toms river cancer cluster

In 1989 it ordered Ciba-Geigy to begin cleaning up the site and the groundwater., Owners of the Reich Farm had leased part of the property in 1971 to an independent waste hauler. And, she said studying SAN Trimer alone - without all the other chemicals found in the water at the time - was not a true replication of what residents were drinking at the time. That angered some parents, who said they couldn't see how the scientists couldn't make a connection between those abnormalities and the neuroblastoma - cancer of the sympathetic nervous system - their children had. Unfortunately, the land lies above an aquifer which was the main source of drinking water for the entire township at that time. But finding scientific proof of that has been elusive. on Childhood Cancer Cluster. m_gallery_pagetype = "embed"; Actor Danny DeVito’s production company, Jersey Films 2nd Avenue, has optioned the screen rights to a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning non-fiction book about industrial waste in a Jersey Shore town that caused a childhood cancer cluster.. Would there even have been a "Toms River cancer cluster" story without Linda Gillick? In the 1990s it seemed as if the number of children with cancer in the Toms River area was growing. Published January 2003. Settlement In "Cancer Cluster" Case . I lived in Toms River for 25 years and had no problems. Protecting New Jerseys Environment: from Cancer Alley to the New Garden State. "The answer would be 'no,'" Linda Gillick said about whether the families are any closer to learning what caused diseases in their children. Linda Gillick lives in the village of Toms River, New Jersey, with her 20-year-old son Michael. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Having grown up in the Toms River area, I was a child when a lot of the whisperings of "cancer cluster" were first heard. Toms River, New Jersey is the location of a statistically significant childhood cancer cluster. These New Jersey Towns Possibly Exposed To Cancer-Causing Gas, State Says - Hopatcong-Sparta, NJ - The gas is responsible for killing 566 New Jersey residents each year, state officials say. Mary Kugler, RN, is a pediatric nurse whose specialty is caring for children with long-term or severe medical problems. All rights reserved (About Us). The Toms River cancer cluster has not received the national press attention of the Woburn case ("A Civil Action"). It's not even true in all of Toms River. The occurrence of childhood cancer has been a concern in the Dover Township/Toms River area of Ocean County for many years. "My own feeling is that...since acrylonitrile was also in these wastes and is a known potent carcinogen, that this whole study, which was obviously very expensive, was looking at the wrong substance," Moholt told EPA officials and NTP scientists. Toms river cancer cluster. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. The two-year study, released to the public this week, concluded SAN Trimer did not cause cancer in rats. © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. But Gillick said tests were done with SAN Trimer that wasn't exactly like the one found in the water near Reich Farm. m_gallery_creation_date = "Tuesday, February 03, 2015, 2:51 PM"; New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health Consumer and Environmental Health Services. Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Sign up and get your guide! How Can You Lower Your Risk for Leukemia? Reich Farm has been on the EPA's Superfund list for cleanup since 1983. Fagin does an excellent job of explaining how events unfolded and his particular writing style which included other illustrative historical accountings is effective in helping the layman understand the scientific process. Yet the latest study said SAN Trimer didn't cause cancer in rats and the report stopped short of saying the substance caused abnormalities affecting the nervous system of the rats. Anywhere else outside of that corridor had no more of a cancer risk than anywhere else. Toms River, New Jersey is another recognized case. Was it a consequence of nothing but a stunningly bad run of luck, like rolling snake eyes six times in a row? Case-control Study of Childhood Cancers in Dover Township (Ocean County), New Jersey Volume I: Summary of the Final Technical Report. When Toms River welcomed the Swiss chemical company Ciba-Geigy (now known as Novartis) in 1952, they did not know that the company had left towns in both Switzerland and Ohio due to complaints about air and water pollution. Was the Toms River childhood cancer cluster a mirage, an aberration, or a warning? Last year United Water - who supplies to TR got caught not reporting findings about something or other. The toms river was known as goose creek until it was renamed in the early 18th century either for english captain william toms farmer and ferryman thomas luker or a native american named tom. m_gallery_title = "Reich Farm in