Solidarietà!

The following is from the Web site of Dante Picciano:

ALL THE WORLD IS ONE COUNTRY
by Dante Picciano
November 16, 2007

The Internet is a wonderful tool. It allows us to freely communicate with all the world. We recently made contact with some Italian citizens. Dr. Raoul Mantini is a member of a group of concerned citizens fighting to protect the public health and environment. The name of the group is Comitato per la Salvaguardia dell'Ambiente e della Salute Pubblica di Gualdo Cattaneo e Giano dell'Umbria. This translates to Committee to Safeguard the Environment and the Public Health of Gualdo Cattaneo and Giano dell'Umbria. The group maintains a web site at: http://comitatoambientegualdocattaneo.blogspot.com.

Dr. Mantini informs us that people in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy are concerned about the health effects from the toxic emissions from trash-burning incinerators or plants. The region has nine of these incinerators. One incinerator was closed down by court action after local doctors and concerned citizens presented evidence of the adverse heath effects and environmental impacts of the toxic emissions from the plant.

Recently, a group of medical doctors in the region asked local officials in the region to oppose the construction of any additional trash-burning plants. In just the city of Forli, 200 doctors raised concerns about serious health problems resulting from the emissions from the incinerators.

Then, as here, the government stepped in and interfered with the inalienable rights of the people to protect their own health, safety and environment. The Minister of Economic Development asked the Minister of Health and the Minister of Justice to investigate the medicals doctors in the Emilia Romagna region because of their opposition to the trash-burning plants.

The Minister of Economic Development wants to see if more than disciplinary measures can be taken against the doctors for their actions. It seems that the Minister wants to bring some type of criminal action against the doctors for trying to protect the health of their patients! Some Italians refer to the Minister of Economic Development as the Minister of Dioxin. We wonder if he is related to Chemical Ali.

The similarities with our situation are obvious. We have the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture siding with industry on all matters that concern the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the commonwealth.

We can do something about our sorry mess. We can begin by voting out our state senators and representatives who passed the laws giving these agencies the authority to protect industry rather than the citizens of Pennsylvania. Hopefully, our friends and allies in Italy can do the same. Yes, all the world is one country.

An oxymoron is sponsoring tonight's Democratic debate on CNN:

The "clean coal" industry. This is "clean" as in the "ultra clean" waste coal-to-oil plant planned for Gilberton, which the state has permitted to dump to the air annually 99.9 tons each of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter; 49.9 tons of volatile organic compounds; 100 tons of ammonia; 38 pounds of mercury; and unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide. For more about the sponsorship and a Web form to weigh in with moderator Wolf Blitzer, visit ThinkProgress.org.

'Keeping an open mind to possible culprits'

I recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Lehighton Times-News in response to an article that looked at waste coal power plants as a possible factor behind the local polycythemia vera epidemic. That letter was published in today's paper. Here it is in its entirety (with a link added for the statistical analysis I mention):

November 10, 2007

Keeping an open mind to possible culprits

Dear Editor:

I appreciate the story in the Oct. 31 edition of your paper considering whether coal-fired power plants may be a factor behind the unusually high rate of polycythemia vera in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties ("Are coal fired plants the culprit?"). The story mentioned that I consider this possibility on my Hometown Hazards Web site (www.hometownhazards.com). However, it left out some information crucial for understanding why that is.

Last year, with the help of Dr. Samuel Lesko of the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, I conducted a statistical analysis using state cancer registry data to examine PV rates across Pennsylvania to see if I could identify any commonalities among the counties where the rate of the cancer was particularly high. Looking only at those counties with populations greater than 100,000 (so as not to allow one or two cases in less populous places to dramatically skew the rate), I identified four counties with rates at least double the state's already-elevated rate: Schuylkill, Luzerne, Cambria and Blair.

I then considered what those four counties had in common that could possibly explain the high PV rates. Because despite Dr. Paul Roda's claims repeated in your article that "we do not have any specific evidence to say that exposure to any one chemical or environmental toxin causes polycythemia vera," we do in fact know from the medical literature that several environmental and occupational exposures have been associated with an excess risk of PV. They include working as an embalmer or funeral director (that is, exposure to formaldehyde and other solvents used in embalming solutions), benzene, petroleum refineries and low doses of radiation.

What significant potential sources of those pollutants did I find in those counties? Waste-coal burning power plants. Among various toxic pollutants, burning coal produces benzene and other aromatic hydrocarbons as well as low-level radiation, since coal contains uranium and other radioactive elements. Burning fossil fuels also produces formaldehyde.

Of the 18 waste-coal-burning power plants currently operating in the United States, 14 are in Pennsylvania and five are in Schuylkill County, which has more than any other county in the nation, according to the Energy Justice Network. Schuylkill County's Ben Titus Road community where local environmental advocates have counted more than a half-dozen cases of PV is adjacent to Northeastern Power Co. (NEPCO), which burns anthracite coal waste or "culm" as its primary fuel and diesel or fuel oil as a secondary fuel.

NEPCO sits on the border of Luzerne County, which is also home to the Hunlock Power Station near Nanticoke, a facility that burns anthracite coal as its primary fuel and culm as a secondary fuel. In the south-central part of the state, Cambria County has three waste-coal facilities: Cambria Cogen and Ebensburg Power in Ebensburg, which burn bituminous waste coal or "gob," and the Colver Power Project in Colver, which also burns gob. The Ebensburg facilities are located near the border with Blair County, whose residents would consequently be subjected to the plants' air pollution.

To date, a great deal of attention has been paid by some to a possible link between the McAdoo Associates Superfund site and the unusual number of PV cases along Ben Titus Road (which for some reason the ATSDR was unable to confirm in its recent study, but that's a topic for another letter). Having grown up in nearby Hometown, I don't doubt for a minute that the McAdoo site has had a detrimental effect on the area's environmental health and may even play a role in the high local PV rates. However, it seems unlikely that the site is responsible for PV in western Schuylkill County or the Wilkes-Barre area, let alone Cambria County.

That's why I suspect the waste-coal-burning power plants may play a role in the area's PV epidemic. But as our work on these important questions moves forward, we of course should keep an open mind as to all the possible culprits behind Pennsylvania's environmental health crisis.

Sincerely,

Sue Sturgis

Raleigh, N.C.

Tell the whole truth about China's coal-to-oil plans, Mr. Rich

The Hazleton Standard-Speaker recently reported on the Department of Energy's release of the environmental impact statement for the planned waste coal-to-oil plant in Gilberton, Pa. The story quotes John W. Rich Jr. of Waste Management and Processors, the firm building the plant, on the need to keep pace with China's race to adopt the technology:

"We're being outdone by the Chinese ... We're getting beat to the punch."

In another story about the Gilberton plant in today's Pottsville Republican Herald, about the opening of a 30-day comment period on the plant's environmental impact, Rich again holds up China as a model the U.S. should be following:

"The Chinese are taking up the market," Rich said. "It's a horrible situation. The most powerful country in the world is losing its standing."

In fact, China is actually considering canceling its coal-to-oil plans over concerns about high cost, low efficiency, massive greenhouse gas emissions, and intense water usage. I wonder why Rich doesn't mention that?

Some thoughts on 'motives'

It's come to my attention that Dr. Pete Baddick and Joe Murphy, two Hometown area natives and environmental health advocates, are unhappy with something I wrote recently about their efforts to link the local polycythemia vera epidemic to the McAdoo Associates Superfund site.

In a post titled " AP story examines local polycythemia vera epidemic but overlooks some likely culprits," I criticized an article by Associated Press reporter Michael Rubinkam for reporting on the many cases of PV in the area but focusing the discussion of a possible cause on the McAdoo Associates Superfund site. I wrote:

Something else Rubinkam did not mention in his story is that Baddick and Murphy have a motive to focus on the McAdoo Associates site: They were deeply involved in an effort by the Locks Law firm of Philadelphia to bring suit for civil damages against the site's responsible parties. However, the firm concluded last year following a year and a half of work that it did not have a legal basis for proceeding with a civil action due to a lack of evidence that poisons dumped at the site have migrated to nearby wells or the reservoir. Murphy has told me that he regards the ATSDR's study as a piece of discovery that could lead to the suit's reopening.

An upset Baddick called me recently asking that I run a correction. I do not believe a correction is in order, though, because what I wrote is factually correct. Furthermore, I stand by my assertion that if a reporter is going to use Baddick and Murphy as his primary informants, he has a responsibility to tell his readers that they have been involved in an effort to bring suit over the site.

But I would like to make clear that in writing what I did, I didn't mean to criticize Baddick and Murphy for focusing their efforts on the McAdoo site. I wholly agree with them that the site represents a historic and continuing health hazard, has undoubtedly damaged the area's environmental well being, and definitely demands further study. I only question their claims that the site is responsible for the local polycythemia vera epidemic, which in fact is part of a much bigger statewide phenomenon that can't be explained by a single Superfund site.

