MANATEE
COUNTY - Four years ago, ABC 7 was the first to reveal concerns about
the old Bayshore High School. An investigation found a leaking
underground storage tank contaminated the ground around the school.
Some graduates of the old high school feel there could be a connection
to high levels of cancer in students who went there and that tank.
Now there's new information that there was a leaking tank at Manatee Community College, too.
18
years ago on the campus of MCC, crews removed an underground storage
tank near the maintenance building. It was used to store gasoline for
lawn mowers and equipment for the school. According to documents
discovered by 7 Uncovers, the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection says that tank leaked and gasoline contaminated the
groundwater.
Lynne Stagg has lived near Manatee Community
College for almost 15 years. Up until now, she had no idea about that
leaking tank. "Anybody would like to know that if there is a risk to
our health or our children's health, especially our children."
Several
of Stagg's neighbors have wells -- not for drinking water, but for
irrigation. If the groundwater at MCC was contaminated years ago, they
worry it could have contaminated the water they used on their lawns and
gardens.
But according to the DEP, that groundwater
contamination was confined to the property lines of the community
college and was cleaned up between 1995 and 2003. A spokeswoman for
the DEP says there is no law that requires the state to notify
residents, because the DEP says the contamination was confined to the
school's property.
A spokeswoman for MCC backs up what the DEP
says, and says there's no record of any student, staff or neighbor ever
complaining. "It was contained to the college property, so I can't
imagine why there would be any concerns," says MCC's Katherine Walker.
But
this does concern some graduates of the old Bayshore High School, which
was located right next to MCC. A 7 Uncovers investigation found there
was a 10,000 gallon underground storage tank at the old school. Diesel
fuel leaked out and contaminated the soil around it. The levels were
below state standards and not considered excessively contaminated.
Diesel
contains benzene, which has been linked to cancer. Right now there are
44 cases of Bayshore alumni who have died of Leukemia or Lymphoma, 68
cases of alumni who have cancer or are cancer survivors, and 30 cases
of birth defects in children born to alumni.
The old school was torn down. It's now an empty lot.
And
for people like Lynne Stag, who live near MCC, they say that even
though the state doesn't legally have to tell them about contamination,
knowing is best. "That's the problem a lot of time. A lot of times
things are not revealed that should be revealed that are issues for
people and their health."
7 Uncovers also asked the DEP if
there is any connection between the contamination cleaned up at Manatee
Community College and the contamination at the old Bayshore High
School. A spokeswoman says each case was confined to the specific
property, and they not connected.
As far as health risks to
MCC students, current research shows a person would have be exposed to
the chemicals in gasoline over a period of time, at very high levels to
get cancer.