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DEL AMO/MONTROSE SUPERFUND SITES' HEALTH FACILITY OPENS

Release Date: 1/14/1995
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587 Michael Greenwell, U.S. Public Health Service, (404) 639-0501

  (Los Angeles)--Officials from U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (U.S. EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) today joined Congresswoman Jane Harman to announce
a $500,000 grant to the University of California to fund the
opening of a community-based medical facility that will serve
residents living in the vicinity of the Del Amo/Montrose
Superfund sites near Torrance, Calif.  U.S. EPA Assistant
Administrator Elliott P. Laws and HHS Assistant Secretary for
Health Dr. Philip R. Lee participated in today's opening
ceremonies.
   
     Located in the Harbor UCLA Professional Building, 21840 S.
Normandie Ave., Torrance, Calif., the facility will serve as a
focal point for providing a range of medical services associated
with exposure to hazardous substances and will also provide
public health intervention and prevention services.  It will
serve residents living within the boundaries of Del Amo
Boulevard, Vermont Avenue, Torrance Boulevard, and Western
Avenue.  This effort comes in response to commitments made by
Laws to Community leaders during a previous visit in July 1994.

    Laws and Lee said the clinic is part of an emerging pilot
effort that currently involves two other communities, Columbia,
Miss., and Augusta, Ga.  U.S. EPA and HHS began this cooperative
effort in response to community concerns about the possible
health impacts arising from living near hazardous waste sites.
Based on these pilots, U.S. EPA and HHS will develop a model that
could be replicated in other communities facing environmental
health risks.

     "The Del Amo/Montrose health clinic represents a common
sense effort to protect this community's public health.  We
expect it to serve as a model for how federal agencies can work
together with communities to meet their environmental and health
needs," Laws said.


     "The Public Health Service is committed to increasing the
span of healthy life for all U.S. residents and reducing health
disparities.  At the core of this effort is the goal of enhancing
communities' access to health services in instances where contact
with hazardous substances has or is likely to have occurred," Dr.
Lee said.

     Federal funding will be used to provide technical assistance
to this clinic and to other local health organizations to
increase their capacity to treat patients exposed to hazardous
substances.  Citizens whose results indicate a need for further
evaluation may be referred to specialty clinics in environmental
medicine for treatment.

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