Many seek probe into 'cancer cluster' Resident compiles list of 110 cases from Sayreville BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Residents who have raised concerns about a potential cancer cluster in Sayreville have succeeded in getting the state to assess the situation. Many local people who have dealt with cancer attended Monday's meeting of the Borough Council for the second straight week, telling officials their personal accounts of battling cancer or of loved ones who have died of the disease. "It is a top priority for the borough," Mayor Kennedy O'Brien said of investigating the potential cancer cluster. "There has been enough testimony given by residents that it warrants the most serious investigation." It is to the credit of Cheryl Hardt that the issue has come to light and is receiving so much attention, O'Brien said. Hardt, who lived on Calliope Road in the borough's Green Valley neighborhood before relocating to Somerset County, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last July and had a full hysterectomy in August. Hardt said that while she was a teenager growing up on Calliope Road, she lost her mother to liver cancer. Her mother, who was 43, also suffered from breast cancer. Hardt's personal experience led her to seek out information about the prevalence of cancer in her former community, where her father still resides. She has compiled a list of 110 residents throughout the borough who are living with cancer or who have died of the disease. Most of the cases are related to the breasts and prostate, followed by the brain, lungs and ovaries. "It's all over Sayreville and Parlin," Hardt said. Many residents from neighborhoods other than Green Valley addressed the council Monday. One of them was David Bier, formerly of Jensen Road, who had a simple partial seizure and was diagnosed with a brain tumor at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital after having lived in Sayreville from 1978 to 1991. "My tumor is anaplastic astrocytoma with an overall grade of three out of four," Bier told the Suburban. "I have a life expectancy of three to five years. I underwent brain surgery. The following two years after surgery, I had chemotherapy and radiation." The seizures are a result of the brain tumor, which also caused Bier to have short-term memory problems and lose peripheral vision in his right eye. The residents have named a variety of potential causes for the possible cancer cluster, including many of Sayreville's industrial plants and the Superfund site known as the Sayreville Landfill. "While living on Jensen Road, I would often see the DuPont Parlin Plant releasing orange-colored gases from their smokestacks in the air," Bier said. "Also, during any part of the day, I was able to smell plastic in the air." Denise Shulenski also addressed the council Monday, saying that she, like Hardt, was diagnosed with cancer and has lost her mother to the disease. She did not reside in the Green Valley section, however. Shulenski currently lives in the area of Parlin and Madison Park, but she was raised in a house off Bordentown Avenue in the area of Cheesequake Road. When she was 16, she moved with her parents to the Winding Woods apartment complex off Bordentown Avenue and lived there for 10 years. "My mother passed away from stomach cancer in 2001 at the age of 55," Shulenski said. "I was diagnosed in 2003 with thyroid cancer. They removed my entire thyroid and I am now on replacement medication for the rest of my life." There is no prior history of cancer in her family before her mother, Shulenski said. She noted that in her own case, she did not feel ill before being diagnosed with cancer. "Mine was found during a routine checkup," Shulenski said. "You are always looking out for a reason why," Shulenski added. "You always want that reason, but I don't dwell on that. Life goes on, but if my voice can be heard and can help someone else, then why not share my story?" The Cancer Epidemiology Service [CES], part of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, is responding to the concerns, according to Deputy Commissioner and State Epidemiologist Eddy A. Bresnitz. In a letter to state Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski, Bresnitz wrote that this response will include an assessment of the list of cancer cases, which Hardt provided to the department. The health department will conduct an assessment of the situation, and the state Cancer Surveillance Program will look at similarities in the types of cancer residents are suffering from and what potential environmental triggers are in the area, according to Shawn Brennan, a representative in the office of Congressman Frank Pallone. "In addition, our office is looking into possible federal action to be undertaken at the conclusion of the state's assessment," Brennan said. "This could include requests to the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] or the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry [ATSDR]." O'Brien requested federal funding in order to seek out data on the issue, which he characterized as highly urgent. "I asked Congressman Pallone's office for federal funding help," O'Brien said. "I want to bring on personnel to gather the data from the residents." O'Brien expressed frustration with the health department's refusal to release information from its cancer registry due to confidentiality issues. The mayor has called upon the borough attorney to request the information through the Freedom of Information Act. "I find it insulting," O'Brien said. "This is information collected with taxpayer dollars and it is of great and critical importance to the borough." O'Brien noted that this is only the beginning of the process to have the matter investigated. He said the determination of whether a cancer cluster exists in the borough may not arrive for some time. "There is not a reason to panic," O'Brien said. "There is a reason to ask questions, and a lot of questions, until we have the answers. Right now, we have testimony and a general feeling that our cancer numbers are higher than they should be. We are in the process of finding the answers to the questions. Once we have the answers, they will bring more questions. If it is there, is there an environmental connection? If there is, what is it and what can we do about it?" "This is the beginning of complex and in-depth research and investigation," O'Brien added. As a resident and homeowner who raised his children in the borough, O'Brien said that he and the council want to ensure that residents get the answers they are seeking. "It is my responsibility to find the answers to these questions," O'Brien said.