PETITIONED HEALTH CONSULTATION

SURFACE WATER AND SEDIMENT PATHWAYS

SOUTHERN WOOD PIEDMONT COMPANY
(NORFOLK SOUTHERN FACILITY)
MACON, BIBB COUNTY, GEORGIA

APPENDICES

Appendix A:	Figures
Appendix B:	Tables
Appendix C:	List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Appendix D:	Glossary
Appendix E:	Wood Preserving Compounds
Appendix F:	Methodlogy to derive TEQs for 2,3,7,8-Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans
Appendix G:	ATSDR Public Health Conclusion Categories

Appendix A

Figures

Figure 1. Area Map

Figure 2. Site Map

Figure 3. Freedom Park

Appendix B

Tables

TABLE 1

Southern Wood Piedmont
Maximum Surface Water Concentrations
On-Site Samples ¹

Contaminant	On-Site Drainage Ditch Concentration (ppb)	Comparison Value (ppb) (Source)
sVOCs
Naphthalene	206	20 (LTHA)
Acenaphthene	198	600 (RMEG)
Acenaphthylene	17	NA
Phenanthrene	50	NA
Fluoranthene	182	400 (RMEG)
Chrysene	NA	NA
Benzo(a)anthracene	NA	NA
Benzo(b,k)fluoranthene	NA	NA
Benzo(a)pyrene	NA	0.2 (MCL)
Phenol	1	6,000 (RMEG)
Total Dimethylphenol	54	200 (RMEG)
Tetrachorophenol	NA	NA
Pentachlorophenol	1,512	10 (I-EMEG)
VOCs
Ethylbenzene	5(*)	1,000 (RMEG)
Xylene	12(*)	2,000 (I-EMEG)

GAEPD, 1987

Key I-EMEG=Intermediate Exposure Duration (14 to 365 days) Environmental Media Evaluation Guide; LTHA=Lifetime Health Advisory for drinking water; MCL=Maximum Contaminant Level; RMEG=Reference Dose Media Evaluation Guide; NA=Not applicable; *=Estimated value .

TABLE 2

Southern Wood Piedmont
Maximum Surface Water Concentrations
Off-Site Samples ¹

Contaminant	Dillon Branch Creek Concentration (ppb)	Freedom Park Pond Concentration (ppb)	Comparison Value (ppb) (Source)
sVOCs
Naphthalene	<10	<10	20 (LTHA)
Acenaphthene	<10	<10	600 (RMEG)
Acenaphthylene	25	<10	NA
Phenanthrene	11	<10	NA
Fluoranthene	33	<10	400 (RMEG)
Chrysene	<10	<10	NA
Benzo(a)anthracene	<10	<10	NA
Benzo(b,k)fluoranthene	<10	<10	NA
Benzo(a)pyrene	<10	<10	0.2 (MCL)
Phenol	<10	<10	6,000 (RMEG)
Total Dimethylphenol	<10	<10	200 (RMEG)
Tetrachorophenol	NA	NA	NA
Pentachlorophenol	6.8	<20	10 (I-EMEG)
VOCs
Ethylbenzene	1	<1	1,000 (RMEG)
Xylene	7	<1	2,000 (I-EMEG)

¹ GAEPD, 1987

Key I-EMEG=Intermediate Exposure Duration (14 to 365 days) Environmental Media Evaluation Guide; LTHA=Lifetime Health Advisory for Drinking Water; MCL=Maximum Contaminant Level; RMEG=Reference Dose Media Evaluation Guide; NA=Not applicable.

