To Whom It May Concern,
We petition ATSDR to conduct a health and environmental study on Patrick AFB, Florida 32925.
Residents of South Patrick Shores living in a subdivision south of Patrick Air Force Base discovered military debris in their yards throughout the years.
The first reports of debris were discovered in the 1950s by workers who reported vehicular batteries and barrels. The EPA conducted soil and groundwater sampling in November of 1991 after a high incident of cases of rare cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, made headlines. There were 11 cases in the small beachside community and an additional 16 on the air force base, making it a total of 27 cases of Hodgkin's Lymphoma Cancer.
In the 1991 sample, lead and aluminum were detected with elevated levels for several parameters analyzed compared to the other wells sampled. Aluminum levels in the well were 2000-3000 times greater than levels detected in all other wells.
Patrick AFB has 21 active sites where military cleanup actions are still ongoing. In the past, drums were unearthed, and we fear they leached into groundwater. The groundwater discharged to a ditch downgrading from the site, which, in turn, discharges into the Banana River.
Patrick AFB has been inspected many times, dating back to 1986 by the FDEP. On July 15 and 16, 2014, the facility was out of compliance with violations including failure to properly identify hazardous wastes, exceeding the limit of stored hazardous waste, failure to properly label containers, improper storage of hazardous waste that exceeded toxicity limits for cadmium, management of hazardous waste without a permit and disposal of toxic warfarin trash to a local landfill.
State and federal experts told papers in the '90s that the South Patrick Shores neighborhood was built over an old military dump.
Through a grassroots crowdsourcing effort, Florida Health Connection began to reveal a series of inexplicable illnesses - ALS, migraines, asthma, thyroid disease, and abnormally high rates of cancer in South Patrick Shores and Satellite Beach. The school, Satellite Beach High, has had 54 graduates in the past decade diagnosed with rare cancers in their 20's. In otherwise healthy young people, an unbelievable rate of cancer exists. We know that there are multiple breast cancers, brain tumors, and blood cancers. Thus far, we have 543 crowdsourcing reports of illnesses in South Patrick Shores and Satellite Beach. Additionally, Cocoa Beach cases.
The beachside communities recently tested positive for PFOA and PFOS this past summer. We have contacted local officials, commissioners, senators, members of Congress, EPA, Universities, geologists, and Erin Brockovich. After putting pressure on the EPA, they recently agreed to reassess the area.
The area would be interested in having ATSDR's team of scientists, physicians, toxicologists, and members work on this.
Thanks for your consideration,
Stel Bailey
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Nov 14, 2018, 6:26 AM
Response:
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To Whom It May Concern,
On November 13, 2018, we petitioned ATSDR to conduct a health and environmental study on Patrick AFB, Florida 32935. This email had a “reply all” indirect response from Sue A. Castell, stating, “John, how do you want to handle this?” It is now April 2019, and no further correspondence was made.
We are writing to you today to express concern regarding the men and women who live on base, their families, and the communities surrounding Patrick Air Force Base. We again want to petition the ATSDR to conduct a public health assessment concerning the environmental contamination of former naval operations and current operations at the Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.
Our organization has a few concerns regarding the Florida Department of Health’s data collection methods and information:
- The Florida Department of Health has not been consistent across the state of Florida in how they collect this data. We can provide examples of this for your reference if needed.
- When the Florida Department of Health was collecting the cases for the Brevard Cancer Assessment, we had numerous complaints where people told us they were not allowed to report their information.
Additionally, there are still people who want to report their diagnosis information and are unable to.
Finally, we have numerous documented self-reported cases made to our organization from concerned citizens wanting to identify possible causes for their illnesses. We hope that your agency will take this into consideration. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you moving forward.
Sincerely,
Stel Bailey
Finally, we have numerous documented self-reported cases made to our organization from concerned citizens wanting to identify possible causes for their illnesses. We hope that your agency will take this into consideration. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you moving forward.
Sincerely,
Stel Bailey
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May 9, 2019, 4:14 PM
To Whom It May Concern,
We petition ATSDR to conduct a health and environmental study on Patrick AFB, Florida 32925, and the neighboring community in 32937.
The Brevard Cancer Assessment was publicly released on May 2, 2019, which included nine cancers related to PFOA and PFOS exposure. The cancer assessment did not consider pediatric, breast, and other cancers of concern in the 32937 area. Additionally, this report does not include data from 2015 to the present.
The area would be interested in having ATSDR's team of scientists, physicians, toxicologists, and members work on this.
Thank you for your consideration,
Stel Bailey
July 1, 2019, 3:30 PM
Response:
May 9, 2019, 4:14 PM
To Whom It May Concern,
We petition ATSDR to conduct a health and environmental study on Patrick AFB, Florida 32925, and the neighboring community in 32937.
The Brevard Cancer Assessment was publicly released on May 2, 2019, which included nine cancers related to PFOA and PFOS exposure. The cancer assessment did not consider pediatric, breast, and other cancers of concern in the 32937 area. Additionally, this report does not include data from 2015 to the present.
The area would be interested in having ATSDR's team of scientists, physicians, toxicologists, and members work on this.
Thank you for your consideration,
Stel Bailey
_______________________________________________________________
July 1, 2019, 3:30 PM
Response:
