Cancer, environmental issues topic of meeting

BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SAYREVILLE - Residents concerned about an alleged cancer cluster will have another opportunity to meet with officials next week.

U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) will attend the special meeting on environmental concerns in Sayreville Aug. 29, and representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will be on hand to hear concerns and answer questions.

State Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-19) and local officials will also attend the meeting.

Among the topics to be discussed are the local Superfund sites. At recent meetings in the borough, residents have pointed to certain sites as potential reasons for what they see as a high number of cancer and cancer-related illness in their community.

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.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services' recent review of whether or not the area has a "cancer cluster" came back negative. However, residents voiced dissatisfaction with the methodology used to reach that determination, which was based on cancer statistics in Sayreville from 1990 to 2004.

The borough has four Superfund sites, including the Sayreville Landfill and the Horseshoe Road Superfund Site, which are areas defined by the EPA as "uncontrolled or abandoned place[s] where hazardous waste is located."

The concerns of a potential cancer cluster started with former borough resident Cheryl Hardt, a cancer survivor who grew up in the Green Valley section of town. She found that many people in the area located south of Washington Road, north of the Conrail tracks and east of Jernee Mill Road, were reporting incidents of cancer, and she called for an investigation into whether a cancer cluster existed.

Concerned citizens packed borough hall at meetings that CBS-TV covered along with other major news outlets. The residents shared testimony with borough officials, recounting their experiences with cancer cases in their families and in various neighborhoods in town.

Hardt, who used to live on Calliope Road, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July 2006, and had a full hysterectomy in August of that year. 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, had breast cancer and ultimately died of liver cancer at the age of 43 while Cheryl was a teenager.

Hardt said her concerns are no longer confined to the area of Calliope Road and Green Valley Way, since residents from all over Sayreville have contacted her with their stories of cancer. She has been compiling a list of various cases and forms of cancer reported in Sayreville.

Pallone learned of the potential cancer cluster from Hardt, whom he commended for having the initiative to collect information for the health department to assess.

Deputy Commissioner of Public Health Services and State Epidemiologist Eddy A. Bresnitz told Sayreville residents at a recent meeting that there is no reason to believe a cancer cluster exists in the community.

Residents responded with skepticism about the report issued by the state health department, saying it was issued too quickly and without consideration of a variety of factors.

The epidemiologist's investigation "lacked any semblance of substance," Mayor Kennedy O'Brien said in a statement before Bresnitz made his presentation at the July 2 council meeting.

While the rate of cancer in New Jersey, as well as the Northeast region, is high compared to the rest of the country, the health department's investigation did not validate cancer-cluster concerns in Sayreville, Bresnitz said. He added that there was no significant difference between the number of cases of cancer in Sayreville compared to the rates of cancer elsewhere in the county and in the rest of the state.

Cancer clusters can be found in communities where a specific type of cancer is prevalent, a rare form of cancer is found in abundance, cancer impacts employees exposed to certain toxins, or if it affects a specific age group, like in the case of Toms River.

Hardt and others in attendance at the meeting expressed disappointment with the report. Hardt said she was hoping the state would investigate the matter for a period of six months to a year, not in a matter of 30 days.

Borough Council President Thomas Pollando told the Suburban that next week's meeting will allow residents who still have questions to get answers and voice their concerns.

"Hopefully, we can put some comfort back into the people who had the concerns, to let the residents know that Sayreville is a safe place to live and no worse than any other place in New Jersey. It may even be better," Pollando said.

The meeting will be held at Sayreville Borough Hall at 7 p.m. Aug. 29.