TOXIC DISCONNECT: While calling for action on cancer cluster, Specter pushes project that would increase local cancer risk

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter held a meeting in Hazleton yesterday to call for action on behalf of local residents suffering from polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer that occurs at an unusually high rate in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties. But at another meeting held earlier that day, he called for construction of a waste coal-to-oil refinery in Schuylkill County -- a project that will significantly increase the carcinogenic burden on area residents.

The senator's clashing calls suggest a fundamental disconnect in his thinking. While the cause of the high PV rate has not yet been pinpointed, it's certainly safe to say that building a significant new source of toxic pollution will not help people already suffering from high rates of cancer and other chronic illnesses -- never mind the insult of using cancer victims' tax dollars to help pay for a project that will further damage their health.

Specter's meeting about PV took place at 4 p.m. yesterday at the Genetti Best Western in Hazle Township and involved about 20 local PV patients, physicians and public health advocates, the Pottsville Republican Herald reports:

The purpose of Monday’s meeting ... Specter said, was to get answers, and to map out a PV cancer cluster battle plan.

“I want to get a handle on this and develop an action plan to move ahead with a sense of urgency,” he said.

Among the strategies reportedly discussed at the meeting was research to examine similar health issues in West Virginia, another coal mining area that like Schuylkill County is also a center of heavily polluting waste-coal-burning power plants. In addition, there was discussion of investigating contaminants in the confirmed cluster area. Local oncologist Dr. Paul Roda will write up the "battle plan" and deliver it to Specter’s office by the end of the week.

But at the same time the senator is claiming he wants to help area residents who are suffering disproportionately from cancer, he's pushing a project that will increase his constituent's likelihood of getting the disease.

Interviewed after a town hall meeting held earlier yesterday afternoon at the Penn State Schuylkill campus, Specter told the Republican Herald that he wanted to boost Schuylkill's economy through government support of John W. Rich Jr.’s proposed waste coal-to-oil refinery in Mahanoy Township near Gilberton. The plant would be a new source of cancer-causing pollution in a county that already has a serious toxic pollution problem due to the numerous waste-coal-burning power plants. Schuylkill County has more of these dirty facilities than any other county in the nation.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has permitted Rich's refinery to annually release up to 99.9 tons each of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter, as well as 49.9 tons of carcinogenic volatile organic compounds, according to the Energy Justice Network. The facility would also dump into the air each year hundreds of tons of other health-damaging air pollutants -- including 38 pounds of mercury, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin.

Why is Specter pushing for a new heavily polluting facility despite the local area's serious health problems? Campaign finance records offer a clue. The Rich family is a generous contributor to the senator's campaign fund, having donated $10,200 to Specter in 2007 and 2008 alone, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Polycythemia vera patient-activist passes, furthers research even in death

When U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter convenes a meeting with local polycythemia vera patients and their advocates on Monday, an outspoken leader in the effort to get public officials to recognize the problem will be missing from the room -- but she and her work will not be forgotten.

Betty Kester passed away last month at the age of 80. After Kester and her husband, Lester, were diagnosed with the rare blood cancer, she played a key role in drawing attention to the alarming number of cases of the disease along Ben Titus Road where they lived. Lester Kester died earlier this year at the age of 84. The couple had been married for 59 years.

Even in death, though, Kester will continue to play a key role in advancing understanding of the disease and why it's occurring at such a high rate in the area around Hometown. Before her passing, Kester asked that samples of her body tissues be collected post mortem for future testing -- and that wish was carried out with the important help of her friend, Hometown resident and public health advocate Joe Murphy, as well as Dr. Vince Seaman with the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

To learn more about Kester's life, read her obituaries published here and here.

(Photo of Betty Kester from her Morning Call obituary)

Specter calls meeting on polycythemia vera

From the website of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter:

Specter to Hold Meeting on Cancer Cluster

Patients, Doctors, Health Officials to Participate in Roundtable

Hazelton, PA
Monday, October 6, 2008 - 04:00 PM

EVENT: Senator Arlen Specter will meet with community members and officials who have directly dealt with the blood cancer cluster in Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties.

DATE/TIME: 4pm on Monday, October 6th

LOCATION: Best Western - Genetti Inn & Suites
1441 N. Church St.
Hazleton, PA 18202

Senator Arlen Specter will meet with community members and officials who have been directly involved with the higher than usual incidence of polycythemia vera in the Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill tri-county area. Participants will include residents who have advocated for attention and study of the region's health problems. Several community members who are suffering from the rare blood cancer, and the doctors that treat them, are expected to attend. Officials from Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will also be on hand.

In June, Senator Specter, ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, announced the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved $262,000 for Drexel University School of Public Heath in Philadelphia to investigate the polycythemia vera cluster in Northeast Pennsylvania. Senator Specter, after consultation with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Drexel University, requested the federal funding.

Senator Specter has closely monitored the occurrence of polycethemia vera in the community. After learning of the concerns, Senator Specter requested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assist the Pennsylvania Department of Health in studying the community’s health problems. On October 6, 2006 Senator Specter visited the McAdoo Superfund site to formally announce that the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health would partner to perform a statistical analysis of the region’s health data. Upon the study's conclusion, Senator Specter has written several letters to the agencies urging them to hold public briefings for the community, as well as to continue to monitor the cases of polycythemia vera.