More national press coverage of local polycythemia vera cluster

The Washington Independent, a nonpartisan news and commentary Web site launched last month by the nonprofit Center for Independent Media, has an in-depth article on the local polycythemia vera cluster that explores a possible connection between the rare blood malignancy and the dumping of coal-combustion waste. Titled "Don't Drink the Water: Clean Coal's Downside," the story is by freelance reporter Suemedha Sood.

The sources quoted include Tamaqua resident and polycythemia vera patient Merle Wertman, attorney and local environmental health advocate Dante Picciano, local oncologist Dr. Paul Roda, Northeastern Power Co. Plant Manager Edward Missal, Jeff Stant of the Clean Air Task Force, local geologist Robert Gadinski, Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans, and Dr. Zev Wainberg, an oncologist/hematologist at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital who calls the high rates of such a rare disease "surprising."