Health and Medical Care for Love Canal Area Residents Statement on a Request to Congress for Appropriations.

I have sent to the Congress a budget amendment to provide more than $3.8 million for medical examinations and health studies for the people exposed to contamination in the Love Canal area of Niagara Falls, N.Y. This request supplements some $640,000 in funds from the Center for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Last May, because of concern about the potential health effects from exposure to chemical wastes, I declared an emergency for the Love Canal neighborhood and authorized relocation of about 700 families to temporary quarters. At the same time, I committed Federal resources to conduct further health and environmental studies in the area.

This appropriation request will make available funds for the Center for Disease Control in conjunction with the State University of New York at Buffalo, to carry out my commitment to residents of the area.

These funds will provide for a complete medical examination for each of the approximately 4,000 adults and children who lived in the area as of June 1978. These examinations will consist of medical history interviews, laboratory tests at a clinic to be established near the area, physical examination, and clinical followup. Funds for special chromosome, nerve conduction, and psychological studies are included in this request.

Related environmental analyses will be carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency.

I urge the Congress to act quickly on the measure when it reconvenes on November 12.