I grew up most of my life in a town in Rhode Island called Woonsocket. I had a great childhood, at least as much as I remember; there were a lot of old manufacturing plants in town. I never really gave much thought to the old buildings, the history or what was in the environment. If it did not involve cute guys than I really did not think about it. I mean I am just being honest, the life of a teenage girl is about boys, boys and more boys, the occasional party but that brought the boys, the point being what was in the environment never really occurred to me.
Now when I was a teenager was in the late 80’s, I don’t remember the green environmental movement or Earth day. I do remember riding my bike, going for walks, hanging out with friends. Unfortunately, Woonsocket had a history of plants filled with asbestos and God only knows what else. In 1990 there was roughly a population of 43,000 living in Woonsocket and there are 4 SUPERFUND sites in the town. If you do not know what s SUPERFUND site is, it means it is a site that is on the EPA list of areas that need to be cleaned up of the hazardous materials. Basically it’s the governments list of the worst of the worst environmental hazards that need to be cleaned up.
So do all these toxic sites in the area where I grew up have anything to do with the high cancer rates for people from Woonsocket, Rhode Island? There are so many cases of women under the age of 40 getting breast cancer; there is also cases of brain cancer, lung cancer (in non-smokers), bone cancer, and almost every other type of cancer you can think of. One thing my high school did not teach was how to raise small children, and fight the fight of your life, the fight against cancer.
Should someone not look into this a little more, shouldn’t the people living there now, or ever has be warned they are at a higher risk of cancer? When will someone pay attention to the cancer we are having to deal with?
I do not have the answers, the only thing I do have is lots of questions. I have emailed the EPA with my concerns and I am only one person, if only the people on my facebook page called “Did you live in Woonsocket RI and you or a family member got cancer?” is any indication there are a great deal more to this story than any of us know.