Although state officials were late getting into the game, this summer they will perform a cancer study of the neighborhoods, where an estimated 4,000 people live. An earlier, smaller study found no unusual occurences of cancer among residents. Initially, the state and Brown believed the plume was confined to a two-block area north and east of the plant, but last summer it was learned that an underground seam had allowed the toxic chemicals to migrate north toward Cherry Creek. It was thought that once the plume reached Cherry Creek, it would dilute and no longer pose a health hazard, but now it appears to have flowed into an ancient subterranean channel of the creek that carried it at least a mile farther away. Although the chemicals found most recently are similar to those attributed to Redfield, neither the source nor the extent of the leak in the new area have been firmly established.
Numerous dwellings have yet to be tested.
Residents deserve answers and action. We hope the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will ride herd to make sure that the company and state continue to do all that is possible to rectify the problem promptly.