TABLE 3

Southern Wood Piedmont
Sediment Concentrations and TEQs
On-Site Samples ¹

Contaminants (2,3,7,8-PCDD Isomers)	TEF	On-Site Drainage Ditch Concentration (ppm)	TEQ (ppm)	Comparison Value (ppm) (Source)
TCDD	1	0.000013	0.000013	0.00005 (EMEG-Adult)
PeCDD	0.5	0.00019	0.0001
HxCDD	0.1	0.006	0.0006
HpCDD	0.01	0.220	0.0022
OCDD	0.001	2.400	0.0024
TCDF	0.1	0.00005	0.000005
PeCDF	0.5	0.00034	0.00017
HxCDF	0.1	0.00078	0.000078
HpCDF	0.01	0.0203	0.000203
OCDF	0.001	0.110	0.00011
Total TEQ			0.00588

¹ Geraghty & Miller, 1991b

Key EMEG = Environmental Media Evaluation Guide; TEF = 2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxic Equivalency Factor; TEQ = 2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxic Equivalent

TABLE 4

Southern Wood Piedmont
Sediment Concentrations and TEQs
Off-Site Samples ¹

Contaminants (2,3,7,8-PCDD Isomers)	TEF	Freedom Park Pond Concentrations (ppm)	TEQ (ppm)	Dillon Branch Creek Concentrations (ppm)	TEQ (ppm)	Comparison Value (ppm) (Source)
TCDD	1	ND	NA	ND	NA	0.000002 (EMEG-Child)
PeCDD	0.5	0.00000038	0.00000019	0.00000015	0.000000075
HxCDD	0.1	0.000004	0.0000004	0.00000049	0.000000049
HpCDD	0.01	0.000052	0.00000052	0.0000017	0.00000017
OCDD	0.001	0.00038	0.00000038	0.00016	0.00000016
TCDF	0.1	0.00000036	0.000000036	0.000000005	0.0000000005
HxCDF	0.1	0.0000015	0.00000015	0.0000022	0.00000022
HpCDF	0.01	0.0000062	0.000000062	0.0000063	0.000000063
OCDF	0.001	0.000017	0.000000017	0.0000067	0.0000000067
Total TEQ			0.0000018		0.00000074

¹ ChemRisk, 1992

Key EMEG = Environmental Media Evaluation Guide; NA = Not applicable; ND = Not detected; TEF = 2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxic Equivalency Factor; TEQ = 2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxic Equivalent

Appendix C

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

ATSDR	Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
EMEG	Environmental Media Evaluation Guide
EPA	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
GAEPD	Georgia Environmental Protection Division
HpCDD	Heptachlorodibenzodioxins
HpCDF	Heptachlorodibenzofurans
HxCDD	Hexachlorodibenzodioxins
HxCDF	Hexachlorodibenzofurans
I-EMEG	Intermediate Environmental Media Evaluation Guide
LTHA	Lifetime Health Advisory for Drinking Water
MCL	EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level
NA	Not applicable
ND	Not detected
OCDD	Octachlorodibenzodioxins
OCDF	Octachlorodibenzofurans
PAH	Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
PCDDs	Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins
PCDFs	Polychlorinated dibenzofurans
PeCDD	Pentachlorodibenzodioxins
PeCDF	Pentachlorodibenzofurans
ppb	parts per billion
ppm	parts per million
RMEG	Reference Dose Media Evaluation Guide
sVOCs	Semi-volatile organic compounds
SWP	Southern Wood Piedmont
TCDD	Tetrachlorodibenzodioxins
TCDF	Tetrachlorodibenzofurans
TEF	2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxic Equivalency Factor
TEQ	2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxic Equivalent
UST	Underground storage tank
VOCs	Volatile organic compounds

Appendix D

Glossary

Glossary

Comparison Values

Estimated contaminant concentrations in specific media that are not likely to cause adverse health effects, given a standard daily ingestion rate and standard body weight. The comparison values are calculated from the scientific literature available on exposure and health effects.

 

Concentration

The amount of one substance dissolved or contained in a given amount of another. For example, sea water contains a higher concentration of salt than fresh water.

 

Contaminant

Any substance or material that enters a system (the environment, human body, food, etc.) where it is not normally found.

 

Dermal

Referring to the skin. Dermal absorption means absorption through the skin.

Dose

The amount of substance to which a person is exposed. Dose often takes body weight into account.

Environmental Contamination

The presence of hazardous substances in the environment. From the public health perspective, environmental contamination is addressed when it potentially affects the health and quality of life of people living and working near the contamination.

