The town of Cameron, Missouri, whose population was 8,312 during the last census, has seen a rash of brain tumor diagnoses. More than a dozen people have been diagnosed this year alone. However, there is concern that this number will only go up. This is because no one is sure what is causing the tumors, though there is suspicion.
When the news was first reported in May, many thought that there must be something in the drinking water. They believed it was probably contaminated from the runoff of a nearby hog farm. Then the CDC and state officials began to look at manufacturing in the area, both past and present. Pesticides and chemicals were also looked at. Since May, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has been collecting air, water, and soil samples. They have most recently focused on the soil and groundwater where the Rockwool Insulation Plant used to be. Samples of air and drinking water have come back clean.
Rockwool Insulation, a maker of commercial and residential insulation, was ordered to pay over $400,000 for an OSHA penalty in 1998 and to improve safety and health at plants in Texas and North Carolina. However, the violations were due to employee exposure to carbon monoxide gas and not for potential environmental hazards. An anonymous source in Cameron told officials that hazardous materials were buried at the plant site in the 1990’s.
The tumors that are hitting Cameron are benign, but even those can lead to complications that cause death. There are reports of headaches, seizures, and one person has died from a blood clot which lead to a stroke. The blood clot was caused by three surgeries in three weeks to remove a tumor behind the ear, and near the brain stem, of a 44-year-old fourth grade teacher.
It is estimated that 200,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumors every year. Of those, nearly 40,000 are primary brain tumors, or tumors that start in the brain rather than have metastasized there. While doctors claim that there is a possibility that Cameron may be the unlucky location of a “cluster,” most residents believe it isn’t simply coincidence. They have been encouraged to get MRIs and are anxiously waiting what the Department of Natural Resources will find in the samples taken from the Rockwool Insulation plant. Those samples will be made public in a few weeks.
If you or your loved one believes your illness may be the result of some kind of environmental poisoning, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area to see if you have a claim.
