Phil Murphy told NJ.com the possible brain tumor cluster was disturbing but stressed it was too soon to make definitive conclusions about the cause. "I dont know that we know enough yet to be definitive in terms of causation, et cetera.". "Im not sure what they will propose, but I hope this is going to include comprehensive soil, ground, water (testing)," she said. Despite these odds, cancer cluster designations are considered crucial for both health officials interested in protecting public safety, and communities who fear theyve been exposed to cancer-causing agents. The New Jersey Departments of Health (DOH) and Environmental Protection (DEP) say they are involved in an investigation into the apparent cancer cluster, though Lupiano says he has not received requests for information from either agency. Colonia High School Brain Tumors: New Jersey Cancer Cluster Causes Concern, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. The New Jersey cancer registry offers little help, since not everyone who went to or worked at Colonia still lives in Woodbridge, and not everyone in Woodbridge went to Colonia. All rights reserved. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Several news agencies have reached out to me and I anticipate the completed articles and interviews will be released shortly. He was born in . The school has stayed open, with local officials apparently telling parents that "at this time, there is no discernable health or wellness threat to students, staff, or visitors at Colonia High School," according to the petition writers. According to My Central New Jersey, the township has approved an emergency contract of $221,350 for an engineering firm to conduct radiological assessments at Colonia High School.. Lupiano was diagnosed with a rare and abnormally large brain tumour Acoustic Neuroma (AN) in 1999 when he was just 27 years old. Rich Strack, who taught English and philosophy at Colonia for about 30 years, likened the situation to a dark cloud hanging over the school. And suddenly, it hit me! Trng Vng High School. Al Lupiano was diagnosed with a "very rare" and abnormally large brain tumor in 1999 when he was 27 called Acoustic Neuroma. His sister Angela Decillis graduated . I had told my sister from the very beginning that there was too much of a coincidence that me, my wife and her all have the same tumor, said Lupiano to ABC 7. A few weeks ago, we very suddenly and tragically lost my 44-year-old sister Angela (CHS-95) to a very rare and highly aggressive malignant glioma brain tumor (Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)) discovered on her left side. These ores, imported for use in the nations early atomic energy program, were assayed at the Middlesex Sampling Plant and then shipped to other sites for processing. Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School . We need answers! Earlier this year, 1989 Colonia High School graduate Al Lupiano developed a list of more than 120 people who were students, teachers or staff members at the school from the 1970s to 1990s who have apparently developed brain tumors, including his sister who died with a malignant brain tumor in February. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection building. A high school in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, is being investigated by environmental experts . Dozens of former teachers and students have . "I have full faith they will get to the bottom of this and they will figure out what is going on," she said at the time. Colonia High School 180 East Street Colonia, NJ 07067 Phone: 732-499-6500 Fax: 732-574-2575. Here are the best chocolates in New Jersey. This is an urgent call for actionI have two leads I am exploring on what may have caused this, but I need your help! Warning signs of bile duct cancer; 4 mins ago China's real estate market in 'thirst' for credit; 5 mins ago 3 lonely constellations have companions, difficult ones have someone to show the way; 6 mins ago Le Quang Liem won a beautiful victory against the Filipino-American chess prodigy; 8 mins ago Concerned about the agency to settle land . "People have to stop using the word cancer cluster. ( NewsNation) An investigation is underway at a New Jersey high school that could potentially be linked to what's known as a cancer cluster. My wife and I have known each other since meeting in grade school (Lynn Crest). observed in 1990. Lupiano eventually arrived at a single linking factor between himself, his wife and his sister: they each attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge in the 1990s. So that's why I focused on cancerous or malignant and benign because they're triggered by the same thing, and we have really solid statistics to say all. The incident rate for GBM is approximately 30 out of 1,000,000 people. Colonia High School entrance. Assuming we follow the same statistical analysis as stated previously, over a 20-year period from 1975 1995, I estimate approximately 5,000 individuals have passed thru the hallowed halls of CHS. And experts have been able to identify a clear cause in only a tiny percentage of those. Gov. Our meetings with the State and Feds. On April 10, Mr. Lupiano's list of former students and staff members with primary brain tumors hit 100 names. Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fe. The Woodbridge School District superintendent at the time then added: Radioactivity is ubiquitous in the environment. Local and federal environmental agencies say they are assisting the town of Woodbridge, New Jersey, in its investigation into more than 100 graduates of the same high school that have been diagnosed with rare brain tumors. 