Hometown Hazards

Federal health officials to discuss polycythemia vera study in Hazleton on Monday

2008-08-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will hold a public meeting in Hazleton on Monday, August 25 to discuss the final findings of an investigation into the unusually high rate of polycythemia vera in the anthracite coal region. ATSDR will also outline areas for future research. The meeting will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Genetti's Best Western Hotel, 1441 N. Church St.

In an e-mail sent earlier this week to local environmental health advocates, ATSDR researcher Dr. Vince Seaman said that their "hard work and perseverance has not been fruitless." He also said he believes concerned citizens will be "encouraged" by the recommendations that will be presented.

The investigation's results will be published in a major scientific journal in the near future, which may bring more attention from national and international medical researchers.

Also attending Monday's meeting will be national experts on the rare blood cancer and representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Department of Environmental Protection.

Check back next week for more details on the findings.

Public meeting Tuesday to discuss third nuke planned for cancer-plagued Luzerne County

2008-08-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Bloomsburg, Pa. this Tuesday, Aug. 19, to discuss its review of the application it expects for a new reactor at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County near Berwick, about 28 miles northwest of Hometown.

"We're going to work with residents to help them understand the process and how they can participate, because they can provide valuable information," said David Matthews, director of the Division of New Reactor Licensing in the NRC’s Office of New Reactors.

PPL -- which is also planning to boost the generating capacity of the plant's two existing reactors over the next two years -- wants to build and operate a new kind of nuclear reactor there known as a European Pressurized Reactor or Evolutionary Power Reactor. The EPR is designed by the French state-owned firm AREVA, a company under fire for uranium spills from its Socatri nuclear waste processing facility that have contaminated rivers and groundwater in Provence. Nuclear safety advocates in Europe and the United States are calling for the plant's closure.

"There has been a cascade of nuclear accidents in France over the last two months," said Linda Gunter, spokesperson for the Maryland-based group Beyond Nuclear. "The fact that in both incidents at the Socatri plant there was a delay before the public was informed, raises some serious questions about the corporate behavior of AREVA, a company that has multiple nuclear contracts in the U.S."

This month brought yet another potentially hazardous incident at AREVA's Socatri plant: an "anomaly" during receipt of a shipment from the French radioactive waste management agency. AREVA said the incident did not threaten public health or the environment; however, it did cause the facility to exceed a yearly emissions limit for radioactive carbon 14.

AREVA is also the maker of the experimental mixed-oxide fuel assembly that had to be removed recently from one of Duke Energy's nuclear power plants in South Carolina after it underwent potentially hazardous physical changes, apparently due to problems with a proprietary experimental alloy called M5.

But as the Union of Concerned Scientists points out, dozens of AREVA conventional uranium fuel assemblies using M5 are currently in the cores of several other U.S. reactors -- including Three Mile Island-1, which also lies along the Susquehanna River.

* * *

PPL's plans to put an AREVA EPR near Berwick come as Luzerne and neighboring Schuylkill counties are already suffering unusually high rates of many cancers, including the rare blood malignancy polycythemia vera. A team of government-affiliated and independent scientists who studied polycythemia vera locally concluded that the high rate locally is probably due to environmental factors -- although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disavowed that finding.

Among the environmental factors the medical literature (pdf) associates with an excess risk of PV is low-level ionizing radiation. And despite the nuclear industry's claims that its power is "emissions-free," normally operating nuclear reactors do release low levels of radiation to the environment. That's why they're required to file annual annual radiological environmental operating reports with the NRC.

PPL filed its latest radiological emissions report for the Susquehanna reactors (pdf) in May. The company reported finding various radioactive pollution around the plant, but for the most part blamed it on other sources. The radioactive Iodine-131 activity detected in 13 of 36 surface water samples taken around the plant? Medical waste discharges upstream. Cesium-137 in sediment samples taken nearby? Nuclear weapons fallout.

The company did acknowledge that Iodine-131 was present in ambient air samples, but said the levels were so low they're hard to measure reliably. It also acknowledged detecting tritium -- a radioactive form of hydrogen created in reactors -- "in the aquatic pathway to man," but below regulatory limits.

Of course, those limits don't take into account the other sources of radiation to which the people of Luzerne and nearby Schuylkill counties are exposed, which include naturally occurring radon as well as radionuclides from burning coal and coal combustion waste-dumping. Nor do they consider the many other toxic exposures, from historic waste dumping (including the notorious Butler Mine Tunnel case) to current industrial emissions.

* * *

Though any increase in radioactive pollution due to the addition of another normally operating reactor would presumably be small, a growing body of research suggests that exposure to any amount of radiation -- even at levels far below regulatory limits -- increases people's risk of cancer. In 2005, for example, the National Academy of Science released the latest in a series of reports on health risks from radiation exposure, which found that the preponderance of scientific evidence shows exposure to radiation at even barely detectable doses can cause DNA damage leading to cancers.

