PCB TESTING EXPENDITURES Army Corps promises to reimburse CNMI

Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez yesterday said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already assured the department that it will reimburse money spent during the health testings of people in connection with polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in Tanapag village.

DPS has already spent between $300,000 to $500,000 for the ongoing health evaluation. The Army Corps has told the department that funding for reimbursement will be made available next fiscal year to address the health problem.

Over 1,000 residents from Tanapag have undergone PCB testings since the clinic opened in May 2000. Although the clinic is no longer regularly operating, people can still come in and register for medical evaluation.

At least 50 percent of the results of the health evaluation have been sent back to the department. Mr. Villagomez has assured residents that they will be informed first of the results of PCB testing before these are revealed to the media.

“We will meet with the families one at a time to tell them the results due to the confidentiality agreement that we have signed,” he said.

The department will carry out a thorough analysis of the effects of PCB contamination based on the medical evaluation conducted among the people in the village.

Some of the blood samples taken from the residents will be taken to another laboratory for independent analysis and comparison. He said an independent laboratory will also be tapped to conduct congener-specific testing that will be performed on some of the residents who would have high levels of PCB based on the results of their blood analysis.

Dr. Richard Brostom, chief of the medical team assigned in Tanapag, has sent a letter to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry seeking financial assistance on the second level of health evaluation since measuring PCB congener in blood is very expensive. Congener testing will cost approximately $200 for each person.

Mr. Villagomez said he wants all the data on the health evaluation analyzed first before jumping to the next phase of the medical assessment.

The medical team has yet to perform “lipid correction” which will allow them cot compare PCB values between different population. PCBs travel with lipids (cholesterol and other fats) in the bloodstream. If two people have the same amount of PCB in their bodies, the person with a high cholesterol will measure higher PCBs on the serum lab test.

PCB contamination in the village began when an unknown quantity of capacitors containing the highly toxic chemical were shipped to Saipan in the 1960s. The Division of Environmental Quality was only notified about their presence in Tanapag village in 1988.