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Vermiculite plants' cancer cluster raises flag

... The cancer registry showed 16 cases of But, based on statewide data, about 26 cases would be expected.

Ball said even with the increased overall cancer rate, it is not clear that the plants are at fault.

For instance, researchers had no information about how many of the area's residents smoked cigarettes, which is another key risk factor for lung cancer.

Another big gap in the data is that they don't include the people most likely to have suffered the worst exposure: the workers.

Neither the EPA nor state health officials could find pay stubs or employee logs from the two plants that would have allowed them to track down people who worked there during 46 years of operation.

Draper resident Ralph Blevins took a $1.95-an-hour job at the Utah Lumber plant for about6 six months 45 years ago.

He has asbestosis, an incurable lung disease unique to asbestos exposure that hardens the lung and often makes breathing excruciating.

He was happy to hear about the study and the proposed outreach program.

"We've got to warn people about it," he said.

The environment agencies want to hear from other former employees and people who may have taken waste dust from the plant to use for improving their garden soil.

fahys@sltrib.com * Vermiculite processing took place in downtown Salt Lake City f...

Mayo's cancer research center on schedule

...The family's gift will fund two named professorships - the Sandra J.

Schulze Professor and the Richard M.

Schulze Family Foundation Professor - to recognize outstanding cancer researchers who are internationally recognized for their work.

Diasio said the first symposium funded by the Foundation gift will focus on pharmacogenomics, developing genetic tests to see which drugs do, or do not, work best for individual patients.

Schulze, the founder of electronics retail chain Best Buy, and his family have been good to Rochester.

The foundation also gave a $2.5 million matching grant to the Hope Lodge, a home-away-from-home for patients undergoing cancer treatment at Mayo.

That gift prompted enough donations to allow a $5 million doubling of the lodge, which should be completed and open by early summer.

E-mail this Agrinews.com Copyright 2007 Post-Bulletin Company, L...

State DEP to inspect Town Center site

...In April and May 2002, a federal inspector at the demolition of the Levittown Shopping Center saw asbestos-containing material "strewn on the ground throughout the shopping center, piled in open Dumpsters, and left hanging from building ceilings and walls," according to court documents.

In November 2004, the EPA fined the site’s owner, developer and a demolition subcontractor $37,400 for the violation.

According to a statement from DLC Management Corp.

the developer paid $13,090 of the fine to the EPA "without admitting any liability." The demolition subcontractor, Four Strong Builders Inc.

of Clifton, N.J., paid the remaining $24.310 in August 2006, according to a statement sent Thursday by the Four Strong company.

Galloway represents residents in Bristol, Morrisville, Tullytown, Falls, two districts in Bristol Township and one district in Middletown.

Murphy represents the residents of Bucks County, some districts of Abington, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland in Montgomery County and two wards in Philadelphia.

Brian Scheid can be reached at 215-949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com.

April 6, 2007 8:11 AM Story Options: Reader Comments Print this story Email a friend ©2007 Copyright Calkins Media, Inc.

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