"The scientific research base shows that there is no threshold of exposure below which low levels of ionizing radiation can be demonstrated to be harmless or beneficial," Richard Monson, a Harvard epidemiologist and chair of the research committee, said at the time. "The health risks -- particularly the development of solid cancers in organs -- rise proportionally with exposure."

Polycythemia vera is not the only cancer that occurs at an unusually high rate in Luzerne County: The Pennsylvania Department of Health's own official 2005 study into cancer rates in Luzerne, Schuylkill and Carbon counties found that Luzerne's thyroid cancer rate is 45 percent higher than the state's rate -- which in turn is the nation's highest. In fact, the Pennsylvania counties with the highest rates of the disase are generally close to and downwind of four nuclear power plants, according to an analysis by epidemiologist Joe Mangano with the nonprofit Radiation and Public Health Project. Though that doesn't prove a causal relationship, it does seem to suggest the need for a closer examination of reactors' public health impacts.

(Map from the Radiation and Public Health Project website)

Besides polycythemia vera and thyroid cancer, the state health department study also found a number of other malignancies occurring in Luzerne County at rates significantly higher than the state's: cancers of the stomach, colon/rectum, larynx, bronchus/lung, uterine, prostate, and uterus, as well as leukemia, another cancer of the blood. In Schuylkill County, the study found significantly elevated rates of cancer of the buccal cavity/pharynx, colon/rectum, liver, pancreas, cervix, uterus, and prostate, as well as Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes.

It will be interesting to see whether and how the NRC's reactor licensing process will address the obviously serious cancer problem already facing Luzerne and Schuylkill counties.

* * *

Tuesday's meeting will take place at Bloomsburg University's Kehr Union Ballroom, 400 East Second St. from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Click here for a map and directions.

I'll be on the radio tomorrow discussing the myth of "clean coal"

2008-07-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

This Thursday afternoon, July 17, I'll be on Doug Henwood's "Behind the News" show on New York City's WBAI radio, discussing so-called "clean coal" technology. Henwood is the editor and founder of Left Business Observer and a frequent contributor to The Nation. The show starts at 5 p.m., and I'll be on from about 5:10 to 5:30 p.m. You can tune in live over the Internet here, or listen to the archived edition here.

"Coal makes us sick"

2008-07-02T14:12:00.001-07:00

This isn't news for those of us from mining communities, but it's still nice to hear a politician say it:

Court decision expected soon on local sludge ban

2008-06-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

From an article in yesterday's Allentown Morning Call:

Just weeks after receiving letters in 2006 from the state Department of Environmental Protection that a local tree farm would be spreading sludge on hundreds of acres, residents of East Brunswick Township in Schuylkill County responded by lobbying their supervisors to enact a no sludge ban, which they approved that December.

But the tree farm, J.C. Hills, complained to the state attorney general, who filed suit against the township claiming the ordinance violated a 2005 state law that prohibits municipalities from regulating sludge.

A decision on the suit, now before the Commonwealth Court, is expected within weeks if not days. But whatever the verdict, the question of who decides on the use of sludge -- commonly known as biosolids -- is an emerging controversy in Pennsylvania and one that is gaining traction with its municipalities.

Other Schuylkill County communities that have enacted similar bans or announced support of East Brunswick's ordinance include the borough of Tamaqua and the townships of Mahanoy, Packer and Rush, where Hometown is located. Elsewhere across the state, communities in Lancaster and York counties have also taken action against sludge dumping.

Video documents local coal combustion waste hazards

2008-05-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

There's a new video documenting the hazards of coal combustion waste in the Hometown area. It's by Davin Hutchins of the American News Project and Suemedha Sood, who reported on this issue for The Washington Independent. The video features people and places I've written about before on this blog, including Betty Kester, Dante Picciano, Dr. Paul Roda, the Northeastern Power Co. waste-coal-fired power plant, and the Still Creek Reservoir.

The seven-minute video necessarily simplifies a complicated story. For example, it focuses solely on coal combustion waste, neglecting to mention that NEPCO is built next to a former toxic waste dump-turned-Superfund site that also probably impacted local health. Nor does it address the issue of air pollution from NEPCO and the many other waste-coal-fired plants (and other industrial facilities) in Schuylkill County. Nevertheless, it provides a valuable glimpse into a very serious problem impacting the area.

To watch the video, click here.