I also want to make clear that I am not criticizing Baddick and Murphy for having "motives" for their work. That word has taken on negative connotations because it's so often paired with adjectives like "evil" or "base" or "ulterior." But according to my dictionary, a "motive" is literally something that moves a person to action. Those of us who are involved in this work to draw attention to and find answers about the area's environmental health crisis all have things that move us, and most often they're the same things: witnessing people we care about suffering and dying because of government and corporate irresponsibility.

So to Baddick, Murphy and everyone else pressing for answers -- for whatever motive -- I say: Keep it up. You're doing important work.

The truth behind the government's spin on polycythemia vera rates

The following article is from the Web site of Dante Picciano:

POLYCYTHEMIA VERA CANCER EPIDEMIC
by Dante Picciano
November 9, 2007

On October 24, 2007, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) released the results of a polycythemia vera (PV) investigation in this area.

The ATSDR confirmed 38 cases of PV in Schuylkill, Luzerne and Carbon counties during 2001-2005 using a recently discovered genetic marker known as JAK2.

Subsequently, we reported that an analysis of the ATSDR's own data actually showed 131 cases of PV, more than 5 times the expected number of cases. The ATSDR then responded that the 131 cases of PV that we showed were unsubstantiated because not all of the 131 people were tested with the JAK2 test.

The ATSDR scientists stated that they estimated the expected incidence of PV to be approximately 0.9 in 100,000 per year. The ATSDR used the same selection criteria to arrive at the 131 figure that it did to arrive at the 0.9 in 100,000 estimate. Few, if any, of the people used in the 0.9 in 100,000 estimate were tested for the JAK2 mutation.

Let's take a closer look at the ATSDR's data. At the October 24th meeting, the ATSDR presented Slide 6 entitled "Polycythemia Vera Rates by County in Pennsylvania, 2001-2005 (per 100,000 persons/year)." The slide is shown below.

At the bottom of Slide 6, the legend indicates that the U.S. rate for PV for 2001-2005 was 0.9 per 100,000 and that the Pennsylvania rate for PV for 2001-2005 was 1.49 per 100,000. This clearly shows that the rate in Pennsylvania was 66% greater than the national rate (1.49/0.9 = 1.655). This is an alarming result. The entire state of Pennsylvania has a 66% elevated rate for this rare bone marrow cancer.

Now, let's look at the counties with the highest rates. Potter County had a rate 6.2 times the national rate (5.54/0.9 = 6.155); Somerset County, 5 times (4.54/0.9 = 5.04); Montour County 4.9 times (4.41/0.9 = 4.9); Luzerne County 4.7 times (4.2/0.9 = 4.67); and Schuylkill County 4.5 times the national rate (4.05/0.9 = 4.5).

Again, these are alarming rates. There are at least five counties in Pennsylvania with PV rates 4.5 times or greater than the national rate. Further, the Schuylkill County rate of 4.5 times and the Luzerne County rate of 4.7 times are very similar to the rate of 5 derived from the 131 cases of PV, as described above.

The dictionary describes an epidemic as a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is "expected," based on recent experience. By any definition, we now have evidence of a statewide cancer epidemic and the ATSDR and the PA DOH hardly acknowledge the problem.

At the October 24th meeting, officials from the PA DOH stated that they were committed to continue the monitoring of the situation. TRANSLATION: The PA DOH isn't going to do anything more than it has been doing, that is, collect the records of the people diagnosed with PV.

Officials for the ATSDR said that they were going to look at the collected exposure data to see if they could find a cause for the increase in the PV rate. TRANSLATION: The ATSDR wasn't planning on doing much since the existing exposure data is sparse and there was no indication that the ATSDR planned to collect any new data.

If PV were caused by the bite of a mosquito or a tick, there would be more public health officials in this area studying the problem than you could count. However, since we suspect that the PV is caused by a toxic exposure, there are few public health officials to be seen. The last thing that the government agencies want to do is link a cancer with a toxic exposure from a polluting industry.

The government believes that its primary purpose is to protect the polluting industries. However, the true primary purpose of government is to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens. The federal and state agencies aren't doing anything and neither are any of our elected officials. We would hope that you remember this inaction on the part of our elected officials the next time that they run for re-election.