FDOH: Trust Us ~ No Worries.. Koppers Superfund, Gainesville, Florida
ACDOH’s statement that residents in neighborhoods surrounding Koppers do not have an increased risk of cancer is irresponsible and misleading, and not only because of the cited study’s limitations noted by Dennis or, as Kline states, because the negative result is not a guarantee. The Cabot/Koppers site was not added to the federal Superfund program overnight or because of a whim on the part of the EPA. The NPL is reserved for the most malignant of sites posing a risk to public health. The Superfund/NPL designation was conferred here only after many decades of residents’ protestations and complaints of unusual numbers of illnesses and deaths, not just from cancers, but from conditions including and not limited to, respiratory diseases, immune system ailments, thyroid disorders, miscarriages and birth defects. The implication that contamination from the Site does not pose a health risk to Gainesville’s families only serves to lull residents into a false sense of security. We do not need reassurance or a coverup- we need an honest cleanup and relocation from our highly toxic homes. Hundreds of residents testifying over several decades give the lie to the official line that there’s no health risk. Finally, what’s more valuable: our money or our lives?
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Beautiful! This cartoon tells a great story. That story is that government officials have been under-reporting this matter. Doesn’t a major sized state university fall within the area polluted by Koppers? Yeah, U of F !