Residents to be credited for securing investigation

Concerns of a high number of cancer cases in Sayreville deserve the utmost attention on the part of government officials, as many residents suspect there may be a cancer cluster. And while the state Department of Health and Senior Services is expected to assess the situation, residents should be prepared for what will likely be a lengthy, and possibly inconclusive, investigation into what is an extremely complex issue.

Health officials state that it is very difficult to identify and interpret cancer clusters due to an array of factors. For example, the time between exposure to a cancer-causing agent and the development of cancer can be decades. Causes are hard, and in some cases impossible, to identify, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Cases are more likely to represent a cancer cluster if they involve one type of cancer, a rare type of cancer, or a type of cancer in a group not usually affected by that cancer, the CDC states. If health officials do confirm the existence of a cancer cluster, they still may not be able to identify any single cause or hazard that can be addressed. A confirmed cluster could be the result of chance, of known causes of cancer (such as smoking) or unknown causes of cancer, according to the CDC. Follow-up investigations can take years to complete and the results are often inconclusive, with no cause found.

In Sayreville, there is a variety of types of cancer being reported, and in several different parts of town. Residents have speculated that the causes may be one or more local industrial plants, abandoned trains on Jernee Mill Road, or a Superfund site known as the Sayreville Landfill, where contaminants are known to be in the groundwater and soil.

It is to the credit of the residents who have organized and rallied to raise awareness of the situation that something is being done. They have gained the support of local officials as well as Congressman Frank Pallone, and this week the Edison Wetlands Association announced it would investigate whether there is a link between a local steel mill and the health of nearby residents.

We hope that through the efforts of the state and federal governments, as well as grassroots groups, the community will get definitive answers as to whether there is a cancer cluster, what is causing it and what can be done about it. There is a large number of cases being reported, and the many accounts of tragedy and sickness in local neighborhoods warrant a thorough investigation. The community deserves answers, hard as they may be to find.