13, 2008 Chairman Hoffmann, Members of the Council, I am Dr. James W. Morrow. Since it has been many years since I last testified before the Hawaii County Council, allow me to very briefly give you some background about myself. My education and degrees are in biochemistry and public health science. I have been in the air quality and air pollution control business in Hawaii since 1974 working throughout the Pacific area doing air quality impact analyses, air permitting, air monitoring, and assisting governments establish air pollution control programs. During the 1980's and early 1990's, I served on the State's Environmental Quality Commission, Environmental Council and Department of Health Air Advisory Committee. Until its closure in 2000, I was also on the clinical faculty at the UH School of Public Health, lecturing on air pollution health effects and lung disease. My testimony today is solely on my own behalf and not on behalf of any of my current or former clients or employers., I would now like to offer the following comments and suggestions regarding the nature of uranium in the air environment and its potential health effects as they relate to Resolution 639-08. Uranium occurs naturally in the environment. During the late 1980's and early 1990's, we conducted a multi-year study of the volcanic aerosol ("VOG") on the Big Island. Hundreds of air samples were collected at Hilo, Captain Cook and Kalapana. These samples were analyzed for their chemical content including uranium which was found at very low levels [averaging less than 0.001 microgram per cubic meter of air]. For comparison, the World Health Organization guideline for long-term exposure to uranium is one (1) microgram per cubic meter of air which is intended to protect the public from the chemical effects of uranium. The WHO also has a radiation guideline for uranium which is a dose not to exceed 100 millirem per year above the normal background level. Based on our VOG studies, the background dose due to naturally occurring uranium at those Big Island areas would be less than 1 millirem per year. The WHO does not distinguish between natural uranium and depleted uranium (DU) in setting its guidelines because chemically, uranium is uranium and DU is only different in that it is less radioactive. In an effort to assess the potential health impacts of the 714 DU-containing M-101 spotter rounds that the Army reported had been brought into Hawaii in the 1960's, we conducted a computer modeling analysis using the EPA model that has been used for many years in permitting air pollution sources throughout the U.S. This was a "worst case" analysis in which 100 of those DU rounds were assumed to be located at a single spot in the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) impact zone and struck by a high explosive munition that aerosolized all the rounds. In other words, those 100 rounds were converted into a cloud of inhalable sized particles of DU. The model then dispersed that cloud downwind under artificially adverse meteorological conditions. This explosion and dispersion were assumed to occur once per day for one year. The maximum annual average DU concentration was computed at 966 receptor sites along the PTA boundary. The result was that the maximum annual DU concentration found at any one site on the PTA 1 of 2 TESTIMONY OF J. W. MORROW RELATING TO RESOLUTION 639-08 May 13, 2008 boundary was 0.25 microgram per cubic meter of air. Annual radiation dose at this level is estimated at less than 20 millirem. From these "worst case" results we conclude that it is highly unlikely that the DU rounds which may be remaining in the PTA impact zone will have any significant effect on ambient air quality beyond the PTA boundaries. Under more realistic conditions the DU will be at much lower concentrations and simply become a less radioactive part of the naturally occurring uranium, i.e., it will be lost in the background. And, needless to say, such levels would be well below the one (1) microgram per cubic meter WHO guideline for public health protection. I would also advise you that we have been conducting baseline air quality monitoring in the PTA area since early 2006. The sample filters have been carefully controlled, accompanied by chain- of-custody forms and have been archived at the mainland laboratory that initially provided them. When the Army's DU investigation team discovered this, we were asked to provide filters for DU analysis. Over 400 filters have been transferred to another independent laboratory for uranium analysis. In conclusion, the naturally low uranium levels measured in the air at Hilo, Kalapana and Captain Cook suggest that the DU fragments at PTA, which have been there for 40+ years, have not had a significant effect on air quality. This finding is consistent with our computer modeling analysis which suggests that the DU would have an insignificant impact on air quality even at the PTA boundaries. And given that DU is 40% less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium, radiation would appear to be a non-issue as well. In light of all of the foregoing, we believe the resolution's request to expend additional monies, beyond the millions already spent by the Army, for a long-term monitoring effort is an unwarranted use of our tax dollars. The evidence is simply not there to justify that expensive activity. Thank you for the opportunity to present my views. James W. Morrow, DrPH (808) 942-9096 morrow@att.net) 2of2