Comments sought on Pa. plan to subsidize untested carbon-capture technology

2008-05-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

The following is from the Web site of Dante Picciano:

RENDELL AND MCGINTY PROPOSE TO USE PUBLIC LANDS FOR COAL AND UTILITY INDUSTRIES

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty are at it again. This time they want to try to store waste carbon dioxide underground on state-owned forestlands. The waste carbon dioxide will come from private coal-burning power plants and other private industrial sources. Carbon dioxide is believed to be a major cause of global warming.

As previously reported, Pennsylvania has no money for bridge and road repair or property tax reform and yet Rendell and McGinty are proposing to be the first in the nation to fund and build Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) "demonstration" projects. McGinty said the state will OFFER PUBLIC LANDS and ASSUME ALL LIABILITIES: health, property, insurance and funding, for this totally unproven technology! CCS is technology that Wall Street, venture capitalists and bankers won't fund and scientists are not certain will work.

Many concerned citizens and groups, including the Sierra Club, are reporting that they do not believe that public lands should be used as dumping grounds for industrial wastes from utility companies. They also question why the state should provide another subsidy to the coal and utility industries.

Why would Rendell and McGinty be in favor of subsidizing the unproven technology for the coal and utility industries? It is our opinion that both are seeking appointments in the next administration should the Democrats take back the White House in November.

It is our belief that Rendell would like to be Secretary of Energy and McGinty would like to be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Both positions would require confirmation by the U.S. Senate and Rendell and McGinty are hoping to use our tax money on unproven technology in order to gain industry support for any confirmation hearings.

We can do something to stop this abuse of power and taxpayer money. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has issued a one-sided report on the CCS technology and will accept public comments on the report until June 15, 2008. We will be sending a copy of this story to the DCNR. Please send your comments on this unproven technology to:

DCNR
Office of Legislation and Strategic Initiatives
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street
P.O. Box 8767
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767

Officials say sludge is no concern for drinking water

2008-04-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

Jerry Pillus of the state Department of Environmental Protection has assured the public that the sewage sludge being dumped next to a feeder creek for Tamaqua's drinking-water reservoir is not a problem. Furthermore, he's tired of citizens raising concerns about the water. Read all about it in the April 17 post at DANTE7.com.

Sludge dumped near Hometown's drinking water reservoir

2008-04-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

Tamaqua Borough Council member Cathy Miorelli has raised concerns about the dumping of sewage sludge on land drained by a stream that feeds the Still Creek Reservoir, the local drinking water supply, according to the Times News. The land in question is in Carbon County's Packer Township.

Miorelli's experience in trying to bring the problem to the attention of the proper authorities illustrates why many area citizens have little faith in government regulators.

After she learned about a "brown substance" piling up on the land in question, Miorelli called the state Department of Environmental Protection's complaint hotline and spoke with Tim Craven, according to the paper. Asked whether the dumping was permitted, Craven -- who is DEP's Northeast regional biosolids coordinator -- said he didn't know, and that "it would be difficult for him to find out," she said.

Craven eventually called the farmer, who reportedly said the material was lime. Craven then told Miorelli to call the farmer and verify that it was in fact lime. She told him she didn't think that was her job and requested an inspection. He said he would "really hate to do that," she told the paper.

Then on April 2, Miorelli got a phone call from Craven, who told her that it was in fact "biosolid material," and that it had come from Phillipsburg, N.J. On April 10, officials with the DEP and Tamaqua Borough and Water Authority met at the property in question but declined to check the feeder stream. The paper reports:

Mayor Christian Morrison took issue with the fact that the DEP officials apparently lied and did not perform the appropriate inspections.

"This community has lost faith in DEP and this just doesn't help,'' he said.

It would be interesting to know where specifically in Phillipsburg the material comes from. The town is home to Hydropress, a company that processes sewage sludge from New York City and elsewhere into materials spread on farmlands. In 2003, the company sued Pennsylvania's Upper Mount Bethel Township over an ordinance requiring sludge dumpers to pay a fee for road improvements and a substantial bond to ensure compliance with local regulations; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court eventually ruled that townships do not have the authority to impose such regulations.

Despite the high court's ruling, Tamaqua as well as neighboring Rush Township, where Hometown is located, have passed similar restrictions on dumping. So has nearby East Brunswick Township, which is now having its regulations challenged by State Attorney General Tom Corbett, who formerly served as an attorney for sludge hauler Waste Management Inc.

Teach-in targets depleted uranium weapons manufacturing in Scranton

2008-04-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, April 22, the same day as Pennsylvania's presidential primary, there will be a teach-in about the depleted uranium weapons and ammunitions produced by General Dynamics in Scranton, 50 miles northeast of Hometown. The event is organized by We the People, a New Hampshire-based organization that promotes campaign finance reform, and the New York-based No DU Coalition of the Hudson Valley. The event will take place at noon at General Dynamics' Scranton headquarters, located at 135 Cedar Ave.

