A judge on Friday heard from a Pratt & Whitney spokesperson who admitted that some of the radioactive material was disposed of in a nearby landfill but said it was inside a steel drum. But the house is basically worthless, and where are you going to go in this job market?. WebA cancer cluster is a statistical event, which may or may not have a cause other than chance. Because the Acreage is unincorporated, the city doesnt provide services even water. Members of Scarola's team said Wednesday that their fight isn't over yet. In August 2013, the results showed some extremely high levels of radioactive contamination, including non-naturally occurring radioactive substances the kind that can only be produced by a man-made nuclear reaction. Seven years after the Health Department declared a pediatric cancer cluster in The Acreage another lawsuit has But for the Peskowitz family, and thousands of others in this western Palm Beach County community, the joy of living miles away from the urban clutter and noise has been supplanted by something louder and more insistent fear. Sharon Lerner is a reporting fellow with Type Investigations covering environmental issues for The Intercept. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; The bottom line: Did Pratt & Whitney's actions depress property values? Five couples who lived in the area and whose children developed brain tumors are serving as plaintiffs in a class-action suit that seeks damages for local residents whose property value plummeted after the cancer cluster was publicized. West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola took the lead on this case for the Acreage residents. WebThe Faces of The Acreage Cancer Cluster Name: Garrett D. Diagnosis: Brain Tumor Age of Diagnosis: 5 Status: Medical monitoring at St. Jude Childrens Hospital Biography: Garrett was five years old when he was diagnosed with an Astrocytoma brain tumor. The process involved, at various points, the CDC, the state and Palm Beach County departments of health, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). WebMara And Acreage Cancer Cluster Map. utmx_section("Legacy Footer"), WE ARE NO LONGER COLLECTING THIS DATA - IF YOU HAVE A BRAIN CANCER CASE TO REPORT PLEASE CONTACT THE PALM BEACH COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, SIGN THE PETITION: Clyde Cancer Cluster claims 6th victim, New Approach to Treating Young Brain Cancer Patients. In 1979, just one year after the Acreage Homeowners Association formed and began constructing a system of canals to make the area habitable, 2,000 gallons of trichloroethylene (TCE), a carcinogenic solvent, leaked into the groundwater and surface water on Pratt & Whitneys campus, as the company later admitted. By the time the tumor Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney enjoys close ties with regulators. The lawsuit blames Palm Beach Aggregates, a mining company, and Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace and engines manufacturer, for radioactive waste that allegedly caused the cancers: 30. While much of the trial will focus on the trauma the families experienced and complex scientific information about the sources, causes and dangers of radiation, the jury wont be asked to determine if the parents should be compensated for their childrens illnesses and deaths. Though the parcel was on the part of the companys property nearest the Acreage, this never came up during the cluster investigation. For many of the families whose children developed cancer, there was simply no question of staying. Still, she fervently hopes that someone can find whatever it is thats made kids sick, stop it, and help clean it up. She is now exploring the possibility of moving Jennas grave near their home in Georgia. And although the interviews did not enable investigators to pinpoint the cause of the disease, Health Department director Alina Alonso on Feb. 1 confirmed the existence of a cancer cluster. He claimed that further press coverage could bias jury selection. The entire story might have ended there, in 2010, if attorneys hadnt taken up where public-health officials left off. A Scary Reality The Acreage Cancer Cluster. The evidence, she said, shows Pratts carelessness caused children to get sick and die. 8:05AM. We have learned whats truly important in life, and its definitely not a house, she says. Most cancer clusters reside in a gray area of uncomfortable non-resolution. Submit & Share. This article was reported in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, now known as Type Investigations, with support from the Gertrude Blumenthal Kasbekar Fund. As the results of those studies trickled out, the community found itself divided into two distinct camps. While the Florida Health Department declared a pediatric cancer cluster in The Acreage, it never found what caused the high rate of childhood cancers. Added pediatrician Shairi Turner, deputy secretary of the department: We want to find an answer to what is causing brain cancer in your children.. Hatfield didnt say how much she is