Published: June 25, 2009 10:57 pm      

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Residents mull DOH study

The first meeting to discuss a possible State Department of Health study on neighborhoods near the town’s industrial district raised many questions from residents unsure of how such a study could help them.

DOH officials found it hard to answer that question, mainly because what to do with the collected data is outside their purview. Erie County Legislator Maria Whyte, D-Buffalo, who represents the nearby Riverside area, told the assemblage that turning horror stories into proof is all the DOH can do.

“We need to raise that anecdotal evidence into supported, scientific evidence,” Whyte said.

James Bowers, of that DOH’s bureau of environment and Occupational Epidemiology, said there are different types of studies that could be done, from simply crunching existing numbers to actually taking samples from the bodies of people who suspect they’re being affected by the environment. But he warned that even when the studies are done after two or more years, what they can say with certainty may not be what residents want to hear.

“What they can’t do is give you a cause and effect link,” Bowers said.

Mary Moore lives near the industrial district and was frustrated by Bowers’ claim that even if 22 percent of the population were studied it still wouldn’t be enough to conclude the industrial area was the definitive culprit.

“Tell me, what is your number?” Moore asked. “I’ll go out and try to get it for you. I will knock on every door and ask them to come forward.”

Moore also asked the crowd if there was anyone present who didn’t know a person with cancer, with no one in that audience answering the call. But DOH Cancer Surveillance Director Aura Weinstein said that wouldn’t be uncommon of any area.

“It’s been estimated that one in three women and almost one in two men will develop some type of cancer in their lifetime,” Weinstein said.

The meeting, promised to be the first of a series, allowed the DOH to distribute complaint forms and compile a list of health-related questions. Once the Department of Environmental Conservation’s report is completed, the DOH will return to refine the idea of what study type to pursue.

Contact reporter Daniel Pye at 693-1000, ext. 158.