Invitees include presidential candidates John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Gravel and Ralph Nader, along with senior executives from General Dynamics and the Pentagon. Confirmed speakers include Herbert Reed, an Iraq veteran contaminated by depleted uranium.

A byproduct of the uranium enrichment process, depleted uranium is a very high-density metal used to make anti-tank munitions and armor-plating for tanks. DU is chemically toxic as well as slightly radioactive, and its main exposure route is thought to be inhalation of dust formed when DU munitions hit targets. The British government has attributed health problems and birth defect claims from a 1991 Gulf War veteran to DU poisoning, and scientific studies have suggested a link between chronic DU exposure and leukemia as well as other genetic, reproductive and neurological problems.

To date, most of the opposition to DU weapons has focused on their impact on veterans and civilians in war zones. But what about DU's impact on the communities where the weapons are manufactured? Could the DU weapons facility in Scranton be a factor in the unusually high cancer rates in Northeastern Pennsylvania?

Listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory as the "U.S. Army Scranton Army Ammunition Plant," the facility in 2006 reported releasing to the environment 13 pounds of toxic chemicals -- the metals chromium, copper, manganese and nickel. However, uranium and depleted uranium are not included among the chemicals covered by the TRI.

(Photo of Iraqi baby believed to be have been deformed by depleted uranium contamination by Dr. Jenan Hassan courtesy of Mindfully.org. For more photos of babies believed to have been impacted by DU, click here -- but please be warned that these images are quite graphic and disturbing. For more about Dr. Hassan's work, click here.)

New study confirms coalfields' health threats

2008-03-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

This probably won't come as a great surprise to residents of the anthracite region, but people living in coal mining communities have a significantly higher risk of developing serious health problems, according to a new study by West Virginia University scientists. Compared to the average American, residents of West Virginia's coalfields are 70 percent more likely to develop kidney disease, 64 percent more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 30 percent more likely to report high blood pressure.

And the problem isn't limited to West Virginia: The researchers say premature death rates suggest similar health problems afflict the entire Appalachian coal mining region, which stretches from Pennsylvania to Alabama and encompasses parts of Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. They believe environmental pollution from coal-processing chemicals, diesel equipment, explosives, toxic impurities in coal, and dust from uncovered coal trucks are probably to blame.

"Residents of coal-mining communities have long complained of impaired health," said author Michael Hendryx, associate director of the WVU Institute for Health Policy Research. "This study substantiates their claims. Those residents are at an increased risk of developing chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases."

Coal isn't the sole culprit behind the region's poor health, of course. As public health authorities have been eager to point out to Hometown-area residents concerned about an unusual incidence of disease, other factors include higher-than-average rates of smoking, poverty and poor education. But when the researchers controlled for those factors they still found elevated disease rates. They also looked at hospitalization rates in relationship to coal production and found that the risk of hospitalization for COPD increases 1 percent per every 1,462 tons of coal produced and for hypertension by 1 percent per every 1,873 tons.

Hendryx and co-author Melissa Ahern of Washington State University used data from a 2001 WVU Health Policy Research telephone survey of more than 16,400 West Virginians. They correlated that with data from the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, which shows volume of coal production in each of the state's 55 counties. The study, "Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia," will appear in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Other detailed reports on mortality rates in coal-mining communities will be published in national journals this spring.

"People in coal-mining communities need better access to healthcare, cleaner air, cleaner water, and stricter enforcement of environmental standards," Hendryx said. "Our study helps open the door for further explorations of community health and coal mining. We owe it to people in those communities to start protecting and repairing their health."

League of Conservation Voters grades federal lawmakers on environmental issues

2008-02-25T13:29:00.000-08:00

Casey earns perfect score; Specter's and Holden's are mediocre

The League of Conservation Voters has released its annual scorecard for 2007, evaluating federal lawmakers' voting records on environmental issues.

On the Senate side, the environmental advocacy group looked at votes on 15 matters ranging from oil subsidies to energy efficiency standards to liquid fuel derived from coal. The latter issue is of special interest to residents of Schuylkill County, where Waste Management and Processors -- a subsidiary of the Rich Family Companies -- is pushing for millions in taxpayer subsidies to build a waste coal-to-oil plant near Gilberton. Producing oil from coal or waste coal emits large amounts of toxic pollution as well as greenhouse gases.

Sen. Robert Casey (D) got a grade of 100 percent, voting the more environmentally sustainable position on every issue. His colleague, Sen. Arlen Specter (R), didn't do as well, earning only a 60 percent -- though that represents an improvement from previous scorecards where he earned grades ranging from a low of 28 percent in the 2003-2004 session to a previous high of 52 percent in 2001-2002. The issues where Specter differed with environmentalists in the latest evaluation were oil subsidies, clean energy standards, offshore drilling, oil refinery security, and the establishment of a commission to prioritize water resources projects.

