The people of Cameron, Missouri, may finally know why a scary number of people there have been diagnosed with brain tumors. A lawsuit filed with the help of Erin Brockovich blames sludge containing high levels of cancer causing hexavalent chromium from Prime Tanning Corp. of St. Joseph, which was given to farmers to use as fertilizer.
The Kansas City Star story says the lawsuit alleges that Prime Tanning are responsible for:
Since 1996, more than 70 people in Cameron have been diagnosed with brain tumors.
- Failing to warn farmers and the public that high levels of hexavalent were contained in sludge being applied to the fields.
- Misrepresenting to DNR that the sludge applied to the fields was free of hexavalent chromium.
- Failing to report test results to the state indicating high levels of hexavlaent chromium in the sludge.
- Failing to adequately test the sludge for hexavalent chromium.
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Maybe the "employee_of_prime_tanning" should spend a couple of dollars and rent the movie "Erin Brokovich" - and pay attention, because it's all based on a true story. A story where all the local know-it-alls like yourself also told Erin Brokovich that she was crazy - but in the final analysis she was absolutely right and the California power company trying to sweep it all under the rug got slam-dunked in court for over $330,000,000 in damages! I doubt that Prime Tanning contributes that much to any local economy. You should listen to someone who has dealt with the many different effects of hexavalent chromium and seen all the innocent lives ruined. Instead, you want to start on a program of "blame the victim" and try to prove something (anything) else was the cause this unexplained number of cases in a low population rural area.
Besides, do you actually like the idea of spreading tannery sludge on fields growing a food crop? The very idea sounds absolutely nauseating! Leather tanning is the only type of factory I know of that can actually smell even more disgusting than an oil refinery.
I work for prime in hartland maine.....This lawsuit is just going too mess with a struggling company...Erin is throwing her weight around. lawers fees alone could cause us to go through another bankrupcy....I grew up in this town and no one i know died with brain tumors or even has any... i handle hides all day, i dont feel threatened at all...so Erin can kiss my a@@..Because I know the company and they do things the right... If i thought thry were resonsible I would blow the whistle and plus the EPA should be resonsible if it is true...We need to look at the life styles of the people that have the brain tumors....I am sorry for them but they are gonna close a factory that keeps a small town going...and pays my bills
No, if this company has no reason to be guilty of anything, why would they be trying to destroy documents? There is certainly a lot of ignorance out there. Amazingly enough, Brockovich has a bit of experience here and would not have pursued this, had she not had a level of confidence with her history and research. Only time will tell. The point is, this has to stop, regardless of where there is anything financial that comes out of this. If anything, a precedence needs to be set that this practice is not acceptable and needs to stop, everywhere!
I was at the town meeting last night and have been here since this all came about. The 70 residents with tumors that airhead talks about is all that the epa would take information from. They only talked to people with brain tumors in the Cameron area. They wouldn't talk to anyone that worked in cameron or that had any other illness other than brain tumors. So I'm sure the number will definitely go up now that it's a 4 county area and more than just brain tumors.
I can find no research results online that show that hexavalent chromium(chromium 6) causes brain tumors. But it still causes many other illnesses. Very scary that this toxic sludge has been being applied for 26 years with no one coming forward. Even scarier that when the EPA tests were done in the Cameron area it somehow was not found. Even if this is not the cause of the brain tumors, it just proves the point that chemical contamination does happen, and at this rate, who is to say what might yet be found?
Be a little more specific on tumor in the neck. The neck isn't really connected to the brain. Hexavalent Chromium is a carcinogen related to lung cancer. So, unless all of the people in the area have lung cancer, which can spread to the brain, they've found nothing. Why aren't the farmers who handled the fertilizer or the workers at the tannery who were in direct contact getting cancer? Facts are that a little over 70 cases since 1996 in a four county area were reported. Most are benign brain tumors. From a medical standpoint, brain tumors aren't rare and are infact quite common. With all of the proccessed food, diet sodas, cell phones and other crap we put in or around our bodies, who knows what is causing the tumors. Use facts not allegations.
I disagree. My sister was actually diagnosed just 3 weeks ago with a tumor in her neck, which is connected to the brain. She lived in Gallatin in the early 90's. Doesn't it seem too much of coincidence that there are this many people in this proximity with similar tumors?
Scary Number of brain tumors. Around 70 since 1996 in a 4 county area is about 1.4 tumors per year per county. Hexavalent chromium is a carcinogen. A majority of the brain tumors in Cameron are benign tumors. So how does a cancer-causing agent cause non-cancerous tumors. Hexavalent Chromium is also linked to lung cancer not brain cancer. I know one plantiff has lung cancer that spread to the brain, but the other doesn't. And there is no spefics on how they were exposed. They inhaled because they lived "near" farms. Everybody in Cameron lives near a farm. Shouldn't the Famrmers be the ones getting cancer. Just another attempt to make some money. These people have sued the city with no evidence, they've sued a factory outside of Cameron without evidence, and now they are sueing a new company. I am sorry for the people who are sick or have passed, but sueing isn't the answer, especially if there is no basis.
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