TRUMBULL LANDFILL Health study set to begin

A public meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A federal agency will begin a study next week on the respiratory health of people who live, work or attend school near the Warren Recycling landfill.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is looking for more than 100 volunteers to participate in a four-week rapid-response evaluation.
A public meeting to discuss the study and recruit volunteers is set for 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Johnson Community Center, 300 Gillmer Road, Leavittsburg.
"It's a mechanism used at Centers for Disease Control often for disease outbreaks," said Michelle Colledge, an environmental health scientist with the agency. "It's the first time we've used it for environmental exposure."
Complaints
For years, residents near the landfill, which is operated by Warren Hills Inc., have complained of an offensive hydrogen sulfide odor, likened to rotten eggs, saying it makes them sick. A study released last year by the ATSDR, a nonregulatory arm of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, concluded that the odor was coming from the Martin Luther King Avenue landfill and declared the area around it an urgent public health hazard.
Colledge said the information collected, results of which won't be available for several months, may be used to inform enforcement agencies of the severity of the impact of hydrogen sulfide exposure. It also could help those suffering from respiratory ailments with prevention.
She stressed that the study was requested by the Ohio Department of Health and that Trumbull County and Warren city health departments are collaborating.
The study
Colledge said volunteers will be divided into two groups: one with respiratory problems and one without.
All volunteers will keep a daily diary, documenting the times they detect the odor, its severity and whether they associate any physical symptoms with it.
Those with respiratory problems also will wear a badge, similar to a lapel pin that will gauge each individual's hydrogen sulfide exposure over a 24-hour period. They also will use peak flow meters three times daily to determine their lung function.
ATSDR and ODH staff will be working at the city health department and be available to answer questions from the community throughout the four-week study, which will get under way June 14.
The federal agency also will monitor outdoor air for hydrogen sulfide levels during the study.
denise_dick@vindy.com