New Jersey town worries of possible cancer cluster as cases rise

[00:00:00]Well, this is that former industrial site and groundwater testing has shown a variety of cancer-causing substances here, but that testing was done more than 16 years ago and now residents say new tests and more action needs to happen as soon as possible.

[00:00:18]You just get so you you used to it, you don't pay attention anymore. That's Carol Branson. She doesn't want her face shown, but the woman who's lived in this Jersey Shore town for 75 of her 81 years of life wants one thing to be clear.

[00:00:35]Cancer is a problem here and it's personal. My father at 49 died of bone cancer.

[00:00:45]My mother had stomach cancer. My one brother has leukemia.

[00:00:52]My sister died June 11th of past June of lung cancer. She's among many people in this town of 7,000 who are convinced that this facility, the former Aero Marine Manufacturing Plant, is the cause of the cancers in her family. State groundwater tests have found cancer-causing PCBs as well as benzene and a variety of other carcinogens, but that testing was done back in 2010. So, now Here all the black little rocks and stuff is all, you know, is all the arsenic, um, lead.

[00:01:28]Sal LaGourie lives right next to the site where seaplanes and other machinery and industrial products had been manufactured for decades. His son died of cancer 3 years ago. In the last month, since an NJ.com report showed an elevated number of cases, the number of reported cases has more than quadrupled to over 180. And now the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will hold a hearing on Sunday to help determine if this is a full cancer cluster. My son passed away 3 years ago.

[00:02:02]His last words to me was, "Dad, if you're not happy in life, change it."

[00:02:07]Let's change this together and make it better for the community. Let's get the truth out there.

[00:02:14]And that meeting between the DEP and residents is slated for Sunday at 4:30 at the only place that's expected to be able to accommodate all the people.

[00:02:25]That's the local high school. We will certainly stay on top of this and folks here say they hope it's the beginning of a long process of cleaning this up.

[00:02:34]Reporting from Keyport, New Jersey, I'm James Ford.