seeking. But the answer to that question is not available, the experts said, and the frustration of the audience often boiled over into angry outbursts. When Becky heard from her pastor that another child in their congregation had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, she reached out to the boys parents, arranging to meet them in the waiting room of Miami Childrens Hospital. Based on the calculations in the report from the Florida Department of Health, a girls chance of getting a brain tumor in the Acreage was five and a half times what it was in the rest of Florida. Even the politicians in attendance were unhappy. After a five-day hearing in 2018, Marra rejected Hatfield's request to allow all Acreage property owners to be part of the lawsuit. Less than twenty miles inland of West Palm Beach, the Acreage functions as that citys country cousin. Abruzzo said he knows some of his constituents have left the area, and just walked away from their property and their mortgage. In August, the Federal Housing Authority began advising appraisers that the cluster might affect properties in the neighborhood, a move that made it very difficult to get a mortgage there. Hell ask for something and say, I appreciate that you bought me that, but lets go snuggle. He values spending time with people.. If you would like your information added to this map, please email us at info@theacreagecancerstudy.com and provide us with your address, sex, age, and diagnosis. But if we do it to ourselves in the name of national security, in preparation for war, that seems to be sort of OK., Pratt & Whitney has not only identified itself with the countrys security but has enhanced its public image by embracing the fight against cancer and the cause of protecting the environment. On Wednesday, 12 years after Dunsford asked for the investigation, she told her story to a jury as the first witness in a long-delayed and much-anticipated trial that will determine whether jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney will be blamed for the cancer cluster. This is a privately run and owned website. We would also like those who are in need of medical assistance to let us know. Now 12, he has auditory processing problems, memory issues and dyslexia, which were all diagnosed after his cancer. McCann ultimately found it too painful to be around the group of Acreage parents pursuing the cause of their childrens cancer, because most of their children survived. Convinced something in the water or the soil was making children sick, Dunsford said the familys dream home quickly turned into a prison. This odd fact kept troubling her, and at the suggestion of Garretts neurologist, she e-mailed the Florida Department of Health about it. And a local firm began representing several of the cases. (It did come up in the litigation, but the companys lawyers dismissed it as a red herring.). Many of the young families in the Acreage were drawn there by its relative lack of development. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? And Joey Baratta, who moved to the Acreage with his mother and stepfather in 2004, when he was 15, spent much of his time there riding his ATV and working on his parents land, which abutted one of the areas many canals. She declared the backyard pool off-limits. They Refused to Fight for Russia. And hes particularly prone to headaches. She had also gotten together with the mothers of other sick children, including Tracy Newfield, Becky Samarripa and Kaye McCann, as well as a few concerned friends and relatives, to see how they might get to the bottom of what was going on in the Acreage. Gov. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); I began to be concerned about the area where I lived, said Dunsford, who moved to The Acreage from Broward County. _gaq.push(['gwo._setAccount', 'UA-230305-28']); Please specify what type of assistance you need so we can better assist you. WebStudying cancer clusters allows scientists to identify areas of increased cancer risk, as well as to try to figure out what is causing the increase in risk. Meanwhile, the governments investigation into the Acreage cancer cluster provided some evidence for the theory that radiation was behind it. When Hannah got sick in 2007, her mother had no idea that, just a few blocks away in the Acreage their lush South Florida community other children had also suffered through the same awful symptoms. But if she successfully argues that Pratt contaminated The Acreage, she could ask him to reconsider. At the request of site members who just want to know how many brain tumorsand cysts are on the map, we have provided a breakdown below: By request, we have broken down the data we have collected by year: We are trying to update our Victim Database. South Florida's independent Homeowners such as Stephanie and Ira Peskowitz, a law enforcement officer, are wondering how long they can wait. Pratt & Whitney had licenses to use at least a dozen radioactive substances, the average death rate from cancer among the companys employees had shot up