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. _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'none']); Seven years after the Health Department declared a pediatric cancer cluster in The Acreage another lawsuit has Residents of The Acreage, a south Florida town, at a community meeting in 2010. 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). When Jennifer Dunsford, her husband and three children moved into a new house in The Acreage in 2003, they expected it to be their forever home.. Still, the crowd was standing-room-only on this night. (function() { 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. Your Photos. He saidit was unlikely Hatfield's verbal slip would unduly influence the jury. ", Jury rejects Acreage families lawsuit against Pratt & Whitney, Tornado that tore through Palm Beach Gardens had winds of at least 100 mph, Trees toppled, homes damaged, cars overturned in tornado, Tornado tosses boat from cove onto lawn in North Palm Beach, Unofficial Boca Bash to draw thousands of boaters Sunday, Fort Lauderdale Air Show delayed until afternoon because of bad weather, Verhaeghe scores in OT as Panthers eliminate Bruins from playoffs, Cleanup underway after tornado rips through North Palm Beach neighborhood, Butler, Heat start semifinals with 108-101 win over Knicks, National Weather Service upgrades tornado to EF2 with peak winds of 130 mph. 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. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. According to a 1985 Department of Environmental Regulation update, the company had soil on its property that contained PCBs chemicals that have been linked to brain cancer at more than 200 times the maximum level now allowed even in fenced-off, nonresidential areas. A cancer cluster is a high concentration of people diagnosed with cancer who all live or work within a close proximity of one another. 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. Their press conference last August yielded a few local stories, and one unintended consequence: Judge Joseph Marx, who was presiding over Joey Barattas case, ordered the attorneys not to speak about the case with the press. 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. Im usually a very rational person, but that night I put on a pair of shoes that belong to someone with OCD. WebWhat is a cancer cluster? Am I being selfish by staying here? After years of litigation, their attorney, Jan Schlictmann, was left temporarily bankrupt, homeless and personally devastated. ', Much of the mudslinging took place online. Contamination spread to the nearby aquifer and canals, and the lawsuit blames the two companies. Now, a new study reveals that the problem isn't just in the Acreage. Cancer Clusters It helped start the P2 Coalition of Palm Beach County (P2 is short for pollution prevention) in 1994, along with the Palm Beach County Health Department, other local businesses and the Jupiter Chamber of Commerce. She bought bottled water which her family used for cooking, drinking and even brushing their teeth. I began to be concerned about the area where I lived, said Dunsford, who moved to The Acreage from Broward County. 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. There are about 10,000 houses in the area. A civil engineer testified about his independent forensic investigation, which determined that the radioactive materials on Pratt & Whitney's campus matched the same materials found in The Acreage. On February 1, 2010 the Florida Department of Health declared the Acreage a "Pediatric Cancer Cluster". But many were outraged when state health officials said that instead of environmental tests to hunt for the cancer cause, they would mount an awareness campaign instead. Those radionuclides that have been detected in the Acreage at above natural background rates but may be termed naturally occurring include Uranium-234, Uranium-235 Uranium-236, and elevated levels of the decay products of Thorium, particularly Lead-214 and Bismuth-214 and Actinium-228. 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. They wanted us to move on and say our water was fine, recalls Tracy Newfield, who was a member of the group. If anything happened to them, she said, I could not live with myself. The plaintiffs lawyers also unearthed company correspondence indicating that some of these radioactive materials wound up outside of their proper storage places. 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. South Florida's independent This site has been developed to help share information about a confirmed cancer cluster in The Acreage with those who 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. Yet neither agency did so. 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. The family moved to Tennessee and sold their Acreage home through a short sale in 2011. Hatfield and her boss, Jack Scarola, ordered further testing of the soil and water. Alonso emphasized the many questions about the causes of cancer: diet soda, cellphones and microwave ovens may play a role, she said, concluding that it doesnt seem practical or reasonable to start searching blindly. Instead, Alonso said, the health agency would focus on raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of brain cancer to increase early detection. Thissite has been developed to help share information about a confirmed cancer cluster in The Acreage with those who live in or around The Acreage (which includes Loxahatchee, Unincorporated West Palm, and parts ofRoyal Palm Beach) in Florida. 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. They may have to work in places surrounded by concrete and congested traffic, but they dont want to live there. 