Toxic Hazleton Even Worse

Just when you thought that Greater Hazleton (Pa.) couldn't get any worse with its very serious environmental problems, it certainly has.

Now it is documented that students attending schools in and throughout the Hazleton area -- such as Mahanoy City -- are slowly but surely being poisoned by toxic air admissions.

These schools are included in the top SEVEN PERCENTILE of all the nation's school systems, based on an intensive and exhaustive study conducted by the USA Today national newspaper.

The special report was headlined "Toxic Air and America's Schools" and includes a segment asking "How safe is your school?" www.usatoday.com

Co-generation plants are identified as one of the major polluting problems -- but the students are also paying the price of the countless millions of tons of hazardous and toxic waste that had been buried in their corner of the anthracite region for many decades.

The latter can be blamed particularly on the many chemical, plastic and other pollution-spewing plants that were -- and still are -- operating in the Hazleton area with the blessing of CAN-DO Inc., its industrial organization agency. An incredible amount is buried in the former city landfill that is targeted for future development, including homes and businesses.

Naturally, much of the problem could be attributed to the dumping of hazardous chemicals -- including Agent Orange -- in the nearby former McAdoo Associates landfill which has been seen as the direct link to the incredible number of persons who have died -- or are suffering -- from all sorts of rare cancers and other incurable diseases.

Rather amazingly, the vast majority of residents in Greater Hazleton aren't even aware of the stunning USA Today report because their local newspaper, the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, has totally ignored mention of a of it.

 

When are state legislators Todd Eachus, Raphael Musto, David Argall, Keith McCall, Neil Goodman -- among many others -- going to do what they were elected to do? Protect the people.

And what about Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, local Congressmen Paul Kanjorski and Tim Holden, and state officials, especially Govener Ed Rendell? It's time THEY did their job and removed their blinders.

They have a responsibility to knock CAN DO off its pedestal, to stand up to the present-day polluters and to stop this unbelievable death trap that is getting worse every day.

By now, you should know that the Greater Hazleton area of Pennsylvania is a toxic hell hole that has caused -- and continues to cause -- the agonzing death of an astrounding number of residents from incurable diseases, especially cancer.

It is the high price being paid for the dumping of hazardous waste and toxic chemicals for many decades.on land once mined for anthracite.

Consequenlty, death-dealing poisons have long been polluting the water as well as the air -- and the ghastly price tag escalates every week. The situation is grave and the future extemely bleak.

Federal and state health statistics have confirmed there is much higher than the national average of cancer in Greater Hazleton which includes the lower portion of Luzerne County and portions of Schuylkill and Carbon counties.

This includes the number of persons with Polycythemia vera, a rare bone cancer -- much, much, much higher than the national average,.

Sadly, there is really nothing that can be done to end the massacre. More and more Hazleton area residents will develop cancer and MS, and the exorbitantly high rate of Multiple Sclerosis and asthma, especially in children, will just keep skyrocketing.

The real villains, it should be noted, are state enviornmental agencies in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey which apparently had allowed Agent Orange -- the horror of the Vietnam War -- to be dumped at the former McAdoo Associates dump site just a few miles south of Hazleton. No wonder people living a 1/2 mile down the mountain are afflicted with a high rate of cancer and all sorts of other terrible diseases and afflictions.

Beneath the McAdoo Associates site is an abandoned underground anthracite mine which reaches a depth of about 1,500 feet. So it's no wonder why the deadly chemical is traveling to localities many miles from where it was poured.

Residents of Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey should be greatly concerned because the hazardous waste and toxic chemicals, undoubtedly Agent Orange as well, are moving underground in their direction. It has been reported that they were discovered as far southeast as the Blue Mountain more than a decade ago.

Danger areas include Allentown and the entire Lehigh Valley, Reading, Philadelphia and all Southeastern counties, along with South Jersey and Delaware.

Meanwhile, you might want to ask Gov. Ed Rendell, local Rep. Todd Eachus and even Mayor Lou Barletta of Hazleton about the existing horror but you can be assured you'll be dealing with Three Blind Mice.

They'll undoubtedly tell you that ALL is well, despite incredible and very alarming health stastiistics released rather reluctantly by state and federal agencies.

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