Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the federal declaration of plants in McIntosh, Alabama as superfund sites, when the Olin Corporation plant and the Ciba-Geigy plant in the small Washington County town were named to the “National Priorities List” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The two plants remain on the list of 18 superfund sites in Alabama, according to the EPA website. But since the superfund designation in 1984, there have been very few studies to understand how Olin, and the renamed BASF plant, may impact the health of McIntosh-area residents.

Residents of McIntosh say that living in close proximity to several chemical plants, and in particular, the two superfund sites, have caused them health problems, including high rates of cancer and respiratory issues. One researcher looking into the problem found there was very little data to understand the health issues in the community.

Only one preliminary health assessment was completed for one of the two sites, by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and it is just five pages long. In fact, the assessment even notes the lack of data to determine the health effects on the local population.