In Pratt & Whitneys case, no fancy PR was necessary: its product is already understood to be not just airplane and rocket engines but national security itself. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? Residents of The Acreage, a south Florida town, at a community meeting in 2010. For many of the families whose children developed cancer, there was simply no question of staying. As they have since the lawsuit was filed nearly a decade ago, attorneys for Pratt vigorously denied the allegations. While Marra warned Hatfield, he declined Gallagher's request. But if the jury agrees that Pratt didn't properly dispose of radioactive materials, she could revive a class-action lawsuit, seeking compensation for the nearly 40,000 people who own property in the rural enclave. 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. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; On Wednesday, 12 years Trucking manifests and other documents will show that contaminated soil, most of which was shipped out on rail cars to hazardous disposal sitesin Michigan and South Carolina, was handled properly, he said. But it could be something in the ground, pesticides, we dont know. 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. Yesterday, the law firm of Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart, and Shipley held a news conference about lawsuits related to a cluster of pediatric brain cancer in A canal system was constructed to make The Acreage habitable. Log in, 2010 Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, LLP, All Rights Reserved, Rori Feldman is the attorney responsible for the content of this website. The families are also filing individual lawsuits for damages. Half a year later, on a mild evening in early 2010, state officials called a town meeting at the local high school to tell the community what the investigation had found. Gov. Hatfield, who had grown up in the area and had young children of her own, was familiar with the rumors of pollution and pesticides in the Acreage and throughout South Florida. She knew and somehow understood and was OK with it, Kaye McCann said recently. But not a lot of communities with brain-tumor clusters.. 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. Our Platform. The anxiety and uncertainty now haunting The Acreage began to surface months ago. 31. _gaq.push(['_setAllowLinker', true]); Most cancer clusters reside in a gray area of uncomfortable non-resolution. So they were shocked to hear the health officials explain that the community was definitely experiencing a cluster of pediatric brain tumors, as well as elevated rates of all cancers at all ages. Still, mixed in with an overwhelming sadness, Samarripa felt a sliver of hope that the Acreage was on its way to finding and eliminating whatever carcinogens were lurking in the environment. var _gaq = _gaq || []; A federal jury rejected claims Tuesday that Pratt & Whitney was responsible for a cancer cluster in The Acreage more than a decade ago. _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'none']); None of this stuff had ever happened before, Samarripa says. To view information associated with each bullet simply click on the bullet. While the Florida Health Department declared a pediatric cancer cluster in The Acreage, it never found what caused the high rate of childhood cancers. So Hatfield and Scarola took their test results to the media. The verdict said that the I was In court filings, Pratt & Whitney denied having any contaminations beyond properly stored chemical compounds.. Before you start printing and downloading, be sure you have read the article first. 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. After the company shut several of the wells that supplied water to its workers, it commissioned a study by the University of Miami to look into the possible health effects of the contamination. But documents from the 1960s through the 90s show that Pratt & Whitney had licenses to use at least a dozen radioactive substances [PDF], including radium D and E, thoriated nickel and cesium-137, in Florida. local Journalism in South Florida. Thats what we want to know, said school cafeteria worker Lynn Randle, accompanied by her 9-year-old daughter Sierra. But, Gallagher said, only 40 dump trucks were sent to a thermal remediation facility. Meanwhile, the governments investigation into the Acreage cancer cluster provided some evidence for the theory that radiation was behind it. Am I being selfish by staying here? List of cancer clusters - Wikipedia And a local firm began representing several of the cases. We have learned whats truly important in life, and its definitely not a house, she says. I began to be concerned about the area where I lived, said Dunsford, who moved to The Acreage from Broward County. The Acreage Cancer And, most important, it would have ensured a higher level of enforcement than the state was likely to provide. The companys 7,000 acres of swampland are bordered on the south by a 60,000-plus-acre wildlife preserve. A 2010 report from the Florida Department of Health confirmed her worst fears. When she first moved to the area, Becky Samarripa was charmed by the sight of horses trotting by and people fishing in the canals that crisscrossed the neighborhood. Cancer Clusters - American Cancer Society Where did I live? The ordeal was also a turning point for Jennifer Dunsford. While Jessica, now 20, is attending college, Tracy has been spearheading the creation of the Garden of Hope, a place in the Acreage where people can go to honor their loved ones who have had cancer. 