Safe Drinking Water program planned for Oct. 15
www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111007/COMM011101/110070301/-1/NEWS
Published: 10/07/11
HAWLEY, Pa. — If your well was flooded after the recent visit by Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee or any other high water event, then you need to test your water for a number of potentially harmful substances such as bacteria and nitrates, which can have health effects on you and your family.
In addition, your well could have high levels of iron, manganese and copper, which can cause unwanted stains and odors.
If you depend on your own well or spring for your drinking water, it is your responsibility to have your water tested periodically at a certified water testing lab. No government agency is going to require you to have your water tested.
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Pike County will be conducting a Safe Drinking Water program from 9-11 a.m. Oct. 15 at the PPL Environmental Learning Center on Route 6 in Hawley, Pa. There is a registration fee of $10 for handouts.
To register for the Safe Drinking Water program, go to the website http://guest.cvent.com/d/icq7m2 or call 877-489-1398 and mention the Oct. 15 Safe Drinking Water Seminar. The registration deadline is Wednesday.
In addition, Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering water testing for a discounted fee through Prosser Labs on Oct. 19 and 26 and Nov. 2. In order to participate in the water testing, you must attend the Safe Drinking Water program to receive your test bottles.
Four different sets of water tests will be offered, ranging from coliform bacteria and E. coli bacteria to a test of seven other parameters. Test bottles need to be returned by noon Oct. 19 or 26 or Nov. 2.
For more information on the Safe Drinking Water program or water testing, contact Peter Wulfhorst at the Penn State Cooperative Extension office at 570-296-3400 or visit the Pike County Cooperative Extension website at http://extension.psu.edu/pike and go to events.
Citizens Unite – Compile Your Water Quality Data
(Note: Brian Oram is a charter member of the Carbon County Groundwater Guardians.)
Citizens – there are more private wells than public water supplies in Pennsylvania. In many regions, the natural gas companies have conducted baseline testing and have returned the data to you. The problem is that the industry has the data and can easily compile, but for citizens they are lacking an explanation of the data and it is not being compiled. We need to work together to protect our groundwater data.
To help – send NO Money – All that is being asked is as follows:
1. Send a copy of your water quality data or host a community meeting where the water quality data could be compiled.
To request a community meeting or presentation on “Getting the Waters Tested- The Marcellus Shale Factor” or the “Community Groundwater / Surfacewater Database” – email brian.oram@wilkes.edu or bfenviro@ptd.net. Please put Citizen Database in Subject.
2. Release the data to the Citizens Groundwater / Surfacewater Database. Here is the information sheet. The database will only include the data and No personal information.
3. Email the information to the addresses above or send a hardcopy to
Mr. Brian Oram, PG
Citizen Outreach Program
15 Hillcrest Drive
Dallas, PA 18612
4. You get a review of your data for free and you can be sure your data will help track water quality change in the region.
5. Private Well Owner Survey – Funded by Mr. Brian Oram. Please participate – the survey results in be published in the New Free Guidebook for Private Well Owners
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NMG6RQ3
This survey is part of the efforts of Mr. Brian Oram, Professional Geologist, and owner of B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc to help educate and inform the community. The survey will not be published and all information is confidential. Part of this survey will be used to create a new booklet that helps educate private well owners and policy makers in our community. This survey is not funded by any outside company or organization and solely funded by Mr. Brian Oram.
Please act now.
Thanks for your consideration
Brian Oram, Professional Geologist, Soils Scientist, Licensed Well Driller
My Blog Site – http://pennsylvania-solutions.blogspot.com
Free Outreach to Private Well Owners – http://www.water-research.net
Rare blood disease mix-up?
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/aug/19/rare-blood-disease-mix
Friday, August 19, 2011
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfass@tnonline.com
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS "Do the hemochromatosis people really have polycythemia vera," asks Robert Gadinski at Thursday's public forum on a rare blood disease in our area. The session took place at the Carbon County Emergency Management Center, Nesquehoning.
Is it possible that some folks diagnosed with a blood disease involving a build-up of iron might actually be suffering from a rarer blood disease found in unusual clusters in Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties?
The condition of iron build up in the blood is called hemochromatosis and it can look like polycythemia vera, the disease currently being investigated in the local area.