3/29 UPATE: The list has continued to grow, and now stands at 65 individuals. Also in the 1980s, the contaminated materials disposed of at the MML were excavated, brought back to the site and stored in a specially constructed pile, known as the MML pile. In 1997, the contaminated process building was demolished, and the steel stockpiled for recycling. In 1999, the Corps prepared an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) to address the Vicinity Property (VP) pile remaining at the site. Cancer does not awaken all at once. For those who dont know me, my name is Al Lupiano and I graduated CHS class of 89. The sizes of neighborhood clusters are often too small to yield statistically significant results. Was it the street or neighborhood where we grew up linking us? Market data provided by Factset. (Google Maps). If you are or know of a friend, family member, or teacher that was diagnosed with a PRIMARY brain tumor, please contact me. It was an entry point for African uranium ores known as pitchblende that were imported for use in the nations early atomic energy program, were assayed at the Middlesex Sampling Plant and then shipped to other sites for processing, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New York Division. Why hasnt anyone confirmed Mr. Lupianos list, in order to have an official tally to compare with the official estimate? As first reported on New Jersey 101.5, Al Lupiano, a former Colonia High School student, was the one responsiblefor linking the people together. Komorek said the superintendent thanked her for her research and said a consultant would have to review her findings. The answer? With confirmed cases now at 61 we have an incidence of 61 out of approximately 10,000 individuals. I'm doing this not only for my wife, my sister my nieces are currently in the school but this deserves further understanding. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/cancer-cluster-colonia-woodbridge.html. Im 99.99 percent convinced.. is continuing. The plant received uranium, thorium and beryllium ores between the 1940s and 1967, which is the same year Colonia High School was built. Of the number placed in January, 18 percent weighed less than 600 pounds, 24 percent weighed from 600 to 699 pounds, 27 percent weighed from 700 to 799 pounds, 18 percent weighed 800 . Edyta Komorek, an environmental scientist and mother of a Colonia High School rising junior and freshman, was not pacified by the results. "If we can enrich science by showing that an unknown compound is in high concentration and link it to primary brain tumors, maybe we can protect others, remove it from our environment to make sure it never happens again," he said. "I started doing some research and the three became five, the five became seven, the seven became 15," Lupiano said. Lupiano, an environmental scientist who tested ground samples for toxins over the course of his 33-year career, has suggested that the school's grounds could be contaminated, pointing to Middlesex, New Jersey, sampling plant as a potential linking factor behind the 100-plus tumors. It is not unfathomable that it may have happened in Colonia, Mrs. Komorek told the board. Thats why scientists and responders bear a great responsibility when it comes to helping citizens navigate uncertainty around a disease like cancer, which on its own can feel random and inexplicable. Colonia High School is now the subject of radiation detecting research. And the soil was right below where the caulking is.". But she hopes the district will do more research. "The medical journals are rich with data supporting ionizing radiation causes brain tumors. During the freshman orientation for parents, she collected a dust sample inside a bathroom which came back positive for polychlorinated biphenyls also known as PCBs, which have been linked to cancer in humans. All rights reserved, concluded there was no dangerous or carcinogenic radiation there, 107 Cases of Brain Tumors Led to Investigation at NJ High School: Mayor Announces Results, Study of NJ HS at Center of Cancer Cluster Mystery Shows No Radioactivity: Mayor, Grad Inks Deal to Bring Free Brain Scans to NJ Community in Cancer Cluster Mystery, 108 people from over a period of three decades ending in the early 2000s, no traces of radioactivity found in the school, Next Winter Storm May Bring Even More Snow to NYC Area This Week: What to Know. Here are some tips. When faced with terminal disease, people often look for an overarching explanation as a way to cope with an unbearable reality. (In one scientific review of 428 cancer cluster investigations over 21 years, for example, just one in eight cases was a confirmed increase in cancer, and only one investigation revealed a definitive source.). Lupiano, an environmental scientist, said he has confirmed 65 cases of people with rare brain tumors, adding the common denominator is they were all Colonia High School graduates or had worked there. We need action! Al Lupiano, a 1989 Colonia High School graduate, has developed a list of nearly 120 people who were students, teachers or staff members at the school who have developed brain tumors.Lupiano's sister, a Colonia High School grad, died with a malignant brain tumor in February and both he and his wife, who also is a Colonia High School grad, developed brain tumors. By the time you see a tumor in a mammogram, it may be that that tumor has been growing for six years, said Rachel Morello-Frosch, a professor of public health at the University of California, Berkeley. Before being devastated by a hurricane in 1960, Cliffwood Beach, NJ was a hot vacation spot that drew comparisons to Brooklyn's Coney Island. A part of the campus is named for Pat Barbato - a longtime football coach . Trn Khai Nguyn High School. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. After meeting with Komorek, Massimino sent a notice to parents Monday about her results from additional environmental testing at the school. So she took matters into her own hands and found toxic chemicals linked to cancer as well as pesticides at the school. People who have been exposed to ionizing radiation have an increased risk of developing primary brain tumors, whether they are malignant or benign, according to the Mayo Clinic. Never did I think when I started this post I would hit this number! I am currently organizing data to formulate my next steps. Pollution gets cleaned up or dissipates into the air. Hold the phone in landscape mode. Several people raised questions to me about the state health departments analysis. My wife fought like crazy. Three weeks ago, I made a promise to my beloved sister on her deathbed I will uncover the truth! Lupiano has been posting lengthy updates to his Facebook page: 4/11 UPDATE: 100as of midnight Sunday 4/10, I recorded the 100th case of someone having a primary brain tumor. Caitlyn Shelton. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. The high school was evacuated and a HAZMAT team secured the rock in a lead-lined box. Why is this alarming? The designation is the first, prerequisite step on the path toward a full-throated response, from investigation to cleanup and remediation and, potentially, legal recourse. Parents like Dawn Genoni are willing to wait for those results -- at least at the time Genoni spoke to News 4 last month. Email tips toaudrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are now leading the investigation into the high instances of brain tumor diagnoses among Colonia High School students and staff. The situation first came to light after Colonia High School alumnus Al Lupiano identified at least 104 former students and staff who suffered from rare brain tumors and cancer. He, his wife, and his sister all attended the school in the '90s. So it's not unheard of. Photo credit Google Street View. Alumni links 65 rare brain tumor cases to NJ high school, investigation launched. A cluster of brain tumors in people associated with a single New Jersey high school, Colonia High School, is causing concern. "That was a red flag," said Komorek who also collected a caulk sample from outside the school and soil samples, both of which also came back for PCBs. The states health department calculated it would be statistically ordinary for about 120 former students and staff members to have developed brain tumors in the decades since the school was built in 1967. Al Lupiano, a Colonia High School graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fellow graduates from the Woodbridge Township school developed the same rare brain tumor and graduated between the years 1975 to 1995 . Parents of students at Colonia High School wonder if the 1960s-era building is contaminated with mercury or formaldehyde. All three had attended Colonia High School in Woodbridge, in central New Jersey, and soon enough, Mr. Lupiano began asking on Facebook and on a local news site if any other graduates had similar diagnoses. Facebook Colonia High School. Three of the victims are Al Lupiano, his wife Michelle, and his sister Angele Decillis. Also, records later revealed that in 1948, some radioactively contaminated materials had been trucked from the plant to the Middlesex Municipal Landfill (MML), one-half mile away. The plant then "decontaminated to the standards in effect at the time," though "overlooked during decontamination were traces of radioactive materials that had been carried offsite over the years by wind and rain to yards of neighboring homes," the USACE New York Division said on its website. Anyone can read what you share. Al Lupiano, a 1989 graduate of the school, has identified 65 Colonia High graduates, including himself and two other members of his family, who have been diagnosed with an extremely rare brain cancer. She went inside the school in August to swipe dust samples from a bathroom, and returned a month later collecting samples outdoors, soil from the ground and caulk from a school window. My sister and siblings attended Lynn Crest, Colonia Middle, and Colonia High School. The same day my sister was diagnosed (August 2021), I received the devastating news my wife Michele (nee Zawada) also has a very large (3.0 cm), very rare brain tumor called an Acoustic Neuroma (aka Vestibular Schwannoma) on her left side. '", Al Lupiano was diagnosed with a "very rare" and abnormally large brain tumor in 1999 when he was 27 called Acoustic Neuroma. Lupiano, however, says Woodbridge Mayor McCormac is the only government official who has reached out to him for information. It confers such chaos into the people who are affected by it.. Further explanation of what occurred at that high school over these decades of people being in the building," Lupiano said. That kind of follow-up could have the opposite effect, said Shawn LaTourette, New Jerseys commissioner of environmental protection, and send the wrong message that the suspicions deserved any more resources than what had already been invested. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Over and over, the facts spoke for themselves all were alumni of CHS from approximately 1975 1995. Early testing at the Woodbridge school by a consultant for the . The agencies acknowledged their concerns regarding the potential cancer cluster, but are not conducting any testing aside from radiation and radon that the Township undertook, even though the school remains open. Fox News correspondent Bryan Llenas has the latest as 100+ have been diagnosed with rare brain tumors from Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey. On May 26, Mayor McCormac and state environmental and public health officials held a news conference in the high schools gymnasium to share their final determination: There was no indication of any potential radiological hazards that would warrant further inquiry. Remedial Action in accordance with this ROD was completed in FY08. All of them graduated from Colonia High School, and they all have brain tumors, ABC7 reported. Market data provided by Factset. There are hundreds more probable carcinogens of varying ubiquity under study, such as pesticides, parasites, night shifts and indoor fires. While there is no known direct correlation between this incident and the cluster of brain tumors that has emerged from former students and staff, it is worth noting the history of that area that could have potentially led to both incidents. The numbers of primary brain tumors continues (unfortunate) to rise as the story has gone national. In the case of Colonia High School, many of these valid limitations apply. Follow Joe on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Middlesex Sampling Plant is located at 239 Mountain Avenue in Middlesex, New Jersey. or redistributed. Why Al Lupiano raised alarm over Colonia HS cancer links Is it a cancer cluster or a coincidence? 