Attachment 2 Drinking Water Exposure Investigation in Dimock PA: Supporting Statement B
Drinking Water
Exposure Investigation
Dimock, PA
ATSDR Exposure Investigations (EI) Generic Information Collection Request
OMB No. 0923-0048
Attachment 2: Supporting Statement Part B
Science Support Branch (SSB)
Division of Community and Health Investigations (DCHI)
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Program Official:
Peter J. Kowalski, MPH, CIH
Lead, Exposure Investigations and Data Analysis Team
Science Support Branch
Division of Community Health Investigations
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
4770
Buford Hwy NE, MS F59
Atlanta, GA 30341
Phone: 770-488-0776
Fax: 770-488-1542
Email: [email protected]
B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods 3
B.1. Respondent Universe and Sampling Methods 3
B.2. Procedures for the Collection of Information 3
B.3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates and Deal with Non-response 4
B.4. Test of Procedures or Methods to be Undertaken 4
B.5. Individuals Consulted on Statistical Aspects and Individuals Collecting and/or Analyzing Data 4
Attachments:
Supporting Statement A
Supporting Statement B
Dimock EI Consent Form
Dimock EI Questionnaire
Dimock EI Protocol
Dimock EI Sample Results Letter
Example of Prior EI Final Report
Dimock EI Research Determination
Dimock EI letter of invitation to participate and fact sheet
This is no statistical methodology used for this investigation. Section B.1 of the submission (below) describes how the data will be collected.
Since the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) does not use the exposure investigation (EI) results to generalize or estimate the total exposed population, the respondent universe and statistical methods for determining sample size are not a factor.
In 2012, EPA sampled 64 private water wells in the area and ATSDR’s Health Consultation (HC) reported health issues associated with contaminants in water as well as an explosive hazard resulting from elevated levels of methane in water.
Based on recommendations from the HC and input from stakeholders, this EI will test the following:
Private well water (drinking water and raw groundwater) for constituents associated with natural gas drilling activities
Bulk water, if appropriate, for the same constituents tested in well water
Water and indoor air for radon
The EI will include obtaining consent from the homeowner to conduct the testing (Attachment 3) and administering a questionnaire to evaluate water use in the home (Attachment 4).
Prior to the interviews, the EI team is trained on the site-specific questions to be asked (e.g., the purpose of each question, how to capture answers, place for comments, etc.). The list of questions and individual’s answers are stored in a secure database or locked filing cabinet.
Each participant is given information regarding the EI and a contact person and telephone number to answer questions (Attachment 3). Each participant receives a copy of their personal results (sample results letters provided in Attachment 6). Individual results will be protected to the full extent provided by law and will not be shared publically in any published reports.
EI participants will be selected from the 64 residences tested by EPA in 2012 with a maximum of 20 homes being included in the EI. An invitation letter and fact sheet will be sent to the 64 potential participants that outlines the EI objectives. The invitation letter and EI fact sheet are provided in Attachment 9. The residences to be included in the EI will be identified using the following criteria:
Residences included in the 2012 EPA testing event that have
private well water identified as a health hazard in the 2016 HC that continues to be used as a source of potable water in the home, or
an existing concern about the quality of their water, e.g., detections near or exceeding level of concern, discoloration or bubbling of water, and proximity of well to natural gas production wells.
If greater than 20 residences met the criteria, participants will be selected based on the results of the 2012 EPA testing: Those with well water with the highest number and/or concentration of contaminants of concern will be given priority for inclusion in the EI.
The residents that will be recruited have been sampled by EPA previously, so they are aware of how the sampling will occur. We will attempt to obtain consent to sample at as many residents as possible. Even without 100% participation, we can interpret results because we are providing participants an individual result and are not attempting to determine population level exposures.
The EI team will use the questions provided in Attachment 4.
Statistical calculations are not used to determine participation in EIs.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Attachment 2 Drinking Water Exposure Investigation in Dimock PA: Supporting Statement B |
| Author | murphy |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-22 |