On the House side, Rep. Tim Holden (D-17) did slightly better than Specter at 70 percent. Of the 20 issues considered, the ones where he parted ways with environmentalists were grasslands protection, farm subsidy reform, clean air, offshore drilling and family planning. The average score for Congress overall was 53 percent.

Holden and Specter also voted against the environment on the issue of liquid coal. It's not altogether surprising that they would do the bidding of liquid coal interests when you consider how much the Rich family alone has invested in their political campaigns. John W. Rich Jr. -- the man behind the local waste coal-to-oil plant -- and others connected with the Rich Family Companies have donated at least $20,800 to Specter, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics' OpenSecrets.org database. At the same time, they've donated a whopping $45,681 to Holden -- but nothing at all to Casey.

Rendell does bidding of polluting paymasters in Schuylkill County

2008-02-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

During a press conference earlier this month, Gov. Ed Rendell expressed his enthusiasm for a waste coal-to-oil facility planned for Schuylkill County. The project near Gilberton would dramatically increase toxic emissions in an area already experiencing unusually high cancer rates that researchers believe are linked to environmental factors.

And Rendell doesn't just support the idea of private investors undertaking the project: He wants the very people who would be hurt by the plant's pollution to subsidize its construction, the estimated cost of which has more than tripled since the proposal was first unveiled. The Pottsville Republican Herald reports:

... Rendell was asked about the proposed $1 billion coal-to-liquid fuels project in Mahanoy Township, proposed by John W. Rich Jr., president of Waste Management and Processors Inc.

Rendell said he would be open to providing more funds to help put the waste coal-to-oil plant "over the top."

"Yes, that's a project that we would be very interested in," Rendell said.

Rich and other members of his family who do business together as part of the Rich Family Companies -- which include a local sewage sludge dumping operation, two waste-coal burning power plants, and a mining company -- are major political benefactors for Rendell, having contributed at least $68,000 to his political campaigns since 2001, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics' database. Those include contributions of:

* $8,000 on Nov. 14, 2001;
* $10,000 on Feb. 21, 2002;
* $10,000 on Aug. 6, 2002;
* $7,500 on Sept. 25, 2002;
* $10,000 on Oct. 30, 2002;
* $500 on Dec. 31, 2002;
* $1,000 on April 15, 2004;
* $1,000 on March 3, 2005;
* and a whopping $20,000 on Sept. 21, 2006.

If Schuylkill County residents suffering from cancer and other environmental illnesses want the governor to take action in their behalf, perhaps they'll have to come up with some campaign cash, too.

(Photo of John W. Rich Jr. by The News-Item via UltraCleanFuels.com)

New evidence of corruption at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2008-02-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

Last year the people of the Hometown area bore witness as representatives of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lied to us in an effort to hide inconvenient truths about pollution's impact on our health.

During an October meeting in Hazleton, we heard representatives of the ATSDR tell us that a study into the area's unusually high rate of polycythemia vera conducted by the agency and independent researchers found no environmental factors contributing to the rare blood malignancy's prevalence. Soon after that, however, we discovered an abstract of that very study posted online that said the researchers found an unusual cluster of the disease centered around the McAdoo Associates Superfund site just north of Hometown. Even after ATSDR officials disavowed that finding, saying the study contained "erroneous information" and needed to be revised, the researchers continued to insist that their data points to an environmental factor behind the elevated incidence rates. One of the researchers confided to me that they were feeling pressure from higher-ups at the CDC to back off from those claims.

Now more evidence has emerged of the CDC's eagerness to cover up inconvenient scientific truths -- and to punish the researchers who unearth them.

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, last week published a story that describes how the CDC blocked publication of an ATSDR study into environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states reportedly because of its alarming findings about health effects. The study -- which was conducted at the request of the International Joint Commission, an independent organization that advises the U.S. and Canadian governments on the quality of boundary waters between the two countries -- found that more than nine million people who live in some two dozen communities including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee may face elevated health risks from toxic exposures. It also found low birth weights, elevated rates of infant mortality and premature births, and elevated death rates from various cancers with environmental links.

The CDC's response? Bury the study.

Reports CPI:

Last July, several days before the study was to be released, ATSDR suddenly withdrew it, saying that it needed further review. In a letter to Christopher De Rosa, then the director of the agency's division of toxicology and environmental medicine, Dr. Howard Frumkin, ATSDR's chief, wrote that the quality of the study was "well below expectations." When the Center contacted Frumkin's office, a spokesman said that he was not available for comment and that the study was "still under review."