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. Definitively proving the cause of a cluster is so difficult because we live amid so many carcinogens. _udn = "none"; Acerage Neighborhood Community Update - Florida Since then, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has overseen the cleanup of the area, a process that has involved the removal of many tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil and thousands of gallons of fuel from the groundwater. Yesterday, the law firm of Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart, and Shipley held a news conference about lawsuits related to a cluster of pediatric brain cancer in the residential neighborhood Acreage, located in western Palm Beach County. Evidence suggests the incidence of such cancers may be especially elevated among children. 8, 2022 at 3:06 PM PDT Palm Beach County families are finally getting Cynthia Santiago was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009 at the age of 13 while living in a South Florida community known as the Acreage. Yet to Mara Hatfield, the attorney from the local firm who spent the most time on the Acreage cases, the unusual cancer cluster was likely caused by an unusual pollutant. We can't even have it called a cancer cluster.". When Stephanie Peskowitz and her husband Ira bought a home in The Acreage five years ago, they figured they had found a woodsy paradise large enough for their dreams. We were moms and wives and grandmothers on a mission, remembers Newfield, who describes herself as both this little housewife and as she would come to see herself over the years of struggle that followed someone who, if necessary, could become your worst enemy.. But the effect of confirming The Acreage as a cancer cluster was immediate. Abruzzo said he knows some of his constituents have left the area, and just walked away from their property and their mortgage. Cancer cluster frightens Palm Beach County community Instead, the Palm Beach County Health Department told Hatfield to direct further contacts to its lawyer. In October celebrity environmental activist Erin Brockovich spoke to a town hall meeting in West Palm Beach, urging community unity. In 2011, Hatfields firm filed its first suit against both Palm Beach Aggregates and Pratt & Whitney, accusing the companies of creating the pollution, including radiation, that caused Joey Barattas death. In recent days, state officials have promised to do more. Last week many residents of The Acreage rode a roller coaster of emotions as the story of the Acreage cancer cluster took new turns and twists. There are many factors that make it easy for a company to pollute with impunity. The Centers for Disease The entire story might have ended there, in 2010, if attorneys hadnt taken up where public-health officials left off. The Florida Department ofHealth will continue to work with the people of Florida and these organizations to someday find the answer that will prevent a child from getting cancer. All of our data is self-reported by residents. Prior to the cancer cluster, homes in The Acreage consistently sold at about 92% of the value of Jupiter Farms homes. Public record? Her mother, Becky Samarripa, did it for her, and then drove Hannah to school and waited outside, knowing shed be able to put in only a brief appearance. 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. The Cancer Cluster Divide The Acreage Lack of proof was cited as the reason for the dismissals. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) define a cancer cluster as a greater-than-expected number of cancer cases that occurs within a group of people in a defined geographic area over a specific period of time. But she is also a musical girl who enjoys life and loves to sing. This constitutes a huge problem, though one that, he says, seems to spur little outrage. In one sense, I would not go through what theyre going through every day of their lives, wondering if [regular testing for cancer] is going to come back positive, she says. If I could move I definitely would, she said. (function() { And both were so grueling that they left the victors unsure whether the effort had been worth it. It found elevated levels of cancer in children in The Acreage and designated the area as a pediatric brain cancer cluster. "We were just really shocked that it came back not in their favor," Stephanie Ankiel West of the B.R.A.I.N Cancer Foundation of the Treasure Coast said. Jenna McCann, too, liked the outdoors. At Miami Childrens Hospital, where their son was treated, the Dunsfords met the family of another brain cancer patient who lived just a mile away. One, composed primarily of families of the children stricken with cancer, focused on the fact that the research had identified several contaminants above FDEP cleanup levels, including radium-226, benzene and a variety of other commonly occurring carcinogens. Last week the states Department of Environmental Protection began sampling ground water and well water from several Acreage homes. And the air was often filled with smoke, which came from both the burning of sugar cane and the fires on the banks of nearby Lake Okeechobee. August 21, 2013 Type Media Center document.write(new Date().getFullYear()).