from 13 per 100,000 workers to 122, This Week in Extremism: Far Right Extremism in 2023 and the January 6th Insurrection, Faulty Information About Immigrants Can Lead to Family Separation and Denied Asylum Claims, Hanfords Leaky Nuke Tanks and Sick Workers, A Never-Ending Saga. WebScientists have a specific definition of a cancer cluster. Attorneys claimed that the state failed to properly test for specific radioactive contamination, ignored concerns voiced by its own people and neglected to hold Pratt & Whitney accountable for not cleaning up years' worth of toxic contamination in the area. The anticipated three-week trial got off to a blustery start. A judge heard testimony Friday about a forensic investigation that's shedding light on radioactive materials found on the campus of Pratt & Whitney and The Acreage community. To the attorneys assertion that Pratt & Whitney was the only possible source of the radiation, Pratts lawyers replied that it could have come from other sources, such as the Chernobyl disaster, through which nuclear radiation has been spread world-wide.. (Sharon Lerner). However, though the study did not find an association with workplace exposures, it did confirm the elevated brain-cancer rate at the North Haven plant. The mining company had already been caught up in a related environmental scandal. Our Platform. I feel a panic for my kids health. Though the investigation turned up thirteen brain tumors in Acreage kids between 1994 and 2007, the official cluster consisted of just three girls, all of whom were diagnosed with brain cancer between 2005 and 2007. Thank you for visiting The Acreage Cancer Study website. _gaq.push(['gwo._trackPageview', '/2354831680/test']); It is West of Palm Bch Gdns, North of Royal Palm Beach. From 1997-2007, the highest number of cases that should be expected in any three year period based on both state and county comparisons is 5.1. The tangle of allegiances between the company and local officials was on display in 2009, when the Acreage Community Focus Group was founded, supposedly to address residents concerns about the cluster. The ordeal was also a turning point for Jennifer Dunsford. In court filings, Pratt & Whitney has denied the use of poison fuel, calling charges that it contaminated the Acreage completely speculative. But while the companys attorneys dismissed their opponents theories, Pratt & Whitney hasnt offered much explanation of its operations: it resisted requests to do water and soil testing on its property and declined to answer several of the opposing lawyers questions on the grounds that they related to classified matters of national security. Jonathan S. Harris, Matthew D. Shaffer & Arthur. Kayes doubts proved well-founded just a few days later, when Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department, told reporters that her agency wasnt planning to do any soil testing or other investigation into the causes of the cluster beyond interviewing families. Thats where public health does its best job. She felt that the high number of pediatric brain tumors in the Acreage was most likely due to chance rather than any environmental cause (she also noted that the rate was no longer elevated). Pratt & Whitney Named in First Lawsuit Filed Over The Acreage Cancer Cluster Some residents of The Acreage have filed a class action lawsuit against Pratt & Whitney. _gaq.push(['_setAllowHash', false]); It found elevated levels of cancer in children in The Acreage and designated the area as a pediatric brain cancer cluster. I figured it was a weird coincidence, says Dunsford, a sharp-witted mother of three with glasses and shoulder-length brown hair. The plaintiffs are parents and families from The Acreage who believe the aerospace giant is to blame for the cancer cluster that was reported more than a dozen years ago. Throughout his opening statement, Gallagher emphasized thatthe allegations Hatfield is making dont make sense. Even though her children are healthy, she said her life was forever changed by that announcement four years ago. Tracy Newfield cried when she first heard the news. (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material or NORM.) If you have any questions, please send an email to: WE ARE NO LONGER COLLECTING THIS DATA - IF YOU HAVE A BRAIN CANCER CASE TO REPORT PLEASE CONTACT THE PALM BEACH COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (561) 514-5300. The study found that much of South Florida lies in a childhood cancer cluster. The way some members of the community are Although the Defense Department (which utilizes some 30 million acres of land) and its contractors are subject to the same environmental laws as everyone else, the difficulties of prosecuting such cases means that they can and often do, according to Dycus get away with contaminating the environment. Dycus notes that its not uncommon for defense-related companies to resist providing information because of military sensitivity, as Pratt & Whitney has done in the Acreage case. 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