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. When it comes to cancer, were more on the prevention side, she told me when I met with her in Palm Beach this past April. We are seeking answers to a long list of questions and we are hoping that this websiteprovides usefulinformation to you. Sharon Lerner is a reporting fellow with Type Investigations covering environmental issues for The Intercept. The suit over whether several companies had caused a cluster of leukemia cases in children in Woburn, Massachusetts, chronicled in the book (and later movie) A Civil Action, was incredibly lengthy, costly and labor-intensive, and the plaintiffs walked away with relatively small settlements. It found elevated levels of cancer in children in The Acreage and designated the area as a pediatric brain cancer cluster. Seminole Ridge High is a big school, and its ample, stucco-walled auditorium can hold hundreds of people, as it does for the pep rallies before Hawks games. Study Being Conducted in The Acreage Has Been Canceled. To a lay audience, the scientific documents were indecipherable. Last week the states Department of Environmental Protection began sampling ground water and well water from several Acreage homes. Loxahatchee (Acreage) Cancer Cluster where the rate of brain tumors in children is alarmingly high, making raising a young family (or any family) in that area life threatening 3. Newfields mistrust, and that of others in the group, grew when they realized that the groups chair who seemed particularly eager to put the questions of contamination to rest was a former Pratt & Whitney employee. The community was in In its eagerness to close on the deal, Palm Beach Aggregates minimized the hazards posed by its pits and allowed the radiation problem to escalate, according to the plaintiffs lawyers in the Acreage case. var _gaq = _gaq || []; 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. Before you start printing and downloading, be sure you have read the article first. But thats not her focus. (function(){var k='2354831680',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return escape(c.substring(i+n.length+1,j<0?c.length:j))}}}var x=f('__utmx'),xx=f('__utmxx'),h=l.hash; Since Jennas death in 2006, Kaye had become less trusting. Trial opens in Acreage cancer cluster lawsuit, more than 10 years It would be an act of war, Dycus notes. Like most other suspected clusters, that one had failed upon investigation to clear the statistical bar. Consider Abernethys 2004 description of his work on the J58 engine: We built a huge swimming pool with a tall tower to centrifuge the poison out of the exhaust. (When recently deposed by attorneys in the Acreage case, Abernethy said he had trouble recalling any poison fuel.). And that scary figure didnt include the four additional Acreage children who were diagnosed with brain tumors the following year, 2008. To view information associated with each bullet simply click on the bullet. Home - The Acreage Cancer Cluster var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); Alonso argues that tracking down environmental causes of cancer is not her agencys forte. On one occasion, her car got egged. When I asked Jess Santamaria, the Palm Beach County commissioner representing the Acreage, whether there was ever a cancer cluster there, he told me he doesnt know: Im not an expert. And when I called Michelle Damone, a local politician who helped set up the Acreage Community Focus Group, to discuss the cancer cluster, she told me that she will never utter those two words, because they drive a stake into the heart of my community., The remaining residents of the Acreage now live with excruciating uncertainty about what caused the cancers here. WebThe Florida Department of Environmental Protection designated a pediatric cancer cluster in 2010 in The Acreage after a spate of pediatric brain tumor cases. Some left that three-hour meeting feeling more frustrated than when they arrived. While Marra warned Hatfield, he declined Gallagher's request. Experimental science tries to understand the relationship between x chemical and y outcome in a controlled setting, says Madeleine Scammell, an assistant professor of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health. There are other cancer clusters that occur without any obvious source of _gaq.push(['_setAllowHash', false]); Homeowners such as Stephanie and Ira Peskowitz, a law enforcement officer, are wondering how long they can wait. It is West of Palm Bch Gdns, North of Royal Palm Beach. While the jury found that Pratt & Whitney was not responsible for cancer that multiple residents contracted, the verdict said that the company "failed to exercise reasonable care in the use and disposal of radioactive materials" at the facility. Earlier this month, the Florida Health Department confirmed that a Some residents of The Acreage have filed a class action lawsuit against Pratt & Whitney. Please specify what type of assistance you need so we can better assist you. A pixielike girl with big blue eyes and long brown hair, Hannah Samarripa began experiencing headaches and fatigue in the middle of eighth grade. He doesnt value things at all, is how Dunsford described Garrett recently, adding that hes become the family comforter. The history of such litigation doesnt paint a hopeful picture for the plaintiffs, who include Jessica Newfield; Garretts parents, Jennifer and Greg Dunsford; and Joyce and Bill Featherston, the mother and stepfather of Joey Baratta. 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. This study was requested when it was discovered that multiple children and adultssuffered or diedfrom brain tumors and live within a close radius of one another. 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. WebMara And Acreage Cancer Cluster Map. But she is also a musical girl who enjoys life and loves to sing. Isolation was clearly part of the reason that Pratt originally chose its location in Florida. 's://ssl':'://www')+'.google-analytics.com'+'/siteopt.js?v=1&utmxkey='+k+'&utmx='+(x?x:'')+'&utmxx='+(xx?xx:'')+'&utmxtime='+new Date().valueOf()+(h? Charlie Crist and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, have urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get involved. We have learned whats truly important in life, and its definitely not a house, she says. 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. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Hatfield didnt say how much she is seeking. The company trumpeted the results of a ten-year investigation that found no statistically significant elevations in the overall cancer rates among the workforce throughout the state. Submit & Share. We are keeping track of all diagnosed health issues that residents report to us. The epidemiological tools are too crude, explains Richard Clapp, an epidemiologist who has been involved in dozens of investigations into possible disease clusters in his career. The bottom line: Did Pratt & Whitney's actions depress property values? State workers this week are taking soil samples in the Acreage, digging soil, digging for answers to what's causing the pediatric cancer cluster. But the effect of confirming The Acreage as a cancer cluster was immediate. The study found that much of South Florida lies in a childhood cancer cluster. Then they have to say, Well, we dont even know that this is cause and effect in which case, people feel like they got nothing.. 