McADOO, Pa. (AP) -- More than 30 =
years=20
ago, an abandoned mine in Pennsylvania coal country =
was turned=20
into a dump for toxic waste. Lots of it.
When government officials =
finally shut=20
down the site in 1979, they found nearly 7,000 storage =
drums,=20
and dead birds and animals. Many of the drums were =
badly=20
corroded and leaking dangerous chemicals. The =
Environmental=20
Protection Agency called it the state's worst =
environmental=20
hazard, placed it on the Superfund list and began a=20
cleanup.
Years later, officials say the =
site does=20
not pose a health hazard. But residents who live =
nearby are=20
skeptical. They say they seem to be getting cancer and =
other=20
serious diseases in startling numbers. By one =
unofficial=20
estimate, 70 of 100 homes within a half-mile of the =
site have=20
been touched.
This week, the government will =
report on a=20
possible cluster of polycythemia vera, or PCV, a rare =
blood=20
disease that has sickened dozens of people. Dr. Peter =
Baddick,=20
an internist who grew up near the Superfund site and =
has=20
sounded the alarm about PCV, said he expects the =
number of=20
cases to be three or four times higher than what would =
be=20
expected for the region.
Clusters are difficult to prove. =
Investigators must establish an unusually high number =
of cases=20
of a specific disease within a given population and =
then=20
figure out whether it can be attributed to something =
in the=20
environment. Most reported clusters are found to be =
due to=20
chance.
Thomas Burke, a professor of =
public health=20
at Johns Hopkins University, said cluster =
investigations=20
rarely yield a definitive cause. "Most clusters, even =
those=20
that are significantly elevated, have not been =
successfully=20
investigated to find a particular environmental link," =
he=20
said.
But residents hope the report =
will force a=20
re-evaluation of the safety of one of the worst toxic =
waste=20
dumps in the nation - and, perhaps, focus attention on =
people=20
who not only contracted PCV but also suffer from =
cancer,=20
multiple sclerosis, lupus and other serious =
illnesses.
Is there a link to the Superfund =
site? The=20
government has consistently said no. But there is no =
question=20
this hardscrabble region 80 miles northwest of =
Philadelphia=20
has endured one environmental headache after =
another.
Land scarred by decades of coal =
mining.=20
Three current or former Superfund sites, including the =
toxic=20
dump, only a few miles apart. Abandoned strip mines =
that have=20
been filled with coal combustion waste, a =
state-approved=20
practice that an environmental group believes has led =
to=20
groundwater contamination.
"There are a lot of people who =
should not=20
be sleeping at night because they've created a lot of =
havoc=20
and misery in people's lives for a few bucks," said =
Joe=20
Murphy, a 41-year-old community activist diagnosed =
with MS in=20
2003.
For now, government =
epidemiologists are=20
focusing on polycythemia (pah-lee-sy-THEE-mee-ah) =
vera, an=20
acquired genetic mutation that thickens the blood and =
can=20
result in heart attacks and strokes.
The condition, whose cause is =
unknown,=20
only became reportable to state cancer registries in =
2001. The=20
government estimates it occurs in one in every 100,000 =
people,=20
although some scientists believe it is even more rare. =
The=20
disease, which is treatable, is more prevalent in =
older people=20
and men.
The U.S. Agency for Toxic =
Substances and=20
Disease Registry began looking into PCV in August 2006 =
after=20
97 cases in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties =
were=20
reported to the state cancer registry between 2001 and =
2005 by=20
doctors, hospitals and labs. Based on its population, =
the=20
region should have reported about 25 cases.
The agency's task: to confirm =
the cases=20
that appeared on the registry, and to search out cases =
the=20
registry might have missed. Scientists also tried to =
find=20
common factors among PCV patients, including their =
proximity=20
to toxic waste sites.
The study is finished. The =
agency has=20
scheduled a community meeting for Wednesday night to =
discuss=20
its findings with the public. Agency officials would =
not=20
discuss the study results ahead of meeting.
Meryl Wertman, 62, is among =
those looking=20
for answers.
After his PCV diagnosis in 2003, =
Wertman=20
was forced to retire early from his job as a prison =
guard. He=20
stopped officiating basketball and baseball games and =
had to=20
give up hunting, one of his passions, after an episode =
in the=20
woods in which he was overcome with exhaustion and =
barely made=20
it back to his house.
Wertman's days now are largely =
spent in=20
front of the TV. "No pep," he said.
"It's hard seeing him that way, =
knowing=20
how active he always was," said his wife, Linda. "He's =
very=20
depressed because he can't do what he wants to =
do."
Like many, Wertman suspects =
there is=20
something in the water. His house in Tamaqua is served =
by the=20
2.7-billion-gallon Still Creek Reservoir, about a mile =
downhill from the chemical dump. Federal and state =
officials=20
say water from the reservoir is treated and safe to =
drink.
Those who dumped the waste =
"should be=20
responsible for everything, and I think there should =
be=20
compensation to the people who went through this," =
Wertman=20
said.
North of Wertman's house, along =
Interstate=20
81, there is a nondescript field surrounded by barbed =
wire,=20
with several wellheads poking up out of the ground. =
This is=20
where a company called McAdoo Associates began =
operating in=20
1975, its purpose to extract and recycle metals from =
chemical=20
wastes.
The company accepted hundred of =
thousands=20
of gallons of paint sludge, waste oils, used solvents, =
PCBs,=20
cyanide, pesticides and many other known or suspected=20
carcinogens. Four years later, when the EPA stepped =
in, McAdoo=20
Associates had stockpiled enough chemicals to nearly =
fill an=20
Olympic-size swimming pool.
And that was just on the =
surface. Jim=20
Leber, a former state mine inspector, said he =
routinely saw=20
tanker trucks pouring their contents directly into an=20
abandoned mine shaft on the site. The ground became so =
saturated with chemicals that it was spongy underfoot, =
he=20
said. A chemical smell hung in the air.
But the EPA says that because of =
the=20
geology of the region, the contaminated groundwater =
beneath=20
McAdoo Associates does not pose a risk to either =
private wells=20
or public water supplies. Residential wells, for =
example, tap=20
into a deeper aquifer, authorities say.
Lester and Betty Kester live =
across the=20
street from the reservoir. They also live downhill =
from McAdoo=20
Associates. And they both have PCV - an extreme =
rarity.
"Almost as rare as her husband =
getting=20
pregnant," said Baddick, who knows the couple. The =
Kesters'=20
neighbors also report a variety of cancers, and at =
least one=20
more case of PCV.
Betty, 79, is perpetually weak, =
exhausted=20
and itchy, symptoms of a disease she believes she got =
"from=20
them drums" up the hill.
"It's sad, it's sad," she said. =
"Because=20
you don't expect this in your life. Now is when we =
should be=20
having a good time, right? Instead, we're having a =
kick in the=20
bum."
=A9 2007 The Associated Press. =
All rights=20
reserved. This material may not be published, =
broadcast,=20
rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy =
Policy.
![3D""=20](3D"http://hosted.ap.org/icons/ic_sm.gif")
Purchase this AP =
story for=20
reprint.
![3DTheTimes-Tribune=20](3D"http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/flagsmall5.1.jpg"=20)
![](3D"http://hosted.ap.org/icons/spacer.gif"=20){kind=spacer}
![](3D"images/loading.gif")
// ![](3D"images/close.gif")
//