Though the FDEP says that Pratt & Whitney is in compliance, it also says there are still twenty-five hazardous-waste sites being remediated, and the cleanup which began in 1985 is today only 77 percent complete. She bought bottled water which her family used for cooking, drinking and even brushing their teeth. They didnt investigate Pratt because its 6 miles away from the nearest home in The Acreage and as much as 14 miles away from those at the southern end, near Lion Country Safari. | Credit: GARY CORONADO/THE PALM BEACH POST. During the next year, while Jenna was undergoing cancer treatment, both dogs developed tumors and died. 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. So reactions in the community were decidedly mixed when, in November 2010, with the battery of state and local studies having rendered their results, the Acreage investigation was officially closed. But on the other hand, I envy them every day of their lives. The loss of her daughter has only become harder over time. You start to wonder: what are the odds? said Greg Dunsford, an insurance agent. Earlier this month, the Florida Health Department confirmed that a Some residents of The Acreage have filed a class action lawsuit against Pratt & Whitney. Acreage 'cancer cluster' lawsuits dismissed for lack Attorney Mara Hatfield, who is representing the parents, including ones who lost children to cancer, told a jury that the evidence against the government contractor is overwhelming. Acreage Cancer Cluster: Residents Can Join Class 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. The deal, which helped land two county commissioners in prison for fraud (a consultant advising the agency, it turned out, was being paid by the mining company), stipulated that Palm Beach Aggregates couldnt be held legally responsible for any contamination of water in the used pits. One is the local mining company Palm Beach Aggregates, which has mined limestone for road construction for more than two decades using a dredging process that contributed naturally occurring radiation to the local water system. Study Being Conducted in The Acreage Has Been Canceled. (function() { "If they can't get that verdict, it kind of dimmers where we're at here because what is it going to take here? Then, in the summer before ninth grade, while her family was visiting a Civil War memorial on the coast of Alabama, Hannah collapsed. Millions of dollars could be at stake. Further, Gallagher said, a University of Florida doctor who specializes in neuro-oncology will testify that the type of brain cancer Acreage children suffered couldnt have been caused by low-level exposure that would have happened through contaminated soil. Please specify what type of assistance you need so we can better assist you. In response, the company waged a fierce, years-long battle against the Superfund designation and, in 1985, it won that fight. FULL CIRCLE FLORIDA | Tampa is becoming a hot spot for tech start-ups, and one local nonprofit is leading the change to bring them to the Bay Area. He was introduced to us as an engineer, Newfield says. By May 2009, Jennifer Dunsford had developed a database documenting dozens of cancers in children and adults throughout the neighborhood. Hatfield and her boss, Jack Scarola, ordered further testing of the soil and water. Your Photos. 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). You most likely made your way to this site because you are aware of the Cancer Study that was conducted in our area by the Florida Department of Health (not us - we in no way conducted the study). But it would take all of the afflicted families years to connect the dots among their tragedies. Though it was unclear whether probing for answers would ever solve the cancer mystery, there was no question that all the attention to the risks of living in the Acreage had carried a steep financial cost. The Dunsfords created all this fear, resident Michelle James told The Palm Beach Post. Even though her children are healthy, she said her life was forever changed by that announcement four years ago. According to a 1983 report, there were three plumes of jet fuel totaling some 53,000 gallons beneath the companys property, and a layer on top of the groundwater in certain places as well. In 2003, Palm Beach Aggregates sold its used mining pits to the South Florida Water Management District, the local government agency that oversees water usage, for $217 million. She said she and other lawyers scoured tens of thousands of documents. The research found that, between 1967 and 1980, the average death rate from cancer among the companys employees had shot up from 13 per 100,000 workers to 122 [PDF] a roughly ninefold increase. Becky Samarripa, too, was shaken by the cluster designation, which seemed to confirm her worst fear: that something in their surroundings was making them sick. Their family menagerie includes two horses, a pony, seven dogs, goats and a pig. As they anxiously eyed the array of health officials lined up on the stage, the Acreages residents got the news that none of them wanted. The couples two sons, Isaac, 4, and Ilan, 2, were born here, and they are growing up in a neighborhood where tall pines, open spaces and a variety of family pets are commonplace. The information reflected on this map has been voluntarily provided by persons from The Acreage. All Rights Reserved. For example, studying clusters Submit & Share. 