Pa. lawmakers advance cancer cluster bills

Legislation that would create a special unit in the state Department of Health to investigate cancer clusters is working its way through the Pennsylvania General Assembly -- but the primary sponsors do not include lawmakers from the Hometown area, despite the fact that the area is beset with unusually high rates of the illness.

Introduced in the House by state Rep. Mark Cohen (D-Phila.), the measure this week was approved by the Health and Human Services Committee, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reports. Cohen was spurred to action by the paper's recent reporting on a suspected cancer cluster in Selinsgrove and similar health concerns in other Pennsylvania communities.

The Office of Illness Monitoring would work with the state Department of Environmental Protection and other state agencies when investigating increased incidences of illnesses in Pennsylvania, according to a Cohen press release:

"The Health Department currently collects data on health issues, but it is not proactive in conducting its own research into potential external causes of illnesses," Cohen said. "The wellness of our residents depends on the Department of Health being able to connect the dots with other state agencies to determine the root causes of the illness clusters."

Residents of the Hometown area can attest to the DOH's foot-dragging on cancer cluster investigations, having spent years demanding a probe into unusual patterns of illness locally. A report released last year found unusually elevated rates of polycythemia vera, a relatively rare blood cancer, in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is currently investigating. Independent research I conducted with the help of a Pennsylvania cancer researcher suggests the high incidence of p.v. may be linked to pollution from waste-fuel-burning power plants, which are concentrated in eastern Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region.

State Sen. Michael O'Pake (D-Berks) introduced a companion measure in his chamber after becoming frustrated by the DOH's slow response to reports of a possible cancer cluster in Muhlenberg Township, according to a press release:

"A month ago the Pennsylvania Department of Health promised to provide me with a revised statistical analysis of a potential cancer cluster in Muhlenberg Township," said Senator O'Pake. "Despite repeated assurances from the Department, including the Secretary of Health, that we would have the information in a timely manner, we have yet to see any final data or conclusions from the Department.

"My constituents are rightly concerned about a potential life and death issue in their own backyard, as are citizens in similar situations across the Commonwealth. It is clear that the one person at the Department of Health who now devotes his time to this task cannot handle the workload alone," added Senator O'Pake. "With our state's industrial heritage, we cannot afford to wait months and months for DOH to complete these studies. Establishing the Office of Illness Monitoring will speed up this process and better protect the health and safety of our citizens."

If you'd like to thank the lawmakers for their action on this important issue, you can contact Cohen's Harrisburg office at 717-787-4117 or by filling out an online form here. O'Pake can be reached in Harrisburg at 717-787-8925 or by e-mail at opake@pasenate.com.

Tamaqua bans corporate waste dumping

A people's revolution that some liken to the effort to end U.S. slavery is taking place just down the hill from Hometown.

The Tamaqua Borough Council last night voted 4-3 to approve a new ordinance banning corporate waste-dumping, the Pottsville Republican-Herald reports. Mayor Christian Morrison, a Hometown native who cast the tie-breaking vote on the proposal, said he doesn't expect the controversy over the ban to end any time soon, however:

"I know we'll be challenged on this. And we welcome that," Morrison said. "It's a hard vote when you know you're going to be challenged, and you possibly could go to court and be sued over this, but when you say you're going to do everything you can to protect your community, that means everything you can."

Supporting the ordinance were Cathy Miorelli, Stephen Tertel and Mahlon Kachelries. Opposing it were Council President John "Sonny" Trudich and council members James Knowles and Micah Gursky, who called it "illegal."

Living in an old coal-mining community where enormous abandoned mine pits have been filled with toxic coal-combustion waste and river dredge over their objections, Tamaqua residents in recent years have begun fighting back against polluters with the help of the local Army for a Clean Environment and the Chambersburg, Pa.-based Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Last year the borough banned corporations from dumping sewage sludge and also became the first municipality in the United States to recognize the rights of nature.

"Abolitionists struggled over decades to undo constitutional law which had long defined slaves as 'property' and to transform this nation's 'property and commerce' constitution into a 'rights and liberty' constitution," CELDF Historian Richard Grossman said at the time. "Tamaqua has now challenged today's constitutional injustices -- against Nature and against the self-governing 'We the People.'"