The Acreage Cancer Study

Hi Everyone,

We hope you had a nice weekend. Now, it is back to work!

Reminder: Don't forget to tune in tomorrow, March 9th at 3:00 on WPTV in West Palm Beach for the Dr. Oz show. The Acreage will be a featured topic on the show. For a pre-view, Click Here.

Below are several articles for you to review. Enjoy!

Palm Beach County commissioner Santamaria criticized for not attending cancer cluster meeting

By George BennettPalm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 5:35 p.m. Sunday, March 7, 2010

TALLAHASSEE — Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria's decision to skip a meeting here on Acreage cancer concerns could emerge as an issue if he seeks reelection this year.

Santamaria opted not to trek to the state Capitol after Gov. Charlie Crist's office denied his request for a face-to-face meeting with the guv to discuss higher-than-normal childhood cancer rates in The Acreage in Santamaria's district.

With Santamaria back home, Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson and other five other local elected officials met Wednesday with Florida Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros, Environmental Protection Director Mike Sole and top Crist aides.

Indian Trail Improvement District President Michelle Damone, who attended the meeting, said Santamaria "should have been here. It was disappointing."

Damone, a Democrat, says she's thinking of running for fellow Dem Santamaria's seat. She says Santamaria has "neglected" The Acreage.

To view the full article, Click Here.

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Anxiety in The Acreage over demolition fill with little public safety monitoring

By John Lantigua

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 5:50 p.m. Sunday, March 7, 2010

THE ACREAGE — For years, Joe Gagne worried about the fill he saw dumped on properties around his in The Acreage.

Aveteran of the solid waste disposal business, Gagne would stop his carand run his fingers through the material being hauled in, dump truckafter dump truck. Used to build up low-lying properties, it was mostlysoil. But in it he found nails, screws, wallboard, wood, plastic,glass, insulation and Styrofoam.

Gagne knew the fill came largely from demolition and construction sites, and he had concerns. But thestuff didn't appear to be doing any harm and he didn't make waves.

Then last year he learned that an unusual number of local children had been diagnosed with brain tumors. Gagne, who has a 13-year-old daughter, attended a public meeting. While most residents voiced concerns about the well water, he raised his fears about the fill.

"At first I kept my mouth shut," he says, "but now it's gotten personal."

He wasn't alone. At another meeting, surveyor Ken Osborne, also of The Acreage, held up a plastic bag brimming with fill.

"I own a tractor and a neighbor who bought this fill hired me to spread it for him," Osborne later said. "After a while the tractor got a flat tire. I fixed it and it got another flat tire. I got out and started running my hands through this stuff and it was full of all kinds of junk. At one point I found a crushed hypodermic needle.

To view the full article, Click Here.

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EPA frac'ing study welcomed in Garfield County 

John Colson

Glenwood Springs correspondent

Aspen, CO Colorado

Sunday, March 7, 2010

GARFIELD COUNTY — Oil and gas industry supporters and critics alike say they welcome an impending federal study of the chemicals that go into the controversial mixture known as “frac'ing, fluids,” although for somewhat different reasons.

Industry critics believe the study will show that chemicals from the procedure already have contaminated some drinking water supplies, and that the practice should be regulated by federal agencies.

Industry supporters, on the other hand, hope the study will confirm what they've been saying for years — that frac'ing (pronounced fracking) poses no hazards to human health.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to take a closer look atthe use of chemicals in the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or frac'ing, which involves the injection of massive amounts of mostly water and sand deep into well bores to free up the oil and gas.

Oil and gas industry experts say the process is critical to tapping intodeeply buried and tightly locked deposits of hydrocarbons, which heat  homes, run engines and are used in countless other ways by modern humanity. And, they say, there has never been proof presented that frac'ing caused groundwater contamination.

To view the full article, Click Here.