The Acreage Cancer Study

Hi Everyone,

Happy Wednesday! As the investigation continues in the Acreage, let's hope that we can try to be supportive of those who are coping with the loss of a loved one or are caring for sick family member.

Please continue to keep all of the Acreage children who were previously diagnosed with brain tumors and those who were just recently diagnosed, in your thoughts and prayers. For those of you who want to reach out and help, please check the Forums. Some residents are working to put some gift baskets together in an effort to assist these families.

As usual, below are some articles regarding cancer clusters and contamination from around the country.

Consultant cites potential Acreage cancer source

Posted: Dec 12, 2009 12:22 AM EST

By Chuck Weber - bio | email

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (WFLX) - An environmental consultant said Friday, she believes, she's found a potential cause for many of the cancer cases in the Acreage.

"Please stay at a distance because of the radioactive material," warned Tibette Wyner, president of Landmark Consulting. Wyner used a Geiger counter to record what, she says, are extremely high radiation levels around a water filtration system at the home of Al Lopez. The system sits right outside a bedroom used until recently by Lopez's 12-year old son.

Even inside the bedroom, consultant Wyner says, radiation levels are high enough to cause cancer when exposed over time.

"My filtration system was right where my son slept for three years," lamented Lopez. "Will there be problems for him at a future date? I don't know."

After public studies found higher than normal radiation levels in private drinking water wells in the Acreage, Lopez and several dozen other homeowners hired Wyner to check out their water.

"It's radiation, I want no part of it," exclaimed John Walker, Lopez' neighbor. Walker said he also has extremely high radiation levels at his filtration system. He just paid to put his drinking water on a deeper well with lower radiation.

To view the full article, Click Here.

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St. Clair Shores PCB hearing provides no answers for residents

EPA delayed release of findings for more than a year, they say

Jim Lynch / The Detroit News

St. Clair Shores -- After years of watching their home values drop and their neighborhoods suffer under the stigma of having environmental issues, more than 130 St. Clair Shores residents came looking for answers at a public hearing Thursday night.

They left, however, without an answer to the question that has dogged the investigation from the beginning: where is the contamination coming from?

"I don't have a smoking gun for you," said Ed Van Hees, a geology professor at Wayne State University, who has studied the problem for several years.

Perhaps no one's search for answers was as deeply personal as that of Jason and Christy Means. Four years ago, the couple moved into a house in the middle of the 10 Mile Drain neighborhood that has been plagued by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) since 2001.

The couple's attempts to have a child failed, and after testing, they've discovered they have serious fertility issues. Since their home is near a pool of PCBs under the Bron Brae/Harper intersection, they can't help but wonder if there's a connection.

To view the full article, Click Here.

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Gambrills Woman Tells Congress Fly Ash Contamination Ruined Her Life

Posted on December 11, 2009

By LAURA GURFEIN

WASHINGTON (Dec. 11, 2009) - Gayle Queen is afraid her organs may fail, and her doctor says she's already in bad shape.

"My doctor told me I have the lungs of an 80-year-old woman," said Queen, 56, a nonsmoker.

The Gambrills resident testified on Capitol Hill Thursday that improper disposal of coal combustion waste, often referred to as fly ash, contaminated the water supply in her neighborhood and ruined her quality of life.

The Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering federal regulation for the lining used at dump sites. Some states have their own regulations in place now.

More than 4 million pounds of fly ash was dumped in an 80-acre site in Gambrills, where it contaminated the groundwater. Queen had been using water from a well on her property until 2007, when she was informed that it was unsafe for consumption.

The local power company, Constellation Energy, has been purchasing bottled water for residents for more than two years.

"Every two weeks I get bottled water to drink, bathe, do everything with," said Queen.

To view the full article, Click Here.