Public Health Assessment
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MUNISPORT LANDFILL NORTH MIAMI, DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA CERCLIS NO. FLD084535442 JANUARY 28, 1993 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH MID HUr-t!A.l"l SERVICES PUBLIC I-IEALTH SER\llCE Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registr/ PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT MUNISPORT LANDFILL NORTH MIAMI, DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA CERCLIS NO. FLD084535442 Prepared by: The Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Under a Cooperative Agreement With the Age ncy for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry THE ATSDR PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT: A NOTE OF EXPLANATION This Public Health Assessment was prepared by ATSDR pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) section 104 (i)(6) (42 U.S.C. 9604 (i)(6), and in accordance with our implementing regulations 42 C.F.R. Part 90). In preparing this document ATSDR has collected relevant health data, environmental data, and community health concerns from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state and local health and environmental agencies, the community, and potentially responsible parties, where appropriate. In addition, this document has previously been provided to EPA and the.affected states in an initial release, as required by CERCLA section 104 (i)(6)(H) for their information and review. The revised document was released for a 30 day public comment period. Subsequent to the public comment period, ATSDR addressed all public comments and revised or appended the document as appropriate. The public health assessment bas now been reissued. This concludes the public health assessment process for this site, unless additional information is obtained by ATSDR which, in the Agency's opinion, indicates a need to revise or append the conclusions previously issued. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry................•..•........•..... WilliamL. Roper, M.D., M.P.H. Administrator Barry L. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Administrator Division of Health Assessment and Consultation ......•............................................ Roben C. Williams, P.E., Director Juan J. Reyes, Deputy Director Federal Programs Branch .....................................................Sally L. Shaver, Chief Community Health Branch............................ ............. Cynthia M. Harris, Ph.D., Chief Remedial Programs Branch ..........................Sharon Williams-Fleetwood, Ph.D., Chief Records & Infonnation Management Branch.......................... Max M. Howie, Jr., Chief Emergency Response & Consultation Branch.................... C. Harold Emmett, P.E., Chief us~ oftrade names is for fdcujjicaDOIS only and does net COI'ISri~ mdorsemm~lry the Public HeaiJh &rvice or the u.s. D~pa.r.m.au ofHeahh and Hl.tm07l &rvicu Additional copies of this report are available from: National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA -- (703) 487-4650 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .. 1 BACKGROUND . 3 A. Site Description and History 3 B . Site Visit . .... 4 C. Demographics, Land Use, and Natural Resource Use 5 D. Health Outcome Data 6 COMMUNITY HEALTH CONCERNS . 7 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND OTHER HAZARDS 8 A. On- site Contamination . .. 10 B. Off-site Contamination .. ... 13 C. Quality Assurance and Quality Control 15 D. Physical and Other Hazards 16 PATHWAYS ANALYSES . 16 A. Completed Exposure Pathways 17 B. Potential Exposure Pathways 18 C. Eliminated Pathways ... 19 PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS 19 A. Toxicological Evaluation 20 B. Health Outcome Data Evaluation 29 C. Community Health Concerns Evaluation 30 CONCLUSIONS . 35 RECOMMENDATIONS 37 PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS 38 PREPARERS OF REPORT 40 CERTIFICATION 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX A: SITE MAPS AND SAMPL I NG LOCATIONS 45 APPENDIX B: CONTAMINANTS LACKING SUFFICIENT TOXICOLOGICAL DATA . 64 APPENDIX C: CONTAMINANT CONCENTRATIONS AND EXPOSURE PATHWAY TABLES . 66 APPENDIX D: SUMMJI..RY OF PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE DRAFT PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND FLORIDA HRS RESPONSE . 