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. })(); Interviews for this article with Hatfield and her firms plaintiffs were conducted before the gag order went into effect in September. However, five years later, her youngest son was diagnosed with brain cancer. We are not simply tracking brain tumors and brain cancer. Some online commenters went so far as to accuse the affected families of just plain lying. As one poster put it, Using your childs illness as a platform is repulsive.. The study found that much of South Florida lies in a childhood cancer cluster. Jenna was a strong-willed, generous and ultimately prescient child, according to her mother, Kaye. 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. And anybody with children is worried about that.. Jury rejects Acreage families lawsuit against Pratt source of local news and culture, Deirdra Funcheon In fact, by current standards, conclusively blaming a chemical culprit for a cancer cluster is so difficult that only three of 428 cluster investigations conducted in the United States since 1990 have established a link between pollution and illness. Pratt was taking other risks, too. 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. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. In 2000, when Pratt & Whitney was considering leaving its Florida site, it entered into discussions with Palm Beach County about selling some of its land as a site for drinking wells. And that scary figure didnt include the four additional Acreage children who were diagnosed with brain tumors the following year, 2008. The Samarripas moved to Alabama, where Hannah, now 20 and in college, is flourishing, according to her mother. The Acreage Cancer Study 2011
After Jenna got sick, Kaye and her husband, David, began making kid-size surgical scrub caps with cars and animals on them. Each day held a new surprise for them. 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. New Acreage 'cancer cluster' lawsuit filed. Soon, Dunsford discovered that three other youngsters in the sprawling rural community in the western reaches of Palm Beach County had recently received similarly grim news. Still, the crowd was standing-room-only on this night. The Centers for Disease Your Photos. A mixture of chemicals that can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause cancer in mice, jet fuel was found at the Pratt & Whitney facility in Florida. We are keeping track of all diagnosed health issues that residents report to us. By the time the tumor
Cancer mystery still plagues California farm town McFarland Palm Beach County families are finally getting their time in court after years of concerns over a spike in cancer cases in and around The Acreage. Many of the young families in the Acreage were drawn there by its relative lack of development. At the opening of Pratt & Whitneys South Florida campus in 1958, the chairman of the county commission said that Pratt & Whitneys coming to this site is considered the largest single industrial accomplishment so far in Palm Beach County. Since then, Pratt and its parent company, United Technologies, have received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks from the county and state to encourage it to keep its operations and jobs in Florida.
In fact, there is a clear documentary record, stretching across many decades, of Pratt & Whitney contaminating its Florida environs with a variety of toxic materials, both radioactive and nonradioactive. Acreage Cancer Cluster Sharon Lerner is a reporting fellow with Type Investigations covering environmental issues for The Intercept. 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. The case in Toms River, New Jersey, documented in Dan Fagins Pulitzer Prizewinning book Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, took place over ten years and was similar to the Woburn case in both its underwhelming financial payoff and the monumental public and private effort that led to it. If tests prove that residents are at risk to cancers, then I would recommend that residents protect their families..
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