And guess what happened to De Rosa? After complaining to his bosses that the withholding of the study smacked of scientific censorship, he was demoted. He's currently trying to get his old job back, claiming that the demotion represented illegal retaliation by Frumkin.

Why would the CDC squelch such an important study and punish the renowned researcher behind it? CPI asked Canadian biologist and IJC member Michael Gilbertson, who was also one of the study's peer reviewers, for his thoughts:

"It's not good because it's inconvenient," Gilbertson said. "The whole problem with all this kind of work is wrapped up in that word 'injury.' If you have injury, that implies liability. Liability, of course, implies damages, legal processes, and costs of remedial action. The governments, frankly, in both countries are so heavily aligned with, particularly, the chemical industry, that the word amongst the bureaucracies is that they really do not want any evidence of effect or injury to be allowed out there."

More national press coverage of local polycythemia vera cluster

2008-02-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

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."

Polycythemia vera patient from Hometown area dies

2008-01-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

He survived the D-Day landing at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge only to spend the last years of his life debilitated by polycythemia vera -- a disease likely caused by his heavily polluted environment.

Lester Barney Kester, a resident of the Ben Titus Road community north of Hometown, passed away at his home three days ago, according to his published obituary. He was 84. Among Kester's survivors is his wife, Betty, who also suffers from the rare blood malignancy.

The fact that two genetically unrelated people in one household were both diagnosed with the disease helped draw attention to what appeared to be the area's unusually high rate of PV -- an appearance that has since been confirmed as fact. Unfortunately, public health officials and political leaders have so far failed to take any action to address the problem, which independent scientists say appears to be environmental in origin. The Kesters live just downhill from the McAdoo Associates Superfund site, a former chemical dumping ground for some of America's biggest corporations; the Northeastern Power Co. waste-coal-burning power plant; and an enormous coal combustion waste dump dubbed "the Big Gorilla."

Mrs. Kester recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer that doctors "flipped out" when her husband was diagnosed with the disease two years after her, so astounded were they to see two cases in one family. She admitted to feeling bitter over having their retirement years ruined by the disease but observed that at least they were up in years when diagnosed:

"I'm thinking of the children," she said. "We're old, we're ready to die. But the children that are coming up -- I'd like something done for them, if possible."

There will be visitation with the Kester family from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at the Lamar Christ Funeral Home in Hometown. My thoughts and prayers are with the family, and with all of those whose lives have been touched by the region's environmental crisis.

Is the environment really a partisan issue?

2008-01-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

That's the question raised by Michael Cadau's comments to the Pottsville Republican & Herald following his resignation from the Schuylkill County Republican Executive Committee. Cadau, who ran unsuccessfully against state Rep. Neal Goodman (D-123) in 2006, resigned recently along with fellow members Mary Lou Hannon and Peter Zuber:

Cadau made county environmental issues a top priority during his campaign, something he says party leaders frowned upon.

"I had people in the party telling me to stop the environmental stuff," Cadau said. "They basically said 'go away, Mike. We don't want you talking about this.' We (Cadau, Hannon and Zuber) don't want to play by their rules."

[Clyde C. "Champ" Holman, a legislative aide for State Sen. James J. Rhoades (R-29) and a member of the executive committee,] said he tried to help Cadau during his campaign and told him if he wanted to talk about environmental issues, he should give details on proposals rather than blanket statements.

"The status quo has failed miserably," Cadau said. "The 'I was born a Republican so I am a Republican' -- that philosophy has got to go."

The polycythemia vera deception

2007-12-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

I've hesitated to share my reaction to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's and the Pennsylvania Department of Health's recent disavowal of the study that suggested a link between environmental factors and the area's high rate of polycythemia vera. I try not to write when angry, and recent events have me riled.

It seems clear what happened: A team of scientists found an apparent link between environmental factors and the area's high rate of polycythemia vera and released the findings without first getting the approval of the bureaucracies' bosses. Since it's politically unacceptable to draw any connection between the anthracite region's environmental degradation and the local health crisis, the bosses did the bidding of their political paymasters (and their financial benefactors) and declared the findings invalid.

But study author Dr. Ronald Hoffman, a professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a noted blood cancer expert, maintains that the data point to an environmental problem. Another study author told me the same thing -- but as an employee of one of the public agencies asked to remain unnamed out of fear of further upsetting the higher ups, who reportedly are already quite upset that the findings were made public.

We're witnessing what happens when politicians attempt to control science, as Dante Picciano elucidates in the latest posting from his Web site.

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE POLYCYTHEMIA VERA COVER UP
By Dante Picciano
www.dante7.com
December 26, 2007

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!

