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Pa. toxic dump mined for disease-cluster clues



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 23rd 07, 12:58 AM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
Oodles Of Noodles
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 53
Default Pa. toxic dump mined for disease-cluster clues

Who would live in such a hell-hole?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21423926/

McADOO, Pa. - More than 30 years ago, an abandoned mine in
Pennsylvania coal country was turned into a dump for toxic waste. Lots
of it.

When government officials finally shut down the site in 1979, they
found nearly 7,000 storage drums, and dead birds and animals. Many of
the drums were badly corroded and leaking dangerous chemicals. The
Environmental Protection Agency called it the state's worst
environmental hazard, placed it on the Superfund list and began a
cleanup.

Years later, officials say the site does not pose a health hazard. But
residents who live nearby are skeptical. They say they seem to be
getting cancer and other serious diseases in startling numbers. By one
unofficial estimate, 70 of 100 homes within a half-mile of the site
have been touched.

This week, the government will report on a possible cluster of
polycythemia vera, or PCV, a rare blood disease that has sickened
dozens of people. Dr. Peter Baddick, an internist who grew up near the
Superfund site and has sounded the alarm about PCV, said he expects
the number of cases to be three or four times higher than what would
be expected for the region.

Clusters are difficult to prove. Investigators must establish an
unusually high number of cases of a specific disease within a given
population and then figure out whether it can be attributed to
something in the environment. Most reported clusters are found to be
due to chance.

Thomas Burke, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins
University, said cluster investigations rarely yield a definitive
cause. "Most clusters, even those that are significantly elevated,
have not been successfully investigated to find a particular
environmental link," he said.

But residents hope the report will force a re-evaluation of the safety
of one of the worst toxic waste dumps in the nation - and, perhaps,
focus attention on people who not only contracted PCV but also suffer
from cancer, multiple sclerosis, lupus and other serious illnesses.

Is there a link to the Superfund site? The government has consistently
said no. But there is no question this hardscrabble region 80 miles
northwest of Philadelphia has endured one environmental headache after
another.

Land scarred by decades of coal mining. Three current or former
Superfund sites, including the toxic dump, only a few miles apart.
Abandoned strip mines that have been filled with coal combustion
waste, a state-approved practice that an environmental group believes
has led to groundwater contamination.

'Havoc and misery'
"There are a lot of people who should not be sleeping at night because
they've created a lot of havoc and misery in people's lives for a few
bucks," said Joe Murphy, a 41-year-old community activist diagnosed
with MS in 2003.

For now, government epidemiologists are focusing on polycythemia (pah-
lee-sy-THEE-mee-ah) vera, an acquired genetic mutation that thickens
the blood and can result in heart attacks and strokes.

The condition, whose cause is unknown, only became reportable to state
cancer registries in 2001. The government estimates it occurs in one
in every 100,000 people, although some scientists believe it is even
more rare. The disease, which is treatable, is more prevalent in older
people and men.

The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry began
looking into PCV in August 2006 after 97 cases in Schuylkill, Carbon
and Luzerne counties were reported to the state cancer registry
between 2001 and 2005 by doctors, hospitals and labs. Based on its
population, the region should have reported about 25 cases.

The agency's task: to confirm the cases that appeared on the registry,
and to search out cases the registry might have missed. Scientists
also tried to find common factors among PCV patients, including their
proximity to toxic waste sites.


The study is finished. The agency has scheduled a community meeting
for Wednesday night to discuss its findings with the public. Agency
officials would not discuss the study results ahead of meeting.

Meryl Wertman, 62, is among those looking for answers.

After his PCV diagnosis in 2003, Wertman was forced to retire early
from his job as a prison guard. He stopped officiating basketball and
baseball games and had to give up hunting, one of his passions, after
an episode in the woods in which he was overcome with exhaustion and
barely made it back to his house.

Wertman's days now are largely spent in front of the TV. "No pep," he
said.

"It's hard seeing him that way, knowing how active he always was,"
said his wife, Linda. "He's very depressed because he can't do what he
wants to do."

Something in the water?
Like many, Wertman suspects there is something in the water. His house
in Tamaqua is served by the 2.7-billion-gallon Still Creek Reservoir,
about a mile downhill from the chemical dump. Federal and state
officials say water from the reservoir is treated and safe to drink.

Those who dumped the waste "should be responsible for everything, and
I think there should be compensation to the people who went through
this," Wertman said.

North of Wertman's house, along Interstate 81, there is a nondescript
field surrounded by barbed wire, with several wellheads poking up out
of the ground. This is where a company called McAdoo Associates began
operating in 1975, its purpose to extract and recycle metals from
chemical wastes.

The company accepted hundred of thousands of gallons of paint sludge,
waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide, pesticides and many other
known or suspected carcinogens. Four years later, when the EPA stepped
in, McAdoo Associates had stockpiled enough chemicals to nearly fill
an Olympic-size swimming pool.

And that was just on the surface. Jim Leber, a former state mine
inspector, said he routinely saw tanker trucks pouring their contents
directly into an abandoned mine shaft on the site. The ground became
so saturated with chemicals that it was spongy underfoot, he said. A
chemical smell hung in the air.

