The questions surrounding the extent of PCB contamination in Anniston have dogged our community for decades too long. Now it looks like that may be about to change.
That’s because the money for a long-needed, comprehensive study of PCB exposure has been approved and funded by Congress, thanks in large part to the efforts of Sen. Richard Shelby and other senators. It is hoped that the $3.2 million study — to be overseen by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry — will finally answer questions about how polychlorinated biphenyls have affected Anniston residents in the recent and not so recent past.
We know that Monsanto manufactured PCBs at its western Anniston plant from about 1929 to 1971. And we know that the now-banned chemicals, which have been linked to a wide number of health disorders, have been spread into local water supplies and soil and have gone from there into people’s bodies.
What we don’t know exactly is how much of the general population in the area was exposed to PCBs and just what sort of impact that may be having upon their health.
The ATSDR study will consist of four parts, including an epidemiological analysis that has long been sought by community activists and local public officials.
This is a study that is overdue for a community that has been put through enough environmental and health-related anguish already.
We have faith that the staff at the ATSDR has the know-how and background to plan this PCB study carefully. They should be cautious and painstaking in their efforts, to check and double-check and re-check the data, to execute this project thoroughly, not only for the benefit of Anniston and all its residents, but for the benefit of any other community that might be facing similar circumstances in the future.
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