Sir Walter Scott

I have waited for the dust to settle before commenting on the latest episode in the cover up of our polycythemia vera cancer epidemic by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH).

On October 24, 2007 in Hazleton, PA, the ATSDR and the PA DOH reported the results of a study showing 38 cases of the rare polycythemia vera cancer in Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties. The agencies noted that the 38 cases were 52% higher than the 25 expected over the last five years.

The ATSDR circulated a news release that stated, "ATSDR found no link between environmental factors and PV in this area." Also, Senator Arlen Specter stated in a letter to the Director of the ATSDR and to the Secretary of the PADOH, "I am heartened by the study's findings that there are no environmental or occupational causes for the disease..."

At the meeting, Dr. Steve Dearwent of the ATSDR stated, "There's no conspiracy to hide any information." With reference to determining how elevated the 38 cases of polycythemia was, Dearwent said, "Quite honestly, the benchmark is fuzzy."

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!

It was fuzzy all right. The ATSDR actually found 131 suspected cases of polycythemia vera in the study, more than five times what was expected (Polycythemia vera cancer epidemic, www.dante7.com, November 9, 2007).

In the November 16, 2007 issue of Blood, researchers from the ATSDR and Mount Sinai School of Medicine reported in an abstract that there were actually 131 possible cases of polycythemia vera found in the study, that residents living within 13 miles of the McAdoo Superfund site had a 4.5 times greater risk of developing polycythemia vera and that the data strongly suggested that an environmental influence led to the development of the polycythemia vera.

This latest report was not in agreement with the results presented at the October 24, 2007 meeting in Hazleton. The abstract indicated a much larger problem and it pointed to an environmental cause. What could the agencies do? They had to save face, they had to make Arlen Specter look good and they had to get the polluting industries off the hook.

"We essentially jumped the gun in releasing something we ultimately don't think is true," said Steve Dearwent. The research is a "stew" of expertise, he said, and "the ingredient we added was not good."

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!

Dr. Dearwent explained that the findings were biased by failure to consider that many of the cases of polycythemia vera were diagnosed in people who had lived in multiple places during the "clean up" of the Superfund site.

In other words, there was a polycythemia vera cluster but only because people with this rare cancer moved to the same place, which just happened to be near the Superfund site http://blog.wired.com. Dr. Dearwent wants us to believe that people who suffer from polycythemia vera tend to flock together and roam the country side looking for a place near a toxic waste site to settle.

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!

However, there was another major problem for Dr. Dearwent, the ATSDR and the PA DOH. Dr. Ronald Hoffman, the lead investigator of the study, is not a federal or state employee. He is a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and not subject to influence by the government agencies. Dr. Hoffman refused to go along with the ATSDR's back pedaling and insisted that the data does in fact point to something in the environment as the cause of the polycythemia vera in this area.

Dr. Hoffman stated, "Based upon the data, there's significant concern that there is something in the environment leading to the development of polycythemia vera in that area."

Oh my, what was Senator Specter to do? The lead investigator refused to back pedal and play along with the senator's absurdity that he was "heartened by the study's findings that there are no environmental or occupational causes for the disease."

Senator Specter then announced that he, U.S. Senator Bob Casey and U.S. Representative Tim Holden had sent a letter expressing concern over the release of the abstract and urging officials to make clarifications.

Then in a bit of understatement, Rep. Holden admitted some confusion over contradictory results between the October meeting and the latest report.

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!

Holden then stated, "Don't ask me to answer any questions because I don't know any more than you." Oh really! I thought that it was our representative's job to know what was going on in his district.

There is no doubt in my mind that our elected officials are working frantically to protect the polluting industries that are causing the polycythemia vera in this area. There is no other rational explanation for the deceptive practices detailed above.

I have also noticed an almost complete absence of State Senator Jim Rhoades and State Representative Dave Argall from any involvement with this study in their respective districts. They seem too busy having their pictures taken giving away our money with cardboard checks.

I hope that you remember the actions of Specter, Holden, Rhoades and Argall the next time that they are up for re-election.

How about Cancer Victims' Day, Rep. Argall?

2007-12-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

'BENEFICIAL USE' DAY
By Dante Picciano
www.dante7.com

Did you know that August 29, 2007 in Pennsylvania was "Environmentally Beneficial Use of Waste Coal as an Alternative Energy Source Day?" This date was designated as such on July 7, 2007 by Resolution No. 363 of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. July 7th was also the second anniversary of the notorious illegal pay raise that our representatives gave themselves in the early morning hours of July 7, 2005.

The Resolution informs us that the waste coal energy industry has beneficially utilized more than 73 million tons of by-products for abandoned mine land reclamation. Translation: This industry has burned millions of tons of waste coal mixed with waste solvents, has generated millions of tons of fly ash and has dumped the fly ash waste into unlined abandoned mines.