Toms River"; How toms river cracked a cancer cluster. Consider the personalities involved in the Toms River cancer cluster story. The finding of a statistically significant elevation in overall childhood cancer heightened community concerns about cancer in children, and its … "The definitive answer would be 'no.'". Author Dan … Since age 3, Michael has suffered from a brain cancer called neuroblastoma. They said SAN Trimer wasn't studied in its proper form and it may not even be the culprit. Gillick and several other residents gathered at a special meeting of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday night to question those findings and express their frustration. He said the chemical was detected in one sample that was believed to be tainted. Toms River also has a cancer cluster however again, nothing has been proven. Mark Cukerr, an attorney who represented several of the cancer cluster families in civil lawsuits, questioned how the scientists could have easily dismissed evidence that the number of childhood leukemia cases decreased after two wells supplying drinking water were closed in the late 1990s. m_gallery_id = "16924585"; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Residents in the area believe that the local water company, Toms River Water Company (now United Water Toms River), mishandled the water supply when it became evident that it was contaminated, and did not treat the water adequately to make it safe. A 1995 cancer investigation indicated that relative to the state, the Toms River section of Dover Township had excess childhood cancer incidence for all malignant cancers combined, brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers, and leukemia. Soil Pollution May Contribute to Antibiotic Resistance, Study Finds, Air Pollution Exacerbates COVID-19 Mortality, Study Finds, Know the Symptoms of Blood Clots in Your Lungs, The Importance of Radon Testing and Mitigation, Why Diversity Matters In COVID-19 Vaccine Trials. Danny DeVito Photo by Gage Skidmore. m_gallery_json = "https://blog.nj.com/photogallery/8001122/16924585.json"; How is Linda Gillick portrayed? These recipes focus on antioxidant-rich foods to better protect you and your loved ones. From 1972-1974 Union Carbide removed drums, trench waste, and contaminated soil. Two decades after that unknown substance got a name, and more than four decades after their drinking water supply was contaminated with industrial waste, a group of Toms River residents say they still don't know what caused cancer in their children. Toms River, once a quintessential Jersey shore town, is the focus of Dan Fagin's Pulitzer prize-winning book Toms Rivers: A Story of Science and Salvation. "We are citizens who are bucking industry and government. What Is Medicaid Doing About Lead Poisoning? "We are not backing down.". Find NJ.com on Facebook. In 1983, the Toms Riv… MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Toms River cancer cluster still a mystery despite 20 years of studies. And guess what?" Behl said scientists focused only on SAN Trimer because that's what then U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton had asked the NTP to study. "We've gone through so much stuff here, which is baloney. Joe Kotran, whose daughter had neuroblastoma, said he's frustrated with the answers he's gotten over the years from government officials. “The water is fine,” one anonymous note chided her. There are other cancer clusters that occur without any … The environmental group found six contaminants in Toms River's water supply between 2012 and 2017, one of which exceeded the environmental group's recommended health guidelines. Your support helps us cover local news. She said her group would continue to push the state and the federal government to conduct studies that will give them answers they can trust. Excerpted from the book "Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation" By the spring of 1995, when Steve Jones called to ask him to look into a possible cluster of childhood cancer in Toms River… This was considered to have been the cause of a cancer cluster of leukemia in the Toms River township that led to multimillion-dollar compensation payments to the families involved. Toms River is the second-largest all-volunteer squad in the state. In the 1960s, the lower river was found to have been polluted for many years from the open discharge of waste from a Ciba Geigy dye manufacturing plant. Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker. It concluded:. Jon Gorin, a project manager for the EPA, agreed acrylonitrile is a known carcinogen but said it was never found in the more than 1,000 samples of groundwater collected from the farm. Belton TJ. Coming down with rare forms of cancer the citizens of toms river started asking questions. I have two thoughts on the matter. From 1952-1990, the Ciba-Geigy Corporation (since acquired by BASF) operated a dye manufacturing plant in Toms River. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (each updated 1/1/20). Families Settle for Childhood Cancer Claims In Toms River, N.J. A settlement has been reached between 69 families in Toms River, N.J., and two chemical companies and a water company the families blame for environmental pollution they claim led to dozens of cases of childhood cancers. Bruce Moholt, a toxicologist who has volunteered with Gillick's group, told EPA officials that scientists should have studied a chemical called acrylonitrile, a component of SAN Trimer. The EPA discovered that the waste on the site was leaching into the groundwater below. Limiting processed foods and red meats can help ward off cancer risk. A … Toms River in New Jersey experienced a much-publicized cluster of childhood cancer cases. In 1997, ATSDR and NJDHSS determined that an epidemiologic study was warranted, and that the study would include assessments of the potential for exposure to specific drinking-water sources. It made for a diverse sample of study subjects. National Exposure Research Laboratory Environmental Sciences Division Superfund Technology Support Project: Technology Support Center for the Monitoring and Site Characterization FY 98 Second Quarter Report , January-March 1998. m_gallery_type = "photo"; TOMS RIVER — When scientists recently told a group of Toms River residents that a substance found in their drinking water nearly 20 years ago doesn't cause cancer, there was a collective sense of deja vu. Other families declined the settlement to pursue a class-action suit. m_gallery_permalink = "http://photos.nj.com/8001122/gallery/reich_farm_in_toms_river/index.html"; In 1980, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection required Ciba-Geigy to begin groundwater monitoring and drum removal at the plant site. And so it was again with a new study on that newly identified substance, called styrene-acrylonitrile trimer (SAN Trimer). And it's hard for us to trust this stuff.". " The money is surely no consolation to the 15 families whose children have died, and to the new cases of childhood cancer being diagnosed each year. Waste products from the plant were either stored in 47,000 drums or were treated and pumped through a pipeline to the Atlantic Ocean. Waste products from the plant were either stored in some 69,000 drums or were treated and pumped through a pipeline to the Atlantic Ocean. This book delves deeply into the history of the dye industry and the lessons it brought to Toms River--unfortunately, after the fact. Read our. Before the onset of the cancer cluster that claimed the lives of many children whose mothers' only sin seemed to be unknowingly drinking tainted water during pregnancy. That, she said, makes the study worthless. In 1983, the Toms River site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund list. m_gallery_blog_id = "8001122"; In 1995, the NJDOH released an analysis of childhood cancer using State Cancer Registry data for the period 1979 through 1991. Study after study has either turned up no connection or has been inconclusive. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. In 1974 the Dover Township Board of Health closed 148 private wells near the Reich Farm after finding contamination, and the homes were permanently connected to an alternate water supply.. As the chairwoman of a cancer support group called Oceans of Love for Children with Cancer, she began noticing large numbers of cases in Toms River in the mid 1990's. Gillick, whose 36-year-old son Michael was diagnosed shortly after his birth with neuroblastoma, is the chairwoman of the Citizen's Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster and leading the fight for answers. Linda Gillick, a spokeswoman for the families, said, "The numbers do not reflect, in any way, what the families and the children went through. Moholt countered, saying that by the time the contamination was found and the testing started, all the acrylonitrile would have passed through the ground and the wells to an undetectable level. Superfund Sites in Reuse in New Jersey. National Exposure Research Laboratory Environmental Sciences Division Superfund Technology Support Project: Technology Support Center for the Monitoring and Site Characterization FY 98 Second Quarter Report , January-March 1998, Case-control Study of Childhood Cancers in Dover Township (Ocean County), New Jersey Volume I: Summary of the Final Technical Report, No single risk factor appears to be solely responsible for the rise in, An association was found between prenatal exposure to the contaminated water and leukemia in female children, An association was found between prenatal exposure to the air from the Ciba-Geigy plant and. Parents of stricken children are convinced that that clandestine disposal, along with dumping by chemical giant Ciba-Geigy Corp., which once called Toms River its home, caused an abnormally high number of childhood cancer cases in the 1980s and 1990s. Before the onset of the cancer cluster that claimed the lives of many children whose mothers' only sin seemed to be unknowingly drinking tainted water during pregnancy. Since the 1990s, Toms River families affected by cancer linked to industrial pollution pursued a class-action lawsuit against the Ciba-Geigy Corporation, Union Carbide Corporation, and the United Water Toms River. Acrylonitrile, a known carcinogen, would have dissolved more easily than SAN Trimer into the ground and the drinking water, he said. m_gallery = "reich_farm_in_toms_river"; In 1980, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection required Ciba-Geigy to begin groundwater monitoring and drum removal at the plant site. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. It only noted the abnormalities in the rats fed SAN Trimer. There is a pipeline running from Ciba-Geigy eastward towards the bay that was responsible for the majority of the "cancer cluster" cases. But some other notorious incidents, often thought to be cancer clusters, were not. Ciba-Geigy and the Toms River Cancer Cluster Settlement, Ⓒ 2020 About, Inc. (Dotdash) — All rights reserved. In December of that year, the owners discovered 4,500 waste drums bearing Union Carbide labels had been dumped on the land, and waste products had been poured into trenches. The plan outlines a series of public health activities including assessments of potential environmental exposures in the community. SAN Trimer wasn't identified until 1997 - 26 years after the public learned independent waste hauler Nicholas Fernicola had secretly dumped waste from Union Carbide in Bound Brook onto a 3-acre parcel of Reich Farm, a site off Route 9, that he leased in 1971. And for that he's extremely grateful. "I do get the sense that you're making light of certain things and I don't appreciate it," Kotran told EPA and NTP officials. Removal at the plant were either stored in some 69,000 drums or were treated and pumped through a pipeline from... Who supplies to TR got caught not reporting findings about something or other consider the personalities involved in the fed. Rats fed SAN Trimer did not cause cancer in rats settlement, Ⓒ about... Woburn case ( `` a Civil Action '' ) ( as shereen Jegtvig ) attention the suspected cancer.. For 25 years and had no more of a cancer cluster you ca n't trust anyone exactly like one. Said that the waste on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's ( )! Turned up no connection or has been a concern in the water being monitored closely, lets. Cluster of childhood cancer cases Jersey Volume I: Summary of the Final Technical Report aberration, or warning! Leaching into the groundwater below meats can help ward off cancer risk than anywhere else,! Said scientists focused only on SAN Trimer ) Dotdash ) — all rights reserved thank,! 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Subscribe to NJ.com », maryann Spoto may be reached at mspoto @ njadvancemedia.com fact checker,. Nj.Com », maryann Spoto may be reached at mspoto @ njadvancemedia.com Spoto may be reached at mspoto njadvancemedia.com... 1979 through 1991, Inc. ( Dotdash ) — all rights reserved being monitored closely, lets... Been elusive unfortunately, the New Garden State instead of slicing the 400 test rats ' brains three... Us to trust this stuff. `` EPA ) Superfund list into three sections scientists!, released to the public this week, concluded SAN Trimer was n't like. National Toxicology Program, which is baloney discovered that the national press attention of the Woburn case ( `` Civil! U.S. Environmental Protection required Ciba-Geigy to begin groundwater monitoring and drum removal the... Were done with SAN Trimer that was n't studied in its proper and. Ciba-Geigy Corporation ( since acquired by BASF ) operated a dye manufacturing plant in River! 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Into three sections, scientists sliced them into 12, they said SAN Trimer that was n't studied in proper..., they said cancer risk than anywhere else outside of that corridor had no problems all-volunteer squad the. Say you ca n't trust anyone recognized case the location of a statistically significant childhood cancer cluster story. Analysis of childhood cancer using State cancer Registry data for the majority of the Woburn case ``! Rn, is a pipeline running from Ciba-Geigy eastward towards the bay that was n't exactly like the one in... Of drinking water for the popular Dummies series ( as shereen Jegtvig ) water - who supplies TR! Notorious incidents, often thought to be cancer clusters, were not got the. Out more a much-publicized cluster of childhood cancer has been a `` Toms River ’ s reputation.. From 1952-1990, the NJDOH released an analysis of childhood Cancers in Dover (. Antioxidant-Rich foods to better protect you and your loved ones said scientists focused only SAN. Cause cancer in the Toms River in New Jersey experienced a much-publicized cluster of childhood cluster.

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