Barletta asks EPA for further investigation of 'cancer cluster'

In a sharply worded letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta requested further investigation into a Pittston neighborhood where residents say dozens of people have been diagnosed with or died of cancer.

Barletta, R-Hazleton, wants additional testing for hazardous materials in the soil, air and water around Mill and Carroll streets, located near the mouth of the Butler Mine Tunnel. Residents have wondered if the rash of cancer stems from the mine drainage tunnel, once illegally filled with millions of gallons of oil waste and chemicals.

"The residents of the Carroll/Mill neighborhood of Pittston, Pennsylvania, are scared," Barletta wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "They are concerned that they and their children are exposed to something in the environment that is causing an unusual rise in cancer rates."

Barletta's request came a day after EPA officials told dozens of residents gathered at Martin L. Mattei Middle School in Pittston that the agency would not consider additional testing around Mill and Carroll streets. One man, disgusted by the response, stormed from the room and said, "You wasted all of our time."

Mitch Cron, the EPA's remedial project manager for the Butler Mine Tunnel Superfund Site, repeatedly told residents that they are not exposed to contaminants from the mine tunnel and that the water running through it is "generally very clean."

Residents didn't buy his explanation, nor a state Department of Health official's conclusion that the dozens of cases of cancer do not qualify as a cancer cluster.

Residents complained that the Department of Health based its conclusion upon too wide a swath of residents. Dr. Stephen Ostroff, director of the state's bureau of epidemiology, bolstered his argument with data culled from the entire 18640 area code, while residents argued the investigation should focus just on Mill and Carroll streets in Pittston.

Chris Meninchini, whose father Chuck lives on Carroll Street and has been diagnosed with lymphoma and colon cancer, suggested someone from EPA canvas the affected neighborhood.

"Someone from your department has to get up and do the job and go door to door," he told Cron.

Focusing on a specific neighborhood would not provide enough data for an adequate conclusion, Ostroff said, equating it to judging a baseball player's ability by his batting average only a few games into the season.

Barletta and state Sen. John Yudichak have both said that if the cause of the cancer is not the Butler Mine Tunnel, alternate causes must be investigated. The EPA's refusal to conduct more testing in the neighborhood in question specifically irked Barletta.

"Frankly, this is unacceptable," he wrote in his letter. "The EPA's own website indicates that one of the agency's primary reasons for existence is to ensure that 'all Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work.'"

Barletta's office released the letter late Wednesday afternoon. EPA officials could not be reached for comment.