Wednesday, October 8, 2008

So ... is Bethlehem suffering from negligence- or a false alarm?

The Department of Environmental Services has their meeting with the citizens of Bethlehem last night, albeit at short notice, and said that there was no evidence that the largest landfill in the state is contributing to the large number of cancer cases in the town's small population. Here's a link to the story the Concord Monitor published on the subject today.

In the CM article, Rita Farrell is quoted relating this health investigation to that of the US's tobacco industry just a few decades ago. Farrell is convinced that something is afoot- especially considering the short time frame in which the investigation and subsequent community update was completed in.

Can you blame this community for being concerned? They're home to the largest landfill in New Hampshire and quite possibly the largest number of documented pancreatic and breast cancer cases per capita. I'm with Farrell on this one- there must be a correlation between the two and it is up to the appropriate state departments to investigate this matter in the amount of time it deserves. It all seems a bit hasty ... I wonder what kind of kick backs local and state government get from the people responsible for managing this big hole filled with waste? Whenever there's money involved, people get sneaky. That's a fact of life.

I'm still sure we haven't heard the last of this matter. More to come.

Best,
Say

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