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. During the next year, while Jenna was undergoing cancer treatment, both dogs developed tumors and died. In November 2012, the company announced plans to add 230 jobs at its Florida campus over the next eight years and to invest $63 million in its facilities there. 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. Unseal statement by State Attorney Dave Aronberg's ex-wife in Glenn Straub case, newspapers ask judge, Abortion lawsuit: Boynton synagogue fights Florida's abortion limits in religious freedom suit, Corey Jones shooting: Ruling opens door to Corey Jones' family suing Palm Beach Gardens over rights violation in his death. Once the lawyers get involved, then the lawyers have to talk, the countys Alina Alonso explained to me. 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. 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 epidemiological investigation of the cluster took five years to conduct and cost taxpayers more than $10 million. 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. Throughout the 1980s, the EPA was preparing to designate Pratt & Whitneys South Florida location as a federal Superfund site, which would have required detailed public disclosure of the contamination and the various steps that would be taken to remediate it. Nor did it account for the fact that many of the cases were clumped in the northern part of the study area, which meant that the concentration of cancer in that particular spot was even higher there than what the Health Department had found in the larger area. They interviewed dozens of people who were involved in Pratts cleanup efforts. 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. By May 2009, Jennifer Dunsford had developed a database documenting dozens of cancers in children and adults throughout the neighborhood. But when the low times do hit, each time it hits a little bit harder and lasts a little bit longer.. 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. She explains why she came: I wanted my children to play in the dirt and enjoy nature and breathe the fresh air. Tracy Newfield also liked the communitys spaciousness, which allowed ample storage for her familys boat and Jet Skis. That problem was much in evidence last week at an emotion-packed community meeting at Seminole Ridge High School, where a standing-room-only crowd of about 1,000 residents heard from a panel of state and county experts. While the Florida Health Department declared a pediatric cancer cluster in The Acreage, it never found what caused the high rate of childhood cancers. Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida If they do have to do an investigation, they have to find the funds for it or have to get the Legislature to appropriate funds. })(); CANCER CLUSTER If Al Qaeda sent a team of sleeper cells to poison our groundwater and release toxic materials into the air, people would go nuts. The anxiety and uncertainty now haunting The Acreage began to surface months ago. Lawsuit Linking Child Cancer to Aerospace Plant Hangs in the Garrett Dunsford, too, is both thriving and living with the ongoing health effects of his cancer. Whatever you find, there will be people who doubt the veracity of your findings because we dont live in an experimental setting, and you can never control all of the factors that might have contributed to that disease occurrence.. 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. Though health officials confirmed a cluster of pediatric brain cancers, the lawsuit alleges that adults have been affected too: "According to self-reported data from the community, the 2008-2010 incidence of brain tumors for the entire Acreage population is above 30. Within a few months, some of the participants felt they were being pressured to stop pursuing questions about water contamination. Today, Pratt & Whitney has more than $10 billion in defense contracts, and United Technologies is the sixth-biggest Pentagon contractor. 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. WebA cancer cluster may be suspected when people report that several family members, friends, neighbors, or coworkers have been diagnosed with the same or related types of Map of the cancer cluster in the Acreage (Palm Beach Gardens, The Newfields are one of the few directly affected families to stay in the Acreage. A canal system was constructed to make The Acreage habitable. The chances of so many childhood cancers concentrated in such a small place ranged from 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000 -- a cancer cluster, experts determined. In addition to TE-NORM, radionuclides have been detected in the Acreage that are not naturally occurring. Acreage Cancer Cluster 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. Many of the young families in the Acreage were drawn there by its relative lack of development. Lack of proof was cited as the reason for the dismissals. We know youre fearful of what these results mean, said Sharon Watkins, an environmental epidemiologist with the Florida Department of Health. A similar back-and-forth ensued when Pratt & Whitney hired epidemiologists to investigate a possible cancer cluster in its North Haven, Connecticut, jet-engine plant, where an unusual number of workers had died from an especially lethal form of brain cancer called glioblastoma the same kind that Joey Baratta and Debora Craig, another Acreage plaintiff, had. 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. A Scary Reality The Acreage Cancer Cluster. The acreage is an unincorporated area in Palm Beach County, it's not the actual name of the city. Acreage _gaq.push(['gwo._trackPageview', '/2354831680/test']); Each day held a new surprise for them. Workers dressed in protective gear sometimes sprayed pesticides in the citrus groves that abut Seminole Ridge High, even as teenagers practiced on nearby sports fields in shorts and T-shirts. Since then Palm Beach County Health Department officials interviewed 12 families diagnosed with either brain tumors or brain cancers from 2003 through 2008. Cancer cluster frightens Palm Beach County community