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Agency, State, County Promising Answers on Coldwater Creek Cancer
By Bob Lindsey
Efforts to get to the reasons for cancer causing factors that could exist at Coldwater Creek gained more traction again last week when the regional director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Register (ATSDR) told a meeting at Indian Trails Branch Library that the agency plans “ to get an answer.”
This came within a few weeks of the time when both the Missouri and St. Louis County health departments announced plans to get involved in the research. The St. Louis County Health Dept. will survey residents who lived in the area in the 1970s and ‘80s. It is hoped that the survey will launch in early 2016. Washington University and Siteman Cancer Center are expected to help conduct the effort. In addition, the Missouri Health Dept. is examining the high rates of cancer in the area around Coldwater Creek and whether contaminated water may be a factor.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is testing soil in the neighborhoods along Coldwater Creek for radiation. The Corps is also cleaning up contaminated areas, such as St. Cin Park in Hazelwood. They held a separate meeting this week (Wednesday, Dec. 9) at the James Eagan Center in Florissant to update the public on the status of those efforts.
An online survey at www.coldwatercreekfacts.com had tallied 2,725 cases of cancer and other diseases from current and former residents of the neighborhoods around Coldwater Creek in North St. Louis County. The types of cancers that have occurred include leukemia, colon and throat cancers.
Erin Evans, environmental specialist with ATSDR and their regional representative, said an assessment will not be able to determine whether any individual person’s cancer or other disease was caused by pollutants from the creek. “What we can do is we can say, there’s the potential that someone was exposed to this amount of a contaminant, and it may have led to — or could lead to — a health effect,” Evans said.
Many are skeptical about the results the survey may find and contend residents who had lived in the area have already been contaminated. They say they don’t need any government department to tell them anything they don’t already know. Karen Nickle and Dawn Chapman are leading the Facebook effort to inform former residents. They believe that the increase in cancers is caused by exposure while playing in the creek as kids. They have posted thousands of comments on their Facebook page about people who have cancer and lived near the creek.
Many public meetings are being held to keep residents abreast of the assessment process. For more information people can visit www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/products/pha.html or contact Erin Evans at isb5@cdc.gov or 913-551-1311.