At a public forum held Thursday at the Carbon County Emergency Management Center, 1264 Emergency Lane, Nesquehoning, a member of the Tri-County Polycythemia Vera Community Action Committee (CAC) pointed out that symptoms of the two blood diseases are very similar. Robert Gadinski, Ashland, a Schuylkill County hydrogeologist and former employee of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the issue needs to be studied, especially in looking for the prevalence of a JAK2 genetic mutation found in those with polycythemia vera.
“Do the hemochromatosis people really have polycythemia vera,” asked Gadinski. “Should the JAK2 testing be extended to people diagnosed with hemochromatosis? There are similarities in the symptoms and in the illness itself.”
Hemochromatosis is an inherited disease in which too much iron builds up in the body. It is one of the most common genetic diseases in the United States. The rarer polycythemia vera is not inherited, but is acquired, although the cause is not known.
Representatives of the study panel agreed to look into Gadinski’s concerns.
Last night’s forum, led by CAC Chairman Joe Murphy, Hometown, included a presentation by a team from the University of Pittsburgh coordinated by Jeanine Buchanich. The forum came on the heels of several days of local research by the university team. The session was quickly organized and had limited advance publicity or media notification by the university.
The university is working with the Pa. Department of Health to do an expansion of the original PV study, using data from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. Buchanich wants to see as many as possible take part.
“We’re looking to identify cases that haven’t been sent to the Cancer Registry,” said Buchanich. Before the wrap-up session in Nesquehoning, her team had spent several days in the Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville and Hazleton areas interviewing residents and meeting with health professionals.
“We talked to people in the area and obtained ‘consents’ from local PV patients,” she said, calling the trip a success. She emphasized, however, that additional cooperation is still needed.
“We need people to consent (to take part in the study) and to sign their medical records information release,” said Buchanich, adding that a target study completion date is September, 2012.
The study is examining incidences of three blood disorders plus a form of leukemia, and represents just one portion of a multipronged effort aimed at investigating reports of cancer clusters in the three-county region.
About $8.8M is being spent in research and investigations coordinated by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the CAC.
According to Murphy, some 130 cases of PV had been reported to the Registry between 2006-09 including 67 cases in 2007, but the total working number today is actually down to 33 cases.
“Some have died, some couldn’t be located and some chose not to participate,” explained Murphy.
The forum included a conference call with Dr. Henry Cole, Maryland, and Elizabeth Irvin-Barnwell, leader of the PV project at the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta.
Before the session, one participant noted that reported cancer cases appear to suggest the presence of similar PV clusters in the Shamokin-Mt. Carmel area of Northumberland County and in the Danville area of Montour County.
Research into the cause of the cancers has been under way for several years. Currently, scientists are gathering data and interviewing residents to determine whether there is a continuing cluster of the rare blood disorder, which can lead to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.
The Pa. Department of Environmental Protection has been sampling drinking water, and taking dust and soil at the homes of study participants.
In addition, workers have tested water and sediment samples at the McAdoo Superfund site and cogeneration plants in the area.
A team from Drexel University is trying to identify risk factors for the disease.
In other PV-related news, Murphy is organizing the Betty Kester Alliance for a Healthy Future, a 501(c) 3 named for the woman who led the early charge in the fight against PV. She and her husband, residents of Ben Titus Road in Still Creek, both passed away from the illness.
The alliance will pick up where the CAC group ends, aided by grants. Funding for the CAC group stopped almost one year ago. Murphy has been personally financing efforts to create the alliance in order to sustain the work of the CAC group and its scientific advisory team.
Offers of assistance, either in manpower or monetary, can be directed to the alliance. More information is available at (570) 668-9099.
Panel recommends statewide statewide standards for new private water wells
http://republicanherald.com/news/panel-recommends-statewide-statewide-standards-for-new-private-water-wells-1.1188749
BY ROBERT SWIFT (HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF rswift@timesshamrock.com)
Published: August 15, 2011
HARRISBURG – A special state commission recommends setting statewide construction standards for new private water wells, resurrecting an issue that has been debated for the past two decades.
The Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission included the recommendation in last month’s report to guide the development of the deep pockets of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation. The commission also recommended doubling the distance separating a gas well from a water well from 250 feet to 500 feet.
Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23, Williamsport, is considering introducing legislation to set standards for new water wells.
More than three million Pennsylvania residents rely on about one million private wells for drinking water. Methane contamination of drinking water such as occurred last year in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, is one of the most volatile issues surrounding the hydrofracking operations used in the deep Marcellus wells in Northeast Pennsylvania. Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. agreed to pay $4.1 million to Dimock residents affected by methane contamination attributed to faulty natural gas wells.
Some 20,000 new water wells are drilled each year in the state, yet for all this reliance on well water, Pennsylvania is one of the few states without private well regulations.
The commission kept its water well standards recommendation general in scope, while referring to a 2009 study by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative research agency, that concluded that 40 percent of private water wells have failed to meet at least one health-related drinking water standard. The commission noted pointedly that poorly constructed water wells can be pathways for bacteria and contaminants such as naturally occurring shallow methane gas to migrate into water supplies.
Groundwater aquifers can be polluted by failing septic systems, fertilizer runoff and mining, the center study found, while individual wells can be contaminated by exposed well casings, or having a loose fitting well cap or no cap at all, allowing surface water to enter a well.
The study recommended passing state laws requiring testing of new water wells by a certified lab and standards for new well construction and education programs for homeowners.
The Marcellus Shale drilling has led people to call for protection of water supplies, Yaw said. The senator said there have been a few problems, but they have to be viewed in the context of hundreds of gas wells drilled in recent years.
He said setting water well standards is one way to allay public concerns.
“If there’s a concern people have, let’s do something about it,” Yaw said.
In a related vein, the federal Department of Energy’s Shale Gas Production Subcommittee recommended last week that requirements be set to do testing for background levels of existing methane in nearby water wells prior to gas drilling.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors is opposed to a statewide well construction standard and prefers letting municipalities handle the issue through local ordinances.
Supervisors in some regions are concerned it will lead to state regulations on how property owners use their well water or even metering of wells, said Elam Herr, the association’s deputy director.
The last major push for regulation of private water wells came in 2001-02 when drought conditions led to enactment of a state water resources planning law. The House approved a water-well bill, but it didn’t become law.
Researchers hone cancer studies
http://standardspeaker.com/news/researchers-hone-cancer-studies-1.1190694#axzz1VTpgZtzW
By SAM GALSKI (Staff Writer)
Published: August 19, 2011
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health are inviting residents from parts of Luzerne, Schuylkill and Carbon counties who have been diagnosed with polycythemia vera or related blood disorders to participate in confidential interviews that will be conducted today at Hazleton General Hospital.
The team has interviewed about 50 people in Hazleton and at state health centers in Wilkes-Barre and Pottsville on Tuesday and Wednesday. It plans to conduct a final round of interviews today from 9 a.m. to noon at Hazleton General Hospital, according to Jeanine M. Buchanich, a Ph.D and research assistant professor from the university’s Department of Biostatistics.
Information from the interviews will help researchers confirm roughly 300 PV cases identified in the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry – and possibly bring undocumented cases to light, Buchanich said.
The findings will be included in a study that will determine whether there is a continuing cluster of a rare blood disorder in the tri-county area that leads to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes and has no known cause.
The study will be completed by September 2012 and will serve as an extension to a study that was completed in 2008 and accounted for cases that were diagnosed up to 2005, she said.
“This study will be from 2009 through now,” she said. “The original study stopped in 2005. We’ve also added other conditions related to PV.”
Chronic myelogenous leukemia, chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythemia are among blood disorders that researchers hope to document.
Buchanich reported on progress of the study at Thursday’s Community Action Committee (CAC) meeting at the Carbon County Communications Center in Nesquehoning.
She and other university researchers are working with the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry to contact and get permission to have people with documented PV and other blood disorders included in the study.
“There are over 300 cases identified so far and only 30 have sent in consent forms,” she said. “It’s been a struggle.”
A larger number of participants translates to a more accurate study, she said.
CAC organizer Joe Murphy urged residents to take part in the interviews. Information will be kept confidential and interviews will be conducted in a private office area at Hazleton General, Buchanich noted.
