Staten Island wants to create a park on the site of a landfill, toxins from which can cause cancer

Experts from the New York Department of Health examined whether there is a connection between the window of illness and living near the Fresh Kills landfill, where the debris of skyscrapers after the September 11 tragedy were dumped. The details are shared by the publication CNN.

Staten Island, New York, is home to what was once the world's largest landfill, Fresh Kills. It was built here in 1948. In 2001, the debris of skyscrapers that collapsed as a result of the September 11 attacks were brought here - in total, about 1,8 million tons of debris were buried here.

There could be human remains among the wreckage, so police officers and forensic experts continued their search for a long time on the territory of the landfill. In this regard, the reception of waste was suspended.

In early 2020, the Fresh Kills landfill was once again in the spotlight. This comes after the city's Department of Health released the results of a study examining the relationship between proximity to landfill and bladder and thyroid cancer.

Jamiel Nelson, 32, lives in New York. She has invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer.

A January 2020 study by the New York City Department of Health compared the incidence rates of 17 cancers in Fresh Kills with the rest of Staten Island and New York City between 1995 and 2015.

The study found that compared to the rest of Staten Island, the study area had an increased incidence of bladder, breast, kidney, and thyroid cancers.

Joe Borelli is a city councilor and represents the 51st arrondissement on Staten Island. “I've lived here all my life. People live here because they want a backyard, good parks and restaurants, safe schools. But we have this toxic problem, ”he said.

New York University Department of Health and Mental Hygiene officials said this is the third study in 25 years. The aim of the research is to study the characteristics of cancer diseases that may be associated with living near the mentioned landfill.

“Our findings do not suggest that the potential impact of the former landfill contributed to increased cancer rates in nearby communities,” said Chris D'Andrea, assistant commissioner for NYC DOC.

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Epidemiologists not associated with this study also expressed their thoughts.

Beata Ritz of the University of California, Los Angeles noted that today it is important "to invest in cancer screening, listen to society and not think about money."

However, the residents of Staten Island themselves suspect not only Fresh Kills of the harm that is done to their health. The island was once home to Brookfield Park, a landfill site where the illegal dumping of toxic waste took place in the 1970s. The said landfill was also located in an area under study in 2020.

However, Fresh Kills is unique in that it occupies a very large area and because it was used as a burial site after the September 11 tragedy.

This dump was opened in 1948 on the west bank of Staten Island. It was originally supposed to be the world's largest landfill.

After the September 11 tragedy, more than 1,8 million tons of garbage was brought here. For 10 months, workers searched for important evidence among the garbage brought to the landfill.

The 11/XNUMX Victim Assistance Fund allows survivors - those who were on the scene or were involved in a rescue operation - to receive the help they need, including cancer treatment. However, it is unknown if this program extends to helping people living near Fresh Kills.

Jemily Nelson, who lives near the Fresh Kills landfill, has cancer. She recently underwent another course of radiation therapy. “My family is going through all this very hard. It feels like life is passing me by. It's so hard for me, ”said the woman.

The authors of the report noted the relationship between breast cancer among women living near the landfill, compared with the situation in other boroughs in New York.

However, they never found a reasonable explanation as to how the potential impact of the landfill could lead to this disease.

Borelli said that his neighbor recently died of cancer. “My grandparents also died of cancer. Another neighbor of mine died of cancer a few years ago, ”he said.

Phill Landrigan of Boston College studied the health effects of waste on the health of workers cleaning Ground Zero after 11/XNUMX. He is convinced that it is necessary to keep an eye on the landfill for many years or even decades. Because the toxic waste that is there will not go anywhere and will continue to harm the environment and people.

But some experts are convinced that it is impossible to prove a direct link between the proximity of the landfill and the incidence of cancer, which affects the inhabitants of the surrounding area.

Otis Brawley, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, says it's very difficult to prove that a person got cancer just because they live near a landfill. After all, people are not in one place all the time, they travel, spend a lot of time in offices located far from their place of residence, and do various things in their free time - therefore it is difficult to trace what led to the illness.

"While it is impossible to pinpoint the exact causes of individual cancer cases, smoking is the best-known risk factor for bladder cancer in the general population, and smoking rates are higher in Staten Island than in the rest of New York," the Department said in a letter. health and mental hygiene.

It is very important to understand whether a landfill really negatively affects people's health, leads to dangerous diseases and even deaths. After all, they plan to turn the landfill into a park. As stated in the material published on the site w2e.ruIn late 2001, Freshkills announced a competition for a landfill reclamation project sponsored by New York State and local charities. The winner was the architect James Corner, who proposed the idea of ​​creating a huge park on the site of the landfill, three times the size of Central Park. It will open to the public in 2036.

Freshkills Park Administrator, Eloise Hirsch, noted that this will be the largest landfill converted into a park in the world.