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Clyde, OH Cancer Cluster
#1
I'm sure the Toledo people have heard about this, but I was looking to get some opinions from people outside of the area.

This has been going on for some time now. There are a large number of cancer cases in and around Clyde, OH. The EPA has been doing investigations of the area to see if there are any concerns that may be causing these people (kids mainly) to get cancer.

It was reported yesterday that the Federal EPA found PCB's in a local park that used to be owned and operated by Whirlpool Corp (Clyde branch produces washers).

The question now is, were the PCB's dumped on the land prior to Whirlpool purchasing the land (1959) or were they dumping on the land. The park had a HUGE swimming pool, concession, playground, basketball courts, etc. We spent almost every day in the summers here. The park limited access to Whirlpool employees and their family.

From one of the comments on the article:

"The manufacture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
was stopped by the U.S. federal government in 1977
because of their harmful health effects and because
PCBs are extremely persistent and last for decades in the
environment."

The article below is the newest information but I will see if I can find prior reports. The parents are holding the park to blame for the cancer.

http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2012/11...-says.html

CLYDE, Ohio — While earlier tests revealed the presence of cancer-causing PCBs at a park for children of Whirlpool Corp. employees, attorneys for families of Clyde-area children who have contracted cancer say the latest EPA findings came out of the blue.

Soil borings conducted for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found “toxic sludge” at the former Whirlpool Park that was in some places more than 9 feet deep, said Alan Mortensen, an attorney hired by some of the families. The 27-acre park is near Green Springs, about five miles southwest of Clyde in Sandusky County.
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#2
U.S. EPA: Whirlpool Park has high levels of PCBs, metals
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/...rk/2808991


I guess the thing that is bothering me is people are wanting to blame Whirlpool for this. I understand if they were continuing to dump on the land but if it was done prior to the discovery that PCB's were so dangerous, can they really be at fault?
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#3
Morally, I don't think they should be at fault for chemicals that they didn't know were unsafe BUT perhaps they shouldn't have been dumping anything in that particular spot. I don't know what the laws were with regards to dumping back then.
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#4
It sounds very similar to the case that was built against PG&E here in California, RaisingAPrince. The one regarding contaminated drinking water from the Hinkley plant that was alleged to have caused cancer in some of the residents of the area. It's the case that catapulted Erin Brockovich into the limelight.

If I recall correctly, Brockovich was able to build a case against PG&E, who originally claimed that they weren't aware that some of the chemicals dumped into ponds were cancerous, with the help of a PG&E insider who produced reports to the contrary. Also, the fact that PG&E was buying a lot of the most contaminated property in the area prior to the scandal breaking was incriminating and indicative that they had knowledge and were engaged in a cover up. It didn't go to trial; Brockovich's firm won a settlement of around 350 million for the litigating families in the mid 90s.

My guess is that the outcome of the Toledo Whirpool case will depend upon internal company records and the ability for litigants to prove that Whirlpool knew (or should have known) that the chemicals dumped in the park contained cancer-causing agents. If that can be proven and especially if there are also indications that Whirpool engaged in a cover-up, look for a large settlement. If it can't be definitively proven, could be a very long and disappointing battle for the families involved. JMO...
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#5
I read somewhere (of course now I'm not remembering where it was) that Erin Brockovich was asked to come to Clyde and wouldn't.

Whirlpool wants to investigate themselves, along with the EPA. They have asked the current owners for permission to go on the land and do testing, but the owners will not agree to it. Seems strange to me. I'm sure the families really would like to be able to put a "cause" on why their children got cancer and some even passed, but I can't see faulting Whirlpool for it unless they really were dumping in recent years which you'd think the EPA would be able to give a time frame from the testing.

It's a HUGE ordeal around these parts currently. I don't know anything about the chemicals or any of that but my husband said PCB's are nasty.
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#6
Kelly Clarkson stated it best:
(I find that when I take my cues regarding social issues from 20's something female pop stars my life is happier. I can live with me wrong, on occasion, using this method.)


"You know the bed feels warmer
Sleeping here alone
You know I dream in colour
And do the things I want

You think you got the best of me
Think you had the last laugh
Bet you think that everything good is gone
Think you left me broken down
Think that I'd come running back
Baby you don't know me, cause you're dead wrong

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

You heard that I was starting over with someone new
They told you I was moving on over you

You didn't think that I'd come back
I'd come back swinging
You tried to break me, but you see

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

Thanks to you I got a new thing started
Thanks to you I'm not the broken hearted
Thanks to you I'm finally thinking bout me
You know in the end the day you left was just my beginning
In the end...

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone"
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#7
RaisingAPrince, I've read about the Clyde cluster for quite some time.


Columbus Dispatch has articles on Cancer cluster Clyde.

Sandusky Register and all the comments:-

Sandusky Register
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/article/...rk/2819191
10:55 AM NOV 15, 2012
TOXIC PARK

Cancer cluster families: 'We're going to get some answers'
Steve Keller choked back tears Wednesday afternoon as he held up a photo of his grandson, Kole Keller, who died of cancer at the age of 6.
COMMENTS29

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clyde-Can...21?fref=ts
"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone."
Henry David Thoreau
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