Those who participated in this week’s interviews weren’t all diagnosed with PV, but Buchanich said the group was successful in securing information that could be used in the study.
Researchers originally proposed conducting additional interviews next month, but a representative from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry who participated in the meeting via speakerphone said they hope to have much of the information-gathering completed by the first quarter of 2012 so officials can review information and have a final report available later in the year.
Dr. Henry Cole, who also took part in the CAC meeting via speaker phone, urged ATSDR officials to be as transparent as possible as they prepare and release final versions of the study.
Cole called on the federal agency to release a preliminary findings report – so the public can digest that information and compare any changes or agency comments to a final version.
CAC members brought Thursday’s meeting to a close discussing ways various state and federal environmental officials can develop a correlation between environmental conditions and PV and cases involving blood disorders. Cole suggested monitoring fly ash sites, installing deep monitoring wells at the McAdoo Superfund site and evaluating sediment and sampling water at the Still Creek Reservoir. CAC member Robert Gadinski said a water sample taken at the reservoir yielded high lead readings at 75 parts per billion and that the water during a recent period of heavy rain turned orange, which could indicate acid mine drainage issues.
Gadinski also noted that a water hole drilled in Kline Township that was originally planned as a source for public consumption had been taken off line because of high arsenic levels.
sgalski@standardspeaker.com
New air rules to curb pollution from gas wells
http://standardspeaker.com/news/new-air-rules-to-curb-pollution-from-gas-wells-1.1181579#axzz1TUpEddKL
By Laura Legere (Staff Writer)
Published: July 29, 2011
In an effort to curb smog and airborne chemicals linked to oil and gas production, federal environmental regulators moved Thursday to place new controls on air pollution caused by the drilling, processing and transmission of the fuels.
The proposed rules released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would for the first time require “green completions” at nearly all hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells in the country – a way of capturing and sending to market gas that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere.
The new requirements would also stem pollution from some compressors, valves, dehydrators and processing plants, as well as the storage tanks that hold the hydrocarbon liquids associated with “wet” forms of gas.
The rules aim to curb smog-causing chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as air toxics, such as benzene, that are known or suspected to cause cancer. Although the rules do not directly target the leakage of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, the proposals to limit the VOCs and air toxics will also reduce the amount of methane escaping into the atmosphere by about 26 percent, the agency said.
The EPA characterized the rules as “extremely cost-effective” and estimated the requirements will save the industry nearly $30 million a year above the $754 million annually it will cost to meet the requirements. The agency said the rules will mandate practices already used voluntarily by some companies and required by some states.
“Reducing these emissions will help cut toxic pollution that can increase cancer risks and smog that can cause asthma attacks and premature death – all while giving these operators additional product to bring to market,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
Environmental groups who sued the EPA to update its standards by a court-ordered deadline Thursday welcomed the proposals.
Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director of New Mexico-based WildEarth Guardians, said the “woefully outdated” current rules allowed the buildup of ground-level ozone in rural, heavily drilled parts of Wyoming so the smog there rivaled that in Los Angeles.
The proposed rules offer benefits to the industry and the environment, he said.
“The solution to clearing the air more often than not means keeping more product in the pipeline,” he said.
Rules mandating green completions may prove difficult at first for operators in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, where pipeline infrastructure is still catching up to the pace at which new gas wells are drilled.
“Certainly it’s easier to capture methane when a gas field is a little more mature because the pipeline infrastructure is in place that allows you to capture it,” said former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection secretary John Hanger.
He said the proposed rules “can help maximize the environmental benefits that using more natural gas in our society offers.”
In its response to the proposed rules, the Pennsylvania-based industry group the Marcellus Shale Coalition pointed to three short-term state air monitoring studies near Marcellus wells that did not find any compounds in concentrations “that would likely trigger air-related health issues.”
“This sweeping set of potentially unworkable regulations represents an overreach that could, ironically, undercut the production of American natural gas, an abundant energy resource that is critical to strengthening our nation’s air quality,” coalition president Kathryn Klaber said.
The EPA will have a public comment period on the proposed rules and three public hearings in the Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colo. and Pittsburgh areas, for which details have not yet been announced.
