PLAGUED BY CANCER; Housing estate gripped with fear as third of people come down with disease.
Byline: FIONNUALA BOURKEMORE than 10 years ago, Joan Oram began to notice a strange rash on her arm and her eyes would often sting.
She mentioned it to her husband and daughter, who said they were also experiencing similar symptoms.
But problems were not confined to just one house in Humphries Crescent in Bradley, Wolverhampton.
From chatting to neighbours, Joan so on realised many others in her road, and on the rest of the Rocket Pool estate, had developed identical symptoms.
The local GP could offer her no explanation but after further research the alarmwas raised aboutanearbyplaying field which used to be a landfill site.
The area, at nearby Batman's Hill and Weddell Wynd, is currently used as a play area for children and a recreation ground where horses graze and dogs are walked.
But it was previously a landfill site in the days before tighter regulations concerning the dumping of toxic chemicals. After making the shock discovery. Joan and her neighbour and friend, Cath Edwards, set to work to find out exactly what effect the site was having on their health.
They sent out a basic questionnaire to random houses across the Rocket Pool estate, asking if anyonehad experienced the rash and sore eyes.
To their surprise every single form was returned - and every single form was positive.
Spurredonby their findings, the friends sent out more questionnaires asking for further details of the health of residents - and the results were shocking.
On Humphries Crescent alone, 22 people had cancer - and that was in just 55 homesThe survey conducted by Joan and Cath covered 92 houses on the Rocket Pool and Weddell Wynd estates. They found that 66 people had suffered from cancer, and some of these had died.
In just two streets 22 people had breast cancer. In another street 11 men were battling lung cancer.
All in all, 52 people out of 156surveyed on the estates had been diagnosed with, or had recently died from, the illness.
The alarm bells began ringing. There were more incidences of bowel, throat and cervical cancer.
In seven years, they discovered, no fewer than 18 people had died from cancer in the area - ranging from five year-olds to pensioners.
The Cancer Research Campaign has estimated that at anygiven time, one per cent of the Britain's population suffers from the disease.
The friends' research showed that rates at the Rocket Pool estate in 1997 were TWELVE TIMES the national average - but no official reason as to why has ever been given.
Both Joan and Cath were among those who were suffering from cancer at the time. Joan had cancer of the womb and Cath had breast cancer.
Cath died four years ago, aged 53. Now Joan, who is 58, says she is determined to carry on the campaign they started. 'It's as though they think they can just sweep all of this under the carpet and it will go away,' she said.
'Cath isn't theonly victim. Morepeople have got cancer and more people havedied since we did our initial surveys in 1997. The council has done tests and says everything is fine, that toxic levels are OK.
'But I have had independent studies done which shows this is far from the truth.
'I've even offered to allow them to do toxicology tests on me to see just how much poisons have been inflicted on my body.
'One of the problems we face is that where we live comes under Wolverhampton City Council andwhere the site is comes under Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.
'Wolverhampton has conducted tests in our gardens, but we are concerned that Sandwell hasn't done all the tests they are supposed to do under the Environmental Protection Act.
'We believe they have broken the law. Meanwhile our health and the health of our children remains at riskAfter Joan and Cath's original survey, the health authority commissioned an epidemiologist from the Birmingham Institute of Public Health to examine the area.
Environmental health specialists also tested the former landfill site for toxic contaminants but all tests have proved negativeYet Joan has had her own independent tests done in her garden and made independent inquiries about the site. All have shown otherwise.
'The authorities flooded the area with leaflets at the time, saying our research wasn't done properly,' she said.
'They tried to stop people from believing what we had done and told them nothing was wrong with the environment'But tests I havehaddone in my garden show that I have elevated levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and toluene.
'A safe level of arsenic should read about 10 on the scale but the level in my garden is 53 to 55.
'We have been told that the waste dumped in the landfill site previously was harmless household waste. But is has also been proven that the site contains heavy industrial waste.
'Our health is in these people's hands and we want them to be truthful with us about what they are doing to affect it.
'It is not just for us but for our children and their children's children that we are doing this.'
Midland environmental expert Dr Dick Van Steenis said: 'Mrs Oram's findings do not surprise me.
'Cancers would appear years after hazardous waste had been dumped in a landfill site. The poisonous emissionsattack the gene that protects us from cancer.
'I would say many factors need to be checked out in this area to find out why there is such a high incidence of the disease.'
A spokesman for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council said: 'We followed up residents' original concerns and there doesn't seem to be any information that bears out their worries.
'A full study was carried out by Birmingham University into the alleged cancer cluster around Weddel Wynd and no evidence of any cancer cluster was found.
'The council has investigated the site and identified that the principal risk was migration of landfill gas. Work was carried out in the early 1990s to vent landfill gas safely from the site and the trenches have been properly maintained since
CAPTION(S):
SHOCK DISCOVERY: Joan Oram and Humphries Crescent in Bradley, Wolverhampton; BLAMED: the area at nearby Batman's Hill which is a former landfill site
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Publication: | Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England) |
|---|---|
| Date: | Mar 13, 2005 |
| Words: | 1034 |
| Previous Article: | COP FACES JAIL FOR PUNCHING YOB. |
| Next Article: | MY DYING MUM FEARED FOR THE REST OF US. |