Editorial in Sarasota Herald
Cancer concerns warrant tests
Give old Bayshore campus a closer look
State Rep. Bill Galvano is calling for a new round of environmental tests at the former site of Manatee County's Bayshore High School. That's prudent, given the apparently growing level of concern among former students and faculty that they were exposed to carcinogens or other health hazards while on the campus.
In recent years, a group of Bayshore graduates and family members has been piecing together a sad story -- at least 38 cancer deaths and 58 other diagnosed cases among alumni and staff. Birth defects and other illnesses, including autoimmune diseases, also have been reported.
The group has been collecting information at a Web site, bayshorehigh.org, and has retained legal counsel.
The high school opened in the mid-1970s on 34th Street West just south of 53rd Avenue. It was razed in 1998 after a new Bayshore campus was built on adjacent land.
At a meeting at Blake Medical Center last week, Galvano, R-Bradenton, heard dozens of stories about former students and staff who became seriously ill or died in the past few decades, some at an early age and some from rare forms of cancer.
State health officials say they have seen no evidence of a "cancer cluster" -- an unusually large number of cases linked to environmental causes -- regarding Bayshore.
The stories warrant a closer look, however. Investigators should re-examine, for example, how the school district handled the removal of two diesel-fuel tanks on the property in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Officials say they found contaminants, including the carcinogen benzene, on the property. But, they said, the amount was well below levels deemed a health risk.
A new round of testing may not find anything different or, for that matter, put to rest the concerns of alumni, staff and family members. But, at this point, there are far more questions and fears than definitive answers. Galvano's push for a new investigation is justified.
Last modified: October 30. 2007 12:00AM