The agency is under a court order to take final action on the rules by Feb. 28, 2012.
llegere@timesshamrock.com
Tamaqua residents seek help in connecting to sewer line
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/jul/20/costly-delay
By LIZ PINKEY TN Correspondent tneditor@tnonline.com
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
LIZ PINKEY/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS Daniel Lattanzi, who could be facing a $25,000 bill to connect to the sewer main, called the wildcat sewer situation in Tamaqua a "moral issue" and requested that the borough provide some relief for residents facing large bills as they connect to the sanitary sewer.
Members of Tamaqua’s Borough Council got an earful last night from several citizens who are unhappy about the fact that they are responsible for footing the bill to connect to the sanitary sewer, after years of illegally, and in most cases, unknowingly, discharging waste into the Wabash Creek.
Although the project and its expense have people upset, one of the other issues that came to light at last night’s meeting is the fact that by delaying the investigation of the problem the borough may have caused citizens to miss out on opportunities to seek outside funding or loans to help finance the project.
Anna Brose, of 249 West Broad St., said that the first letter she received regarding the problem and explaining that dye testing would be completed in the future was in 2008.
“It has taken three years to have the dye test done. I have a problem with that,” she said. “There is no financial aid available. Two years ago, three years ago, there was money available. Now there is nothing.”
Brose went on to say that she had received a letter from the borough stating that there was money available through the USDA and through Schuylkill Community Action.
“That money has dried up,” she said. “Schuylkill Community Action said their funding dried up two years ago.”
Brose said she could take a low interest loan through the borough, but still balked at the cost.
“I have paid a lot of money to the borough, as have a lot of people in this room,” she said, referring to the estimated $9,200 she has paid in sewer bills over the last 30 years. “We just can’t absorb this amount of money, when this could have been done how long ago and money would have been available,” she said.
Borough President Micah Gursky agreed that the situation is not a good one. However, he stood by the borough’s process.
“Everyone agrees that it should have been done a long time ago,” he said. “Our initial plan was to dye test the properties, but the cost was much higher than we could afford as a borough. That was the delay. We were trying to figure out options, how to figure out who needed to hook up.”
Gursky also said this is not the first time that the borough has had to deal with properties where the owners believed that they were connected to the public system and were in fact, not.
“It happens from time to time,” he said. “Unfortunately, everyone is required to hook up.”
Councilman Tom Cara said that the borough was willing to “let this thing go on because we didn’t want to put the burden on you.” However, Gursky disagreed.
“You can’t flush your toilet into the creek,” he said.
Resident Kevin Kellner, who lost his home at 5 South Lehigh St. in a fire on July 5, was one of the property owners who was notified that he was not connected. Kellner said that his lawyer had advised him that the residents will be required to pay to connect to the sewer, however, he told him that he should recoup the money that he has paid to the borough over the years in sewer bills.
Gursky said that the borough has “been down that road before” and does not expect that the borough will be required to reimburse residents. Kellner also asked why DEP has not been held accountable for the cleanup of local waterways, including the Wabash and the Panther Creek.
Another unfortunate issue with the timing of the project has to deal with the Streetscape project that was recently completed along sections of Broad Street. Many of the property owners will be required to dig through the new sidewalks and pavers and replace them in order to connect to the sewer main.
“Yeah, we’re kicking ourselves because we’re going to have to cut into new sidewalks,” said Gursky.
One resident could be looking at an even larger project. Daniel Lattanzi, of 403 E. Broad St., is facing an estimated $25,000 in bills as he would need to connect to a main located on the other side of Broad Street, which would necessitate digging all the way across Route 209. Lattanzi has lived at the seven unit apartment complex since 1950 and owned it since 1962. Although he said he could pursue a cheaper alternative and install a grinder pump and avoid crossing 209, he has no control over what is going into that pump and is not willing to risk incurring more expense for the continual upkeep of the pump.
“I can’t get a bit of help. We’ve been hung out to dry,” he said, calling it a “moral issue.”
“I feel the borough should do something,” he added.
Another resident, Maria Burke, of Rowe Street, asked what will happen to residents who cannot comply with the Aug. 31 deadline. Burke expressed the frustration that many residents feel at being told they are breaking the law.
