2006.01.19 – RUSH CANCER ISN’T HIGHER, STUDY FINDS: SKEPTICAL RESIDENTS SAY POLLUTION HIKED CASES OF POLYCYTHEMIA VERA.

Skeptical Residents Say Pollution Hiked Cases Of Polycythemia Vera

By Chris Parker
The Morning Call Inc., Copyright 2006

January 19, 2006

Detractors had asked the state for a study that looked at whether contamination from leaching from several nearby industrial sites, including the former McAdoo Associates Superfund site in Kline Township, was causing cancer in residents of the area, including Rush Township.

That didn’t sit well with those who believe residents of the Rush Township and the Tamaqua area suffer higher than average rates of cancer, especially of polycythemia vera.

The study was launched in spring 2004 at the behest of state Rep. David G. Argall, whose 124th District includes Schuylkill County, because his constituents were concerned that hazardous chemicals they believed had leached from the former McAdoo Associates Superfund site are causing cancer in the Ben Titus Road area of Rush Township.