Community Members Searching for Answers Regarding Hazardous Substances Locations

Alison Gaffney and her partner were given devastating information in 2018 when their 17-month-old Fraser was found to have a unusual variant of blood cancer.

Two years of demanding therapies came next, involving drug treatments, targeted radiation, and biological therapies before a cellular therapy. Their son, then aged three, made a extraordinary turnaround from the surgery, with doctors confirming the disease in remission.

During this period that Gaffney, 36, began looking for causes. She constantly recalled remarks made by healthcare workers at the time of her child's illness. “We lose sleep wondering how Fraser got his illness,” a specialist had told her.

“We're constantly wondering wondering how our son got his disease,” a specialist had told her.

Background Information

The botched disposal of millions of tonnes of hazardous substances after the closure of a major industrial facility in this community in 1979 had “long been recognized,” said Alison. A court ruling connected the local authority's mismanagement of the site to a cluster of developmental issues in community youth during the previous decades.

Over time, Gaffney started to connect the situation to her own. “[The disease] is not hereditary,” she stated. “So what are the reasons? … It must be down to the community. So many children [with] the disease.

“Everybody in this town knows somebody who’s got a minor [with] the disease. This isn't typical.”

Grassroots Movement

Alison and Andy started to connect with additional households in the town with parallel situations – featuring some of Gaffney’s past schoolmates at their former educational institution – and the organization began compiling thorough information on those affected. They now lead a campaign supporting about many parents with cases of childhood cancer dating back to 1988.

The organization has been pressuring the municipal government to investigate any relationships between cases of youth disease in the town and the decommissioning of the plant. In the coming weeks, public health officials are expected to release their study of whether the area has had a elevated incidence of occurrences of childhood cancer for its population of seventy thousand.

“What we seek is to work to secure coming generations so they won't experience the suffering that we've endured,” said Gaffney.

Previous Cases

The ruling in the 2009 civil claim accepted that, between the 1980s and 1990s, millions of tonnes of contaminated materials from the industrial facility were moved “almost invariably” from the south of Corby to Deene Quarry in the opposite end – with “large quantities” of hazardous materials transported and deposited on local thoroughfares and “substantial quantities” of dust produced by the remediation.

Nonetheless, it also referenced findings from the regulatory body in 1997 that identified collections of contaminated material that had been abandoned at the site were later removed in “large quantities”.

Expanding Concerns

Alison believes waste was not only dumped at the Deene Quarry site but in different locations of the municipality. In recent developments, she welcomed a “important advancement” after local authorities said it would examine soil that could be contaminated and research where hazardous materials was dumped.

The mother said government representatives confirmed in the discussion that they did not know where the areas of contaminated waste could be. “They stated: ‘We lack information where these locations are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”

Local Backing

The official statement was also embraced by Tonia Shalgosky, a school staff member at a elementary institution, whose young child, the child, was diagnosed with leukaemia in June this year.

“I had to shave my nine-year-old daughter's hair because her locks was coming out from the drugs she had to use to eliminate her illness. So actually it’s in the community's concern, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to share that data,” she explained.

“There are so many individuals in the town that have been diagnosed with childhood cancer and I believe it’s impossible to overlook – it requires investigation. This isn't typical.”

Individual Accounts

Meg Lyons, in her early thirties, who has a professional career and now has moved away, said households merited “full transparency and openness” from the government.

The woman's family member, Eve, passed away on 24 June 2017 after being confirmed to have a specific illness at the young age. Eve, who collected money for health organizations, was “one of the most adorable, entertaining and kindest” persons, Lyons recalled.

Her mother recalls the impact of the cessation of the manufacturing site on the area, she explained. “She recalled you were unable to place your hand in front of your face because [of] the colored dust.”

“This situation has persisted since around about three years old. It's too long and it is irresponsibility toward the people of Corby.”

Previous Involvement

Another family member, Maggie Mahon, was among numerous parents participating in the legal case against the former government after her newborn was born with clubfoot. Her husband, the man, was one of the truck operators responsible for handling substances from the industrial site. Their situation was portrayed in a recent series, and illustrated the woman cleaning the dust from her husband’s jeans.

Alison said the campaign group has been reached out to by informants who were involved in the dumping of substances in the town.