Exposure

Contact with a chemical by swallowing, by breathing, or by direct contact (such as through the skin or eyes). Exposure may be short term (acute) or long term (chronic).

Health Consultation

A response to a specific question or request for information pertaining to a hazardous substance or facility (which includes waste sites). It often contains a time-critical element that necessitates a rapid response; therefore, it is a more limited response than an assessment.

Ingestion

To take into the body, often by swallowing. Chemicals can get in or on food, drinks, utensils, cigarettes, or hands where they can be ingested. After ingestion, chemicals can be absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body.

Media

Soil, water, air, plants, animals, or any other parts of the environment that can contain contaminants.

Petitioned Public Health Consultation

A public health consultation conducted at the request of a member of the public. When a petition is received, a team of environmental and health scientists is assigned to gather information to ascertain, using standard public health criteria, whether there is a reasonable basis for conducting a public health consultation. Once ATSDR confirms that a public health consultation is needed, the petitioned health consultation process is essentially the same as the public health consultation process.

Potentially Exposed

The condition where valid information, usually analytical environmental data, indicates the presence of contaminant(s) of a public health concern in one or more environmental media contacting humans (i.e., air, drinking water, soil, food chain, surface water), and there is evidence that some of those persons have an identified route(s) of exposure (i.e., drinking contaminated water, breathing contaminated air, having contact with contaminated soil, or eating contaminated food).

Risk

In risk assessment, the probability that something will cause injury, combined with the potential severity of that injury.

UST (Underground Storage Tank)

An underground tank used for storage of fuel or other fluid.

VOCs

Substances containing carbon and different proportions of other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or nitorgen; these substances easily become vapors or gases. A significant number of VOCs are commonly used as solvents (paint thinners, lacquers, degreasers, and dry cleaning fluids).

Appendix E

Wood Preserving Compounds

Wood Preserving Compounds

The wood preserving compounds used during plant operations included creosote and pentachlorophenol. The type of creosote used for wood preserving is a complex mixture of many chemicals created by high-temperature treatment of coal; it is also known as coal tar creosote. Although approximately 300 chemicals have been identified in creosote, the major constituents of potential health concern are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phenols. PAHs typically represent 85 percent and phenols represent from 2 percent to 17 percent of a creosote mixture (ATSDR, 1990).

Because creosote consists primarily of PAHs, the fate of the mixture often parallels that of PAHs. Most PAHs are ubiquitous in air and soil, but not in water, and are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, wood, or other organic substances. PAHs are generally divided into lower molecular weight PAHs or light PAHs (e.g., acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, anthracene, and naphthalene) and higher molecular weight PAHs or heavy PAHs (e.g., chrysene, benzo(a)pyrene, and benzo(b)fluoranthene). Although PAHs do not readily dissolve in water, they attach to particles and settle to the bottom of a surface water body. For this reason, PAH concentrations in sediments can be an order of magnitude greater than the surface water concentrations. Sediment concentrations are generally measured in parts per billion versus parts per trillion for surface water (ATSDR, 1993). A nationwide survey reported the following maximum PAH concentrations for various water bodies, including Lake Erie (700 micrograms per kilograms [µg/kg]), a lake in the Adirondack Mountains (2,600 µg/kg), and a drainage stream at a wood preserving facility in Florida (140,000 µg/kg) (ATSDR, 1994).

Pentachlorophenol is another artificial substance used for wood preserving. Impure pentachlorophenol, which is the form typically found at hazardous waste sites, exists as dark gray to brown dust, beads, or flakes. Pentachlorophenol is typically broken down in surface water within a few hours or days. Concentrations encountered in various U.S. surface water bodies ranged from not detected (ND) to 100 micrograms per liter (ATSDR, 1992a).

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), loosely referred to as dioxins and furans, respectively, are common impurities in technical grade pentachlorophenol. The more than two hundred possible dioxin and furan isomers belong to one of eight different homologue categories or series.⁽¹⁾ The potency of these isomers varies with structure, with the maximum potency belonging to isomers containing chlorine in the 2,3,7,8-lateral ring positions. Current evidence indicates that the most toxic dioxin is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD).