“I don’t want my crap going in the freaking creek. Who does? We want to do the right thing,” she said, but she indicated that with a newborn at home, she may not be able to find the money and additionally, trying to find a plumber to complete the work by Aug. 31 is going to be difficult with more than 40 properties needing to be addressed.
“We’re begging you,” she said to council members, “be an advocate for us.”
Councilman Brian Connelly said that the borough will contact other offices, including U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, to see if there is any aid that can be made available to residents.
However, he and other council members are not optimistic that funding will be forthcoming, especially not by the Aug. 31 deadline.
Borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt said that the borough will definitely need to ask DEP for an extension. The Tamaqua Public Library has already missed its deadline to connect to a lateral on a neighboring property and will need to look at another alternative.
Steigerwalt said that DEP has been advised of that situation and has not approved or denied an extension request, it has just asked that it be corrected as soon as possible.
40 Tamaqua property owners given 60 days to connect to sewer system
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/jul/19/expensive-proposition
By ANDY LEIBENGUTH aleibenguth@tnonline.com
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Exposed PVC pipe lies behind the Tamaqua Public Library leading into the Wabash Creek.
Forty Tamaqua property owners are being given 60-day notices to stop discharging wastewater directly to the Wabash Creek culvert and to connect to Tamaqua’s municipal sewer system. The work is to be done at property owners’ expense.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an order to the borough last December to investigate and remove all illegal sewage discharges to the creek, which runs under downtown Tamaqua from South Lehigh Street to Rowe Street and then to South Railroad Street.
The deadline to comply with this order is Aug. 31.
The borough hired Alfred Benesch Company and A One Service, Shenandoah, to investigate both the Wabash Creek and Panther Creek, which runs through eastern portions of Tamaqua, for the sources of any possible illegal sewage discharge, aka wildcats. Inspections of the creeks were performed between March 1 and March 31. Initially, 56 connections were found to have active sanitary connections to the Wabash Creek culvert, with dry residue indicating recent sanitary connections.
Investigators used special equipment and cameras. The notice, given to affected property owners about a month ago, states, “In accordance with the DEP order and Borough Ordinance No. 304, you are hereby notified to stop discharging sewage to the Wabash Creek and connect your property to the municipal sewer system within 60 days of your receipt of this notice.”
Receiving the notice were homes and business owners on South Lehigh Street, West Broad Street, Spruce Street, Rowe Street and South Railroad Street. The notice also states that if a property owner fails to correct the illegal sewer discharge within 60 days of receiving the notice, the matter will be referred to the code enforcement officer and borough solicitor for legal action.
Some property owners are upset with the short notice and unexpected financial burden this has placed on them. Ann Brose, 249 West Broad St., said that it will cost approximately $7,000 to connect to the sewer system.
“I have to pay to dig into the second lane of SR209 to hook up to the sewer. I never knew my sewage wasn’t connected to the borough’s system,” adding, “I want to do what’s right, but not 30 years after I purchased my house.”
Brose, who pointed out that she doesn’t qualify for low interest loans, added, “I’ve paid the borough $9,200 over 30 years for sewer and now I have to pay to connect to a sewer system I thought I was already connected to.” Brose and other affected property owners are expected to attend tonight’s borough council meeting to bring up their concerns.
A summary of required steps was also given with the notice. The summary lists detailed instructions concerning steps required to connect to the borough’s sanitary sewer system, as well as a Building Sewer Permit Application. Current sewer customers do not have to pay the borough’s $2,000 first-time sewer connection charge.
Low and moderate income property owners may qualify for financial assistance for construction of their sewer connection. Kevin Steigerwalt, Tamaqua borough manager, stated that property owners can save on construction expenses by consolidating contract work with other affected property owners.
Assistance may be available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Schuylkill Community Action and the Tamaqua Borough’s Community Development Department. Affected residents are encouraged to contact Steigerwalt or Rob Jones, Tamaqua public works director, at (570) 668-3444 or (570) 668-0300 with any questions or concerns.
Doubt on cancer cluster legislation
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-cancer-cluster-legislation-20110710,0,6315339.story
By Andrew McGill, Of The Morning Call
9:57 p.m. EDT, July 10, 2011
Some fear measure, which would create ‘first-responder’ task force, may not be genuine effort to protect public health in Carbon, Schuylkill, Luzerne counties.