79 SUMMARY The Munisport Landfill site is an inactive landfill in, and owned by, the City of North Miami, Florida. This site is in an urban area adjacent to the Oleta River Recreational Area, a state mangrove preserve, and Biscayne Bay. Soil, sediments, surface water, and ground water are contaminated. We selected ammonia, benzene, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, cadmium, carbon disulfide, chloromethane, coliform bacteria, dieldrin, lead, methylene chloride, pentachlorophenol, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), styrene, vanadium, and zinc as contaminants of concern. Approximately 1,500 people live in Highland Village mobile home park southwest of the site. These residents are concerned they have been exposed to contaminated dust and stormwater run-off and children trespassing on the site have been exposed to contaminated soil and water. Accidentally ingesting contaminated soil and surface water, and breathing contaminated smoke are completed human exposure pathways. Children who swam in the landfill lakes risked bacterial and viral infections. Air sampling was too late to determine the health risk from breathing contaminated smoke from the 1990 landfill fire. Although it is unlikely that this site is the source, eating polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated fish and oysters from Biscayne Bay over a lifetime may affect the immune system and result in a "low" increased risk of cancer . Based on the available data, we categorize the Munisport Landfill site as an indeterminate public health hazard. Data are either not available or inadequate for all environmental media to which humans may be exposed. Except for coliform bacteria, the available environmental data do not indicate that humans are being or have been exposed to levels of toxic chemicals that would be expected to cause adverse health effects. This conclusion is based on the limited data currently available and may change once the surface soil and landfill material have been adequately characterized. The data are inadequate to determine if there has been an increased rate of cancer in the Highland Village mobile home park. Additional surface soil samples, fill material samples, and up-to date lake water samples are necessary to adequately characterize the extent of contamination . Public access to this site should be restricted and warning signs posted as required· by Florida law. Dust generated during any remediation, construction, or development that removes vegetation or uncovers landfill material should be controlled and nearby residential air monitored for site related contaminants. The appropriate agency should-investigate the extent of PCB contamination in Biscayne Bay fish and oysters. The Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS), in cooperation with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, will work with ·other agencies to ensure these recommendations are followed. Florida · HRS will inform the community about health risks from exposure to site- related contaminants and apply for funding for a disease symptom and prevalence study. The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation will sample stormwater run-off in Highland Village and will monitor closure of the landfill portion of the site. The Environmental Protection Agency will monitor design and performance of the ground water cleanup and will require air monitoring where appropriate. 2 BACKGROUND In this public health assessment, the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (Florida HRS), in cooperation with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) , evaluates the public health significance of the Munisport Landfill site. ATSDR, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal agency within the U.S. Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR is authorized by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to conduct public health assessments at hazardous waste sites. Specifically, Florida HRS and ATSDR will determine whether health effects are possible and will recommend actions to reduce or prevent them. A. Site Description and History The Munisport Landfill site is an inactive landfill in the City of North Miami, Dade County, Florida (Figure 1, Appendix A) . The site is about 2,000 feet northwest of Biscayne Bay. It is bordered on the north by N.E. 151st St., on the east by Florida International University, on the south by N.E. 135th St., and on the west by Biscayne Blvd. (Figure 2, Appendix A) . This 291 acre site can be divided into 4 areas : a 170-acre landfill, 15 acres of uplands, 93 acres of altered wetlands, and 13 acres adjacent to Biscayne Bay that are separated from the rest of the site by the State of Florida mangrove preserve (Figure 3, Appendix A). In 1970, the City ot' North Miami purchased 350 acres of land on Biscayne Bay. In 1972 , the City of North Miami leased 291 acres of this land to Munisport, Inc. to develop a recreational facility. Starting in 1974, Munisport operated a landfill to fill in low lying areas of this site. Munisport ceased landfill operations in 1980 and in 1981, the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) revoked their operating permit. In 1983 the Environmental · Protection Agency (EPA} added this site to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL}. In 1985, ATSDR visited the site and issued a health assessment. ATSDR concluded that existing data were inadequate to assess the public health threat and recommended EPA conduct a remedial investigation ( 1} . EPA conducted a remedial investigation and found that leachate from this landfill