The Cleveland Plain Dealer www.cleveland.com   Some cancer rates high at school on dump Study finds higher cancer rates at school on dump near Marion Saturday, July 29, 2000 ASSOCIATED PRESS MARION - A nearly yearlong state health department survey has found the overall cancer rate among River Valley High School graduates is about normal. However, the incidences of leukemia and esophageal cancer were higher than the national rates, according to results of the survey released this week. The department surveyed 1,726 of the 5,345 students who graduated between 1963 and 1999. Cases of leukemia were about 2½ times what would be expected for a group that size, while cancer of the esophagus showed up at 10 times the normal rate, said Robert Indian of the health department. Whether toxic contamination found on the campus of the high school and the adjacent middle school contributed to the elevated disease levels hasn't been determined, Indian said. The report was issued Thursday night to an advisory group that meets periodically to discuss contamination issues involving River Valley and other areas of Marion. The River Valley school district is just east of town. The cancer study was begun in September 1999, broadening a leukemia investigation that was started in 1997 in response to toxic contamination on the 78-acre school campus. The schools were built on top of a former military depot that was used as a dump for chemical waste. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has headed up the River Valley investigation, has said that studies show about 10 acres of the campus contain elevated levels of contamination, but health risks appear to be minimal. ©2000 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with permission.

 

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