2007.08.28 – TOXIC SUBSTANCES AGENCY HOLDS CLOSED MEETING

http://www.tnonline.com/node/206432
The Times News
August 28, 2007

Toxic substances agency holds closed meeting

By RICHARD FUNK rfunk@tnonline.com

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) reportedly held a meeting on Monday in Tamaqua, but the media was not welcome.

Sources said the meeting was held to discuss how to present results of the polycythemia vera study to the public. Several cases of the disease, a very rare form of cancer, surfaced along Ben Titus Road, in Rush Township.

Polycythemia vera is considered rare, in that it occurs in only 0.6 to 1.6 people, per million population. Some say there are seven cases in a short stretch of Ben Titus Road.

“I was told this meeting was closed to the media,” said Frank Waksmunski, a member of Carbon County Groundwater Guardians. “To me, this is going to be a very informative meeting.”

Attempts to reach representatives of ATSDR Monday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Some residents of the impacted area believe the problem goes back to McAdoo Associates, which operated a chemical waste facility on the Spring Mountain, while other attribute the situation to a co-generation plant, also on the Spring Mountain.