The ultimate reservoir of airborne and aquatic 2,3,7,8-TCDD is the sediment deposit along the bottom of surface water bodies. The estimated half-life of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in sediment is greater than 1 year. Sediment may contain 2,3,7,8-TCDD as well as a mixture of other dioxin and furan isomers.

Appendix F

Methodology to derive TEQs for 2,3,7,8-Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxin
and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans

Methodology to derive TEQs for 2,3,7,8-Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxin and
Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans

With the exception of the 2,3,7,8-TCDD isomer, ATSDR and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have not established acceptable levels for dioxins or furans. In the absence of comparison values, ATSDR has adopted the EPA Chlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxin and Dibenzofuran Technical Risk Assessment Panel method for assisting in estimating risk from exposure to other dioxins and furans. This procedure involves using 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalency factors (TEFs), which are derived for other 2,3,7,8-chlorinated isomers based on shared characteristics that can be used to order them relative to 2,3,7,8-TCDD when toxicological data are inadequate for this purpose.

Most TEFs are determined by evaluating the weight of available scientific evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies. The TEF for 2,3,7,8-TCDD is set to 1 and all other 2,3,7,8-chlorinated isomers have a TEF value less than 1 to reflect their lower relative toxicity (ATSDR, 1989, 1992b; ChemRisk, 1992). The 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxic equivalent (TEQ) for an isomer in an environmental medium is calculated as follows:

TEQ =

Maximum Concentration of the Isomer x TEF

Assuming that all isomers have similar properties, the toxicity of a mixture containing a known distribution of isomers can be estimated. The following is a list of the EPA recommended TEFs for dioxins and furans by their homologue series.

	Constituents	Abbreviations	TEF
Dioxins	2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin Other tetrachlorodibenzodioxins	2,3,7,8-TCDD TCDD	1 0
	2,3,7,8-Pentachlorodibenzodioxin Other pentachlorodibenzodioxins	2,3,7,8-PeCDD PeCDD	0.5 0
	2,3,7,8-Hexachlorodibenzodioxin Other hexachlorodibenzodioxins	2,3,7,8-HxCDD HxCDD	0.1 0
	2,3,7,8-Heptachlorodibenzodioxin	2,3,7,8-HpCDD	0.01
	Other heptachlorodibenzodioxins	HpCDD	0
	Octachlorodibenzodioxins	OCDD	0.001
	Constituents	Abbreviations	TEF
Furans	2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzofuran Other tetrachlorodibenzofurans	2,3,7,8-TCDF TCDF	0.1 0
	2,3,7,8-Pentachlorodibenzofuran Other pentachlorodibenzofurans	2,3,7,8-PeCDF PeCDF	0.5 0
	2,3,7,8-Hexachlorodibenzofuran Other hexachlorodibenzofurans	2,3,7,8-HxCDF HxCDF	0.1 0
	2,3,7,8-Heptachlorodibenzofuran Other heptachlorodibenzofurans	2,3,7,8-HpCDF HpCDF	0.01 0
	Octachlorodibenzofurans	OCDF	0.001

Source: EPA, 1989

Appendix G

ATSDR Public Health Conclusion Categories

ATSDR Public Health Conclusion Categories

No Public Health Hazard

Sites for which data indicate no current or past exposure or no potential for exposure and therefore no health hazard.

No Apparent Public Health Hazard

Sites where human exposure to contaminated media is occurring or has occurred in the past, but the exposure is below a level of health hazard.

Potential/Indeterminate Public Health Hazard

Sites for which no conclusions about public health hazard can be made because data are lacking.

Public Health Hazard

Sites that pose a public health hazard as the result of long-term exposures to hazardous substances.

Urgent Public Health Hazard

Sites that pose a serious risk to the public health as the result of short-term exposures to hazardous substances.

1. A homologue is a group of structurally related chemicals that have the same degree of chlorination. Eight homologues of dioxins exist: monochlorinated through octachlorinated. An isomer is a substance that belongs to the same homologue class.

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