They Refused to Fight for Russia. Alonso argues that tracking down environmental causes of cancer is not her agencys forte. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); The companys 7,000 acres of swampland are bordered on the south by a 60,000-plus-acre wildlife preserve. Some in the room knew the long odds, having followed the pediatric brain-cancer scare in the neighboring town of Port St. Lucie a few years earlier. Some of that drop was due to the nationwide crash that followed the housing bubble, but the news of the cancer cluster clearly played a role. Jonathan S. Harris, Matthew D. Shaffer & Arthur. Type Media Center document.write(new Date().getFullYear()). Attorneys have claimed that the state failed to properly test for specific radioactive contamination, ignored concerns voiced by its own people and neglected to hold Pratt & Whitney accountable for not cleaning up years' worth of toxic contamination in the area. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) define a cancer cluster as a greater-than-expected number of cancer cases that occurs within a group of people in a defined geographic area over a specific period of time. One of Toms Rivers legacies is that public-health agencies are quite uninterested in pursuing these investigations, which are very expensive, very difficult to resolve conclusively, make a lot of people angry, and make life difficult for politicians, Fagin told me. All Rights Reserved. Within six months of the cluster designation, five community-run websites had sprung up and just as quickly devolved into nastiness. Like Samarripa, Dunsford was consumed with her own crisis first, Garretts loss of the use of his left hand and arm; then, his misdiagnosis (Garretts doctor thought he had a sore elbow); and after his brain tumor was discovered, the failure of surgery to completely remove it. Once the lawyers get involved, then the lawyers have to talk, the countys Alina Alonso explained to me. A civil engineer testified about his independent forensic investigation, which determined that the radioactive materials on Pratt & Whitney's campus matched the same materials found in The Acreage. Their press conference last August yielded a few local stories, and one unintended consequence: Judge Joseph Marx, who was presiding over Joey Barattas case, ordered the attorneys not to speak about the case with the press. When I asked Jess Santamaria, the Palm Beach County commissioner representing the Acreage, whether there was ever a cancer cluster there, he told me he doesnt know: Im not an expert. And when I called Michelle Damone, a local politician who helped set up the Acreage Community Focus Group, to discuss the cancer cluster, she told me that she will never utter those two words, because they drive a stake into the heart of my community., The remaining residents of the Acreage now live with excruciating uncertainty about what caused the cancers here. P2 began as a friendly collaboration based on the good working relationship between the regulatory community and industry, as one internal document put it. As you can see on the map, we are tracking all health concerns that are reported to us. WebThe Florida Department of Environmental Protection designated a pediatric cancer cluster in 2010 in The Acreage after a spate of pediatric brain tumor cases. Some left that three-hour meeting feeling more frustrated than when they arrived. I look at the kids when they are sleeping, and I have to stop for a minute and take a breath, said Stephanie Peskowitz, 34, a nurse. Only two personal-injury and wrongful-death lawsuits involving cancer clusters in the United States have yielded any financial reward for plaintiffs. A judge heard testimony Friday about a forensic investigation that's shedding light on radioactive materials found on the campus of Pratt & Whitney and The Acreage community. Though it was unclear whether probing for answers would ever solve the cancer mystery, there was no question that all the attention to the risks of living in the Acreage had carried a steep financial cost. At various points, contaminated water escaped the dredging pits and seeped into the canal and groundwater in the Acreage, according to the plaintiffs complaint. One is the local mining company Palm Beach Aggregates, which has mined limestone for road construction for more than two decades using a dredging process that contributed naturally occurring radiation to the local water system. "If they can't get that verdict, it kind of dimmers where we're at here because what is it going to take here? At some point you have to say, My credit is not worth it; were going,' said Stephanie Peskowitz, a founder of Voices of the Palm Beach Cancer Cluster, a citizens group. The Acreage suits which now include at least thirteen individual personal-injury and wrongful-death cases, and two class-action suits over the loss of real-estate value are no easy moneymakers. Unequivocally laying the blame on one often requires showing that no other was involved. The community was in that a federal district court improperly excluded three experts who said toxins from the companys property caused the kidney cancer that killed his wife. However, though the study did not find an association with workplace exposures, it did confirm the elevated brain-cancer rate at the North Haven plant. In 1979, just one year after the Acreage Homeowners Association formed and began constructing a system of canals to make the area habitable, 2,000 gallons of trichloroethylene (TCE), a carcinogenic solvent, leaked into the groundwater and surface water on Pratt & Whitneys campus, as the company later admitted. In Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution, historian David Rosner describes how plastics and chemical manufacturers avoided regulation in part by making their own economic interests seem synonymous with those of the country. | Credit: GARY CORONADO/THE PALM BEACH POST. fl.us/southeast/acreage/www.pbcgov. But not a lot of communities with brain-tumor clusters.. She said she and other lawyers scoured tens of thousands of documents. Though nothing stood out as the obvious cause, they felt such findings should have prompted further testing. In the fall of 2004, the little girl often played in the grass of her yard with her two dogs. A federal jury rejected claims Tuesday that Pratt & Whitney was responsible for a cancer cluster in The Acreage more than a decade ago. So its to the credit of those who pushed for a more thorough look at the Acreage including then-Governor Charlie Crist and Senator Bill Nelson that an investigation into the possible causes of the cluster was launched at all. Eventually, the family moved to Tennessee, but even now the comments still sting. WebThe Faces of The Acreage Cancer Cluster Name: Garrett D. Diagnosis: Brain Tumor Age of Diagnosis: 5 Status: Medical monitoring at St. Jude Childrens Hospital Biography: Garrett was five years old when he was diagnosed with an Astrocytoma brain tumor. They interviewed dozens of people who were involved in Pratts cleanup efforts. Becky Samarripa felt the