BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer
Residents of a section of Sayreville are raising concerns about what they believe is a cancer cluster in the area.
Many of the concerned citizens approached the mayor and Borough Council Tuesday night during a meeting at Borough Hall, sharing their experiences with cancer cases in their families and in the neighborhood. While one resident noted an alarming number of cases throughout the borough, the discussion centered on the area of Green Valley Way and Calliope Road.
The neighborhood, sometimes referred to as the Green Valley section, is located south of Washington Road, north of the Conrail tracks and east of Jernee Mill Road.
Cheryl Hardt, a former resident of Calliope Road, told the Suburban after the meeting that she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last July, and had a full hysterectomy in August. Now a resident of Somerset County, Hardt said she will never be able to have children.
Hardt’s mother, who also lived on Calliope Road, also had breast cancer and ultimately died of liver cancer at the age of 43 while Cheryl was a teenager.
“Obviously, something is going on,” Hardt told the council on Tuesday. “It’s not only me. It is an outstanding number of people in Sayreville that have been affected.”
A cancer cluster is defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a greater than expected number of cancer cases that occur within a group of people, a geographic area or over a period of time.
Hardt thanked Congressman Frank Pallone and CBS News, which broadcast a report on the Sayreville issue last week, for helping her investigate the issue and get the word out. Hardt said she wants to focus the public’s attention on this issue so that the problem can be addressed and that future cancer cases can be caught early on.
Hardt said her concerns are no longer confined to the area of Calliope Road and Green Valley Way, as she originally thought at the time of last week’s CBS News report.
“People from all over Sayreville and Parlin have come forward with numerous forms of cancer,” Hardt said, citing a high occurrence of cancers of the breast, lung, brain, ovaries, prostate, thyroid and other organs.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services is investigating the matter and the state Department of Environmental Protection may conduct an emergency assessment study in the borough, according to Mayor Kennedy O’Brien.
At the meeting, O’Brien told residents that the issue exceeds the resources of the borough’s governing body, which is why he wants the federal and state governments involved.
“My office has recently been notified that there is a potential cancer cluster,” O’Brien said in a statement. He said he was informed by the Department of Health and Senior Services that one of the areas in question as a potential cause is a known Superfund site, the Sayreville Landfill.
The site contains base neutral acids, metals, PAH, pesticides and VOC contaminants in its debris, groundwater and soil, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web site. However, the Superfund site’s progress profile indicates that potential or actual human exposures are under control.
O’Brien said the DEP considers the landfill area to be a “site of interest,” which means it is a location with a higher-than-average occurrence of cancer nearby.
“Please understand, the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Sayreville are my first priority,” O’Brien said. “This issue is one that greatly affects the lives of our residents, and is an issue I am committed to bringing to all appropriate state and federal levels of government, and ensuring that this issue receives the attention it warrants.”
Helen Brescia, of Harrison Street, which is two blocks from Calliope Road and Green Valley Way, also addressed the governing body. She said she only learned of the issue when CBS News covered the story. She said she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had a tumor removed.
“I live in fear everyday that I am going to get another form of cancer,” Brescia said, adding that she has no health care or state medical coverage.
Brescia fears that she may be at risk of having breast cancer.
“I can’t get the MRI,” Brescia said. “I can’t cover $2,500.”
O’Brien responded that he would consult with her to see what can be done to cover the payments.
Borough Engineer Jay Cornell allayed concerns Brescia raised about the borough’s drinking water, saying the water is tested on a regular basis and meets all of the state’s requirements.
Cornell acknowledged that environmental groups have raised concerns about the DuPont Parlin plant, but said that allegations that the plant may have released the chemical PFOA into the ground water have been refuted by tests. He said tests show the levels of PFOA in Sayreville to be at equal or lesser levels than in other municipalities. Union leaders and environmental groups are still challenging the borough’s contentions in that matter, however.
O’Brien noted that the borough cannot use water from the DuPont aquifer, and Borough Business Administrator Jeffry Bertrand referred to the PFOA matter as a “non-issue.” He said the levels of PFOA found in the water were at one 100th of the acceptable level.
Bertrand said the PFOA concerns emerged out of a labor-related dispute between DuPont and its employees. He noted that the borough will continue to test for PFOA, though it is not required to do so.
O’Brien said the health department will perform an assessment as the first step in the process to determine whether there is a cancer cluster in the area.
“This is a town issue,” O’Brien said. “We all live here. We all have family here.”
Council President Thomas Pollando noted that cancer clusters are typically associated with areas where one form of cancer is found in great numbers in a given area.
“That has not been determined,” Pollando said, adding that the state is looking into the public’s concerns.
Lorraine Mulcahy, a licensed nurse, said she lost her mother, a resident of Green Valley Way, to a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2000. This form of cancer is typically associated with alcohol abuse, but her mother did not drink, she said.
Mulcahy said many of her mother’s neighbors died of cancer as well.
“If you go to my mom’s grave, it is literally a map of Green Valley,” Mulcahy said. “We said for years it’s been a cancer cluster.”
Mulcahy told the Suburban that she was raised at her parents’ house on Green Valley Way, where her father lives today. She added that she is concerned about abandoned trains on Jernee Mill Road that have been behind the homes in that area for years.
Borough Councilwoman Kathy Makowsky said she was grateful to residents, and Hardt in particular, for making the public aware of the issue.
Makowsky currently resides at Green Valley Way with her three children.
“Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention,” Makowsky said.
Hardt is compiling a list of people, streets and the cases and forms of cancer into a database as part of her continued research. Anyone who would like to contribute information can e-mail her at [email protected].
Hardt made note of potential sites that raise environmental concerns for residents, including the DuPont plant, the Hercules property, the Horseshoe Road Superfund Site, the Sayreville Landfill and the Gerdau Ameristeel mill.
“I am not sure if it is any or all [of them],” Hardt said, “but it’s all of Sayreville. We need answers.”
Pallone told the Suburban that he learned of the potential cancer cluster from Hardt, and he commended her for having the initiative to collect information on cancer in the area for the health department to assess.
“They are going to try to see the extent of the cluster,” Pallone said.
The health department may finish its investigation in a matter of weeks, Pallone said.
“We are going to get to the bottom of it,” Pallone said.