Merle Wertman has been kept waiting a long time.
Eight years ago, doctors diagnosed him with polycythemia vera, a rare cancer that thickens the blood to a sludge only bloodletting can relieve. His neighbors in Tamaqua had just started to speak up, to declare something was wrong in the coal region, something that made people sick.
Eight years, millions of dollars in grants and countless studies later, investigators still don’t know why Wertman fell ill or why so many of his neighbors in this rural region share the same disease.
So every time the 66-year-old sits at a public meeting, checks his hemoglobin count or makes the twice-monthly trip to Coaldale for treatment, he can’t help but wonder: Are we being ignored?
“This is going on for eight years, and we’re getting no headway with it,” he said. “There’s no answer.”
Concerned by reports of cancer clusters in his own district near Wilkes-Barre, state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Luzerne, proposed a bill last week for a statewide cancer cluster task force that would investigate cases like the coal region’s.
Pitched as a union between the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection, the team would be the state’s first responders, evaluating the situation and calling in the feds if necessary.
His measure drew applause from residents in Pittston, who say runoff from a local mine has sickened dozens. But those who have been here before — namely weary members of the coal region’s Community Action Committee, the guardians of the area’s only federally-confirmed cancer cluster — have learned to be skeptical.
“My fear is that this is not a genuine effort to protect public health,” said Henry Cole, an environmental scientist from Upper Marlboro, Md. and the committee’s hired expert. “My fear is that it will be used to funnel public discontent into a system that can be controlled without any real protection.”
Yudichak’s bill would require the Department of Health to develop guidelines for investigating cancer clusters. It would bring together a team of experts in epidemiology, toxicology, pollution control and other specialties to look into complaints and write a report.
Anyone could submit a petition to call in the response team. The Department of Health would consider the site’s local pollution sources, significant health threats or the lack of good data.
“Any way that you can make the bureaucracy of state or federal government work more efficiently is a good thing,” Yudichak said. “Particularly when you’re talking about an emotional issue like this.”
The senator wrote the bill amid complaints from residents in Pittston, who said they had to go to local television stations before anyone would look into the high rate of cancer in some neighborhoods. The Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t found evidence of a cluster and said it won’t investigate further, residents say.
He’s lauded by his Luzerne County supporters, who say the bill would set into statute a clear path to addressing their concerns.
The subjects of the coal region’s cancer cluster study aren’t so sure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been investigating the cluster, which spans Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties, for nearly five years, making those who live in the area all too aware of the government’s limitations.
Joe Murphy, president of the Community Action Committee remembers 2004, when representatives from the Department of Health told him a cancer problem “didn’t exist.” DEP is hardly more popular. At a meeting in Tamaqua in June, residents heaved a collective sigh of exasperation when a DEP spokesman said tests to determine a cause haven’t found anything conclusive.
Neither state agency has the experts necessary to effectively investigate cancer clusters, Murphy said. For example, he said, much of the groundwork in the Tamaqua investigation has been outsourced to universities and professional contractors.
It’s also unclear how Yudichak’s team would be financed. The current bill doesn’t appropriate funds, and the senator admits both departments may have to use existing equipment and personnel.
That’s what Cole, a veteran and skeptic of government investigations , calls a recipe for neglect. He’s doubtful Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration would push the envelope on environmental issues, particularly when industry could stand to lose.
“They function in accordance with the policy of the executive branch of government, which is to promote energy development — with environmental protection taking the back seat in the bus,” he said. “This bill would do little to change that.”
Despite his distrust, Wertman is willing to give Yudichak’s bill a chance. Anything is better than being ignored, the polycythemia vera patient said. And hope does spring eternal.
“The more people you get involved, the better,” he said. “I’m not in love with DEP, don’t get me wrong, but maybe there’d be someone that could turn things around.”
andrew.mcgill@mcall.com
610-820-6533
Water Holds Pleasures, and Menaces That Lurk
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: July 11, 2011
For me, swimming is also a meditation exercise; with nothing but the water to distract me, I get some of my best ideas while swimming laps. Dr. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and best-selling author, wrote in an autobiographical essay called “Water Babies” that the mind-altering properties of swimming can inspire as nothing else can.