A recent report by the Clean Air Task Force and EarthJustice showed that disposing fly ash in mines is contaminating water supplies throughout Pennsylvania. In 10 of 15 mines examined across the state, groundwater and streams near areas where fly ash, or coal combustion waste, was placed had levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and selenium and other pollutants above safe levels.

The Resolution passed the House by a vote of 190 to 7 and our own representative, David Argall, voted for it. You should note that Mr. Argall received at least $12,500 in campaign contributions from corporate polluters and $35,770 from law firms and lobbyists in 2006 (Source: www.followthemoney.org).

Mr. Argall should introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives designating a day in 2008 as "Polycythemia Vera Victims' Day" for the people afflicted with the cancer in this area. In fact, Mr. Argall should introduce a resolution designating the entire year of 2008 as "Victims' Year" in honor of the thousands of people afflicted with cancer, asthma and other diseases caused by the polluting industries in Pennsylvania. However, I doubt that this will happen because not enough victims have contributed to Mr. Argall's re-election campaign.

I also find it interesting that our representatives have time to pass resolutions honoring corporate polluters but don't have time for property tax reform or bridge and highway repair.

FEDS DISAVOW SUPERFUND-CANCER LINK FINDINGS

2007-12-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I reported that the abstract of the tri-county polycythemia vera study that will be presented Monday at the American Society of Hematology's annual meeting asserted a connection between a local cluster of the rare blood malignancy and the McAdoo Associates Superfund site. Well, today the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is saying those findings are wrong. From an Associated Press story by Mike Stobbe and Michael Rubinkam, filed this afternoon:

Officials abruptly backpedaled Friday on a federally funded health study that suggests an environmental link to a cluster of rare blood cancer cases in northeastern Pennsylvania, saying an abstract that made the claim was mistakenly released to the public. ...

... Steve Dearwent, a government epidemiologist, said Friday that the abstract was written early in the summer and that subsequent analysis of the data did not support the conclusion of an environmental link — although he added that still is a possibility. He said the abstract should have been revised before it was submitted.

"We're going to have to retract the abstract to correct the record because it is erroneous information," said Dearwent, chief of health investigations for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the federal agency that oversaw the study. "It was preliminary and hadn't been vetted, and unfortunately it got submitted unbeknownst to most people here."

Dearwent said additional research might prove an environmental link. And the study's lead researcher, Dr. Ronald Hoffman of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said Friday that the data does in fact point to something in the environment.

"Based upon the data, there's significant concern that there is something in the environment leading to the development of polycythemia vera in that area. The nature of what's causing it is unknown at the moment and is going to require further study," he said.

MEDICAL RESEARCHERS DRAW LINK BETWEEN LOCAL POLYCYTHEMIA VERA EPIDEMIC, SUPERFUND SITE

2007-12-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

The American Society of Hematology's annual meeting and expo will open in Atlanta on Saturday, and the abstract for Monday's session on the local three-county polycythemia vera study has been posted online. Apparently the researchers believe they have found a connection between the high local occurrence of the rare blood malignancy and the McAdoo Associates Superfund site, as evidenced by this excerpt (bold emphasis mine):

Of the 37 cases who met both clinical and molecular criteria (JAK2V617F+) for a diagnosis of PV, 18 (49%) had resided within a 13 mile radius of the McAdoo Associates Superfund Site (MASS) for >5 years during the period 1970-95. The MASS was the home of a hazardous waste recycling business from 1975-79 where large quantities of toxic chemicals were dumped directly into old mine shafts.The Environmental Protection Agency completed surface remediation in the early 90s, but was unable to determine the extent and fate of the chemicals poured into the mine. A spatial scan statistical analysis identified this area as a significant cluster and individuals living within this area had a 4.5 times greater risk of developing PV compared to individuals residing in the remainder of the 3 counties (p<0.001).

That seems to contradict what the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry stated in its press release about the study's findings: "The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) confirmed 38 cases of polycythemia vera (PV) in Schuylkill, Luzerne and Carbon counties. ATSDR found no link between environmental factors and PV in this area." It also contradicts what U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wrote in his Oct. 22 letter to ATSDR and the Pa. Department of Health following his briefing on the findings: "I am heartened by the study's findings that there are no environmental or occupational causes for the disease ... ."

Why didn't the ATSDR and PADOH give us this information at the Oct. 24 public meeting in Hazleton, or since then? Are they trying to keep those of us whose health may have been damaged by the site from knowing the truth? And now that the truth is out, what will our elected leaders such as Specter and our public health agencies do to help us?

Solidarietà!

2007-11-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

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:

2007-11-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

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'

2007-11-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

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?