A Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) Draft Public Health Consultation has found that exposure to the sediments in Muskegon County’s Little Black Creek poses no apparent current or future public health hazard, officials said today.

However, exposure to creek sediments that may have deposited to floodplain soils during flood events poses an unknown hazard. Floodplain soils in residential or high public-use areas should be tested for possible contamination.

Additionally, mercury in the creek’s sediments has the potential to enter the food chain and accumulate in fish. These fish could then be caught and eaten by local anglers, exposing these persons to potentially harmful levels of mercury over time.

MDCH recommends that persons fishing in Little Black Creek or Mona Lake, into which the creek flows, adhere to the advice in the Michigan Family Fish Consumption Guide.

Petroleum-contaminated groundwater is entering Little Black Creek near the creek’s headwaters. Neighbors frequently detect noxious odors associated with the contamination. Until the air is tested, these odors pose an indeterminate public health hazard.

The Muskegon County Health Department requested assistance from MDCH in evaluating the public health implications of exposure to sediments in Little Black Creek. MDCH reviewed the available environmental data and determined that concentrations of arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, cadmium, lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) needed further scrutiny. Likelihood of exposure was evaluated in areas with high concentrations. Currently, exposure to the contaminants is not expected to occur with sufficient frequency to cause adverse health effects.

• The Norton Shores Branch, 705 Seminole, Muskegon
• The Egleston Township Branch, 5428 E. Apple Avenue, Muskegon
• The Muskegon Heights Branch, 2808 Sanford Street, Muskegon Heights

Copies are also available at the city offices for Norton Shores, Muskegon Heights, and Muskegon Charter Township. The document is available electronically at http://www.michigan.gov/mdch-toxics under “Health Assessments and Related Documents.”

Public comments and questions should be addressed to Christina Bush, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, P.O. Box 30195, Lansing, Michigan 48909.

You may also call the toll-free telephone number, 1-800-648-6942 (1-800-MI-TOXIC).

Comments on the Public Health Consultation must be received by September 12, 2005. All comments received will be evaluated and considered and responses will be provided in the final version of the Consultation.

The MDCH Division of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology conducted the Public Health Consultation for the Little Black Creek sediments under a cooperative agreement with the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).