But the EPA says that because of the geology of the region, the
contaminated groundwater beneath McAdoo Associates does not pose a
risk to either private wells or public water supplies. Residential
wells, for example, tap into a deeper aquifer, authorities say.

Lester and Betty Kester live across the street from the reservoir.
They also live downhill from McAdoo Associates. And they both have PCV
- an extreme rarity.

"Almost as rare as her husband getting pregnant," said Baddick, who
knows the couple. The Kesters' neighbors also report a variety of
cancers, and at least one more case of PCV.

Betty, 79, is perpetually weak, exhausted and itchy, symptoms of a
disease she believes she got "from them drums" up the hill.

"It's sad, it's sad," she said. "Because you don't expect this in your
life. Now is when we should be having a good time, right? Instead,
we're having a kick in the bum."

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  #2  
Old October 23rd 07, 04:07 AM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
TOXIC WASTE DRUMS, PA
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default Pa. toxic dump mined for disease-cluster clues

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:58:18 -0700, Oodles Of Noodles
wrote:

Who would live in such a hell-hole? snip


Charlie Noodles...who else?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21423926/

McADOO, Pa. - snip


Hmmm...a new name for Drums? "McNoodles?" LMAO!

When government officials finally shut down the site in 1979, they
found nearly 7,000 storage drums, and dead birds and animals. Many of
the drums snip


AHA! THAT'S why they call it "Drums"...it's full of drums of TOXIC
WASTE!

Years later, officials say the site does not pose a health hazard. But
residents who live nearby are skeptical. They say they seem to be
getting cancer and other serious diseases in startling numbers. By one
unofficial estimate, 70 of 100 homes within a half-mile of the site
have been touched. snip


Papa Noodles died of cancer. Charlie's turn in the barrel's coming
soon. When it's obvious that you live in a polluted, toxic wasteland,
YOU MOVE OUT! Ask anyone from the Hinckley, CA disaster that started
in the '50s from chromium-6 cooling system additives used in the
piston engine compressor line of PG&E's now retired natural gas line
from Hinckley to Bakersfield. Erin Brokovich made her bones on that
one, driving the former arrogant PG&E into a bankruptcy hidey-hole
that they couldn't escape. Now, she's hitting them again with a
similar suit regarding the Kettleman Hills gas line...same ****, same
arrogance...same payouts to those poisoned!

No such luck for the hapless living in and around Luzerne County,
PA...the Pittstons long ago absconded with all the wealth, leaving
them poor and cancer ridden. In the case of the Noodleses, it's a
public service...snuffing out a genetically inferior line of predatory
petty criminals in the making with cancer!

Clusters are difficult to prove. Investigators must establish an
unusually high number of cases of a specific disease within a given
population and then figure out whether it can be attributed to
something in the environment. Most reported clusters are found to be
due to chance. snip


Not so at Hinckley. Brokovich was able to get her boss to commit to
getting the evidence together to positively identify Hinckley as a
cancer cluster. The evidence is at "Leaking Drums," too...let's see
how long it takes Noodles to start sprouting tumors!

Land scarred by decades of coal mining. Three current or former
Superfund sites, including the toxic dump, only a few miles apart.
Abandoned strip mines that have been filled with coal combustion
waste, a state-approved practice that an environmental group believes
has led to groundwater contamination. snip


Yeah...the place Noodles says is such a great place to live! Talk
about delusional behavior...I think all those leaking drums have
leeched into his brain!

Something in the water?


Like many, Wertman suspects there is something in the water. His house
in Tamaqua is served by the 2.7-billion-gallon Still Creek Reservoir,
about a mile downhill from the chemical dump. Federal and state
officials say water from the reservoir is treated and safe to drink.

Those who dumped the waste "should be responsible for everything, and
I think there should be compensation to the people who went through
this," Wertman said.

North of Wertman's house, along Interstate 81, there is a nondescript
field surrounded by barbed wire, with several wellheads poking up out
of the ground. This is where a company called McAdoo Associates began
operating in 1975, its purpose to extract and recycle metals from
chemical wastes.

The company accepted hundred of thousands of gallons of paint sludge,
waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide, pesticides and many other
known or suspected carcinogens. Four years later, when the EPA stepped
in, McAdoo Associates had stockpiled enough chemicals to nearly fill
an Olympic-size swimming pool.

And that was just on the surface. Jim Leber, a former state mine
inspector, said he routinely saw tanker trucks pouring their contents
directly into an abandoned mine shaft on the site. The ground became
so saturated with chemicals that it was spongy underfoot, he said. A
chemical smell hung in the air.

But the EPA says that because of the geology of the region, the
contaminated groundwater beneath McAdoo Associates does not pose a
risk to either private wells or public water supplies. Residential
wells, for example, tap into a deeper aquifer, authorities say.

Lester and Betty Kester live across the street from the reservoir.
They also live downhill from McAdoo Associates. And they both have PCV
- an extreme rarity.

"Almost as rare as her husband getting pregnant," said Baddick, who
knows the couple. The Kesters' neighbors also report a variety of
cancers, and at least one more case of PCV.

Betty, 79, is perpetually weak, exhausted and itchy, symptoms of a
disease she believes she got "from them drums" up the hill. snip


Hey Noodles! How about the "DRUMS OF BUMLER?" HAHAHAHAHA!
 




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