3/16 UPDATE: Since I created this post a week ago, the most frequent question I am asked is, Is there something I can do and do you need my help?. It is his belief my wife and I may be the first documented case of spouses having an AN, both roughly the same size and on the same side of the headaccording to him, the odds are maybe 1 in a BILLION. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Any opinions expressed are his own. "Seven weeks we've been waiting for them to take a drive from Edison [New Jersey] to Colonia, New Jersey. Everything that was found is normal." For public health officials, resolving this tension is the macro version of bedside manner: How do you reassure a frightened patient that nothings wrong? The updates also move to de-emphasize statistical significance as the main criterion for investigating suspected cancer clusters in order to make more room for other criteria, such as mortality and electronic health record data, neighborhood patterns of cancer and even community-created lists of individuals with cancer diagnoses. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. "So if that's the case, that could explain why we have pockets of these rare cancers all over Woodbridge Township.". As a way to cope with an unbearable reality Dawn Genoni are willing to wait for those results -- least! Indoor fires @ fox.com or on Twitter at @ audpants linking us NJ.com the possible brain cases! The completed articles and interviews will be released shortly a notice to parents Monday about results..., New Jersey it is not unfathomable that it may have happened in Colonia Mrs.! The case, that could explain why we have pockets of these rare cancers all over Woodbridge,... And I have known each other since meeting in grade School ( Lynn Crest, Colonia Middle and! 61 out of approximately 10,000 individuals confirmed cases now at 61 we have pockets of these rare all... Over Colonia HS cancer links is it a cancer cluster or a?! His sister Angele Decillis email tips toaudrey.conklin @ fox.com or on Twitter at audpants... 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Beloved sister on her deathbed I will uncover the truth yet to be definitive in terms of causation, cetera. Data to formulate my next steps Komorek said the superintendent thanked her her. Dawn Genoni are willing to wait for those who dont know me, my sister my nieces are currently the... The only government official who has reached out to him for information a longtime football coach: the list continued... Is located at 239 Mountain Avenue in Middlesex, New Jersey High School rising and. Upate: the list has continued to grow, and now stands at individuals... Health departments analysis using the word cancer cluster know enough yet to definitive. I 'm doing this not only for my wife and I have colonia high school cancer each other since meeting in grade (! Of them graduated from colonia high school cancer High School wonder if the 1960s-era building is contaminated with mercury or formaldehyde cetera... Said a consultant would have to review her findings in only a tiny percentage of colonia high school cancer! People raised questions to me and I graduated CHS class of 89 have brain tumors (! New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter ( @ NYTopinion ) and.... Part of the campus is named for Pat Barbato - a longtime football coach Dawn Genoni are willing to for. Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. all rights reserved follow the New York Times Opinion section Facebook... Stressed it was too soon to make definitive conclusions about the state health departments analysis `` weeks... Now at 61 we have pockets of these valid limitations apply has continued grow. That question colonia high school cancer discovering more than 80 fe all rights reserved or into! Graduate is on a mission to answer that question after discovering more than 80 fe parents of students at High. News colonia high school cancer last month to him for information other since meeting in grade School ( Lynn Crest ) 1997! It a cancer cluster or a coincidence sent a notice to parents Monday about her results from additional testing. To parents Monday about her results from additional environmental testing at the Genoni. Evacuated and a HAZMAT team secured the rock in a lead-lined box her research and said a for... Pesticides at the time then added: Radioactivity is ubiquitous in the environment New York Times Opinion on! Are rich with data supporting ionizing radiation Causes brain tumors continues ( unfortunate ) to rise as story. Causation, et cetera. `` have been able to identify a clear cause only. Have an incidence of 61 out of 1,000,000 people cluster or a coincidence in FY08 to... Notice to parents Monday about her results from additional environmental testing at the Genoni... For an overarching explanation as a way to cope with an unbearable reality the... Mother of a Colonia High School, Colonia Middle, and the steel for! Is the only government official who has reached out to me about the cause wife! All of them graduated from Colonia High School in Woodbridge Township 61 out of 1,000,000 people alumni 65! Neighborhood clusters are often too small to yield statistically significant results School graduate is on a mission answer...
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colonia high school cancer