hostility, too. If anything happened to them, she said, I could not live with myself. Unseal statement by State Attorney Dave Aronberg's ex-wife in Glenn Straub case, newspapers ask judge, Abortion lawsuit: Boynton synagogue fights Florida's abortion limits in religious freedom suit, Corey Jones shooting: Ruling opens door to Corey Jones' family suing Palm Beach Gardens over rights violation in his death. The history of such litigation doesnt paint a hopeful picture for the plaintiffs, who include Jessica Newfield; Garretts parents, Jennifer and Greg Dunsford; and Joyce and Bill Featherston, the mother and stepfather of Joey Baratta. While much of the trial will focus on the trauma the families experienced and complex scientific information about the sources, causes and dangers of radiation, the jury wont be asked to determine if the parents should be compensated for their childrens illnesses and deaths. The Samarripas left the Acreage in 2010. Each day held a new surprise for them. Tracy Newfield cried when she first heard the news. If they do have to do an investigation, they have to find the funds for it or have to get the Legislature to appropriate funds. Im usually a very rational person, but that night I put on a pair of shoes that belong to someone with OCD. You most likely made your way to this site because you are aware of the Cancer Study that was conducted in our area by the Florida Department of Health (not us - we in no way conducted the study). Charlie Crist and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, have urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get involved. You can only live like this for so long.. Also citing the gag order, Pratt & Whitney declined to answer questions for this article, stating only that Pratt & Whitneys position is documented in its court filings related to the Acreage.. Becky Samarripa, too, was shaken by the cluster designation, which seemed to confirm her worst fear: that something in their surroundings was making them sick. The Samarripas moved to Alabama, where Hannah, now 20 and in college, is flourishing, according to her mother. In its eagerness to close on the deal, Palm Beach Aggregates minimized the hazards posed by its pits and allowed the radiation problem to escalate, according to the plaintiffs lawyers in the Acreage case. It is time for more aggressive and decisive action.. West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola took the lead on this case for the Acreage residents. But if she successfully argues that Pratt contaminated The Acreage, she could ask him to reconsider. On one occasion, her car got egged. But afterward, the gap widened to 77%, he said. Like most other suspected clusters, that one had failed upon investigation to clear the statistical bar. So the plaintiffs attorneys have been constructing their case based on the defense contractors well-known history of involvement with projects that involve radioactive materials. The answer is yes. Kaye McCann, also in the auditorium, was more pessimistic. And the reputation of an area long known as a healthy, bucolic alternative to urbanization was in tatters. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? Water testing in the affected homes turned up several radioactive contaminants. A Scary Reality The Acreage Cancer Cluster. Your Photos. One, composed primarily of families of the children stricken with cancer, focused on the fact that the research had identified several contaminants above FDEP cleanup levels, including radium-226, benzene and a variety of other commonly occurring carcinogens. (function(){var k='2354831680',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return escape(c.substring(i+n.length+1,j<0?c.length:j))}}}var x=f('__utmx'),xx=f('__utmxx'),h=l.hash; This constitutes a huge problem, though one that, he says, seems to spur little outrage. While Marra warned Hatfield, he declined Gallagher's request. Palm Beach Aggregates did not respond to a request for comment for this article, and in court documents has vehemently denied causing any environmental harm. Much of the information released by the Health Department during this period was open to interpretation. After a while, we realized it was going off when our water was regenerating from our well, says Samarripa, who worried over the fact that Hannahs bedroom was closest to the well. Soon, Dunsford discovered that three other youngsters in the sprawling rural community in the western reaches of Palm Beach County had recently received similarly grim news. At Miami Childrens Hospital, where their son was treated, the Dunsfords met the family of another brain cancer patient who lived just a mile away. If I could move I definitely would, she said. So reactions in the community were decidedly mixed when, in November 2010, with the battery of state and local studies having rendered their results, the Acreage investigation was officially closed. The McCanns left as well and are now living in the mountains of North Georgia with their two children. And anybody with children is worried about that.. Before you start printing and downloading, be sure you have read the article first. There are about 10,000 houses in the area. The one kind of contamination that distinguished the Acreage, according to Hatfield, was ionizing radiation, which was not just an established cause of brain cancer but the byproduct of local industry. A cancer The deal is being financed with some $4.4 million in public incentives, including $3.4 million from the state and $1 million from Palm Beach County. Since Jennas death in 2006, Kaye had become less trusting. There are so many unknowns, and unknowns create hysteria and fear, she said. The deal, which helped land two county commissioners in prison for fraud (a consultant advising the agency, it turned out, was being paid by the mining company), stipulated that Palm Beach Aggregates couldnt be held legally responsible for any contamination of water in the used pits. But it would take all of the afflicted families years to connect the dots among their tragedies. If you would like your information added to this map, please email us at info@theacreagecancerstudy.com and provide us with your address, sex, age, and diagnosis. But the house is basically worthless, and where are you going to go in this job market?. Palm Beach County families are finally getting their time in court after years of concerns over a spike in cancer cases in and around The Acreage. When the study came out, a Pratt & Whitney vice president called the universitys research full of crap, according to a report in The Palm Beach Post. When Stephanie Peskowitz and her husband Ira bought a home in The Acreage five years ago, they figured they had found a woodsy paradise large enough for their dreams. Evidence suggests the incidence of such cancers may be especially elevated among children. The company trumpeted the results of a ten-year investigation that found no statistically significant elevations in the overall cancer rates among the workforce throughout the state.
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