But whether you swim in a river, lake, ocean or pool, the last thing you want afterward is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls a “recreational water illness,” an infection or irritation caused by germs or chemicals contaminating the water.
These unseen pollutants can cause ailments of the ears, eyes, skin, nervous system, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, and any cut or scratch you may have. Five years ago, the centers examined 78 waterborne disease outbreaks in 31 states associated with recreational sports, a “substantial increase” in the number of reports from previous years. The outbreaks involved 4,412 cases of illness, 116 hospitalizations and five deaths.
And while you might expect otherwise, fully 94 percent of the cases resulted from swimming in treated water — pools and the like that were supposed to be sanitized. The usual culprit was a bacterium called Cryptosporidium, which is resistant to chlorine.
Fortunately, there are measures every swimmer can take to keep water play safe.
The most common problem is diarrhea from swallowing water contaminated with germ-laden feces. Should one swimmer have diarrhea, the millions of germs in that person’s stool “can easily contaminate the water in a large pool or water park,” the C.D.C. reports.
Natural waters can become contaminated with fecal and other germs by sewage overflow, storm water runoff, boating wastes and septic systems that malfunction. It is a myth that seawater quickly kills pathogens; coastal waters in particular are rich in nutrients that enable bacteria to survive despite the salt.
Viruses can be even more of a problem, because they live longer than bacteria in saltwater. In one study of beaches in Texas, intestinal viruses were found in more than 40 percent of waters listed as safe for recreational swimming based on bacterial standards.
Protection starts by following usual health department rules to shower before entering a pool — not just a superficial rinse but a full-body soak with special attention to germ-laden body parts. Respect fellow swimmers by staying out of the water if you have a diarrheal illness. Keep ill babies away, too — swim diapers are no guarantee that they won’t sicken others.
Be sure pool water is tested regularly for proper chemical balance: twice a day in public facilities and two or more times a week in private ones. Concerned swimmers can invest in chlorine test strips (available at pool supply and home improvement stores) to check the level of disinfectant.
Inflatable and hard plastic kiddie pools are often breeding grounds for infectious organisms. Most are filled with tap water without added disinfectants. The C.D.C. recommends that children be given “a cleansing soap shower or bath” before they use a kiddie pool, which should be emptied and scrubbed clean after each use.
Finally, stay out of water that has been closed by pool or health officials, whose job it is to make sure that water is safe for swimming.
But even a well-maintained swim site can result in inflammation of the ears and eyes. So-called swimmer’s ear (acute otitis externa) results in pain, tenderness, redness and swelling of the external ear canal, usually caused by a bacterial infection in the outer ear canal.
Residual moisture is the primary culprit, and the best preventive is to keep the ear canals dry with earplugs or a tight-fitting cap. After swimming, tilt your ear first to one side then the other and shake out any water that got in. Then dry your ears thoroughly with a towel (or hair dryer set on low) and alcohol-based ear drops.
Eyes are even easier to protect. I use goggles wherever I swim, both to protect my eyes and help me see. Wear goggles that fit snugly and are your own. Borrowed goggles could be contaminated with germs that cause conjunctivitis (better known as pinkeye).
Without goggles, the chemicals used to disinfect pools can irritate your eyes, especially when combined with human urea or sunlight. If your eyes are immersed in pool water, one competitive swimmer suggests neutralizing the chlorine with a few drops of milk. The salt in ocean water can also be irritating.
In addition to polluting microbes, ocean waters sometimes have free-swimming organisms that cause swimmer’s itch, as well as the stinging cells of jellyfish.
Swimmer’s itch, or cercarial dermatitis, is a rash caused by an allergic reaction to microscopic parasites of birds and mammals that are released into both fresh water and saltwater by snails, their intermediate hosts.
Avoid swimming in areas where snails are common or where signs have been posted warning of this problem or the presence of jellyfish. To counter the effects of swimmer’s itch, use a corticosteroid or anti-itch cream, and bathe in Epsom salts or baking soda.
If stung by jellyfish, try dabbing the skin with vinegar to neutralize the toxin and relieve the pain. People with a bee sting allergy should be especially careful to stay out of waters containing jellyfish. If you are allergic to one, you may well be allergic to the other.