Komorek said the results of her testing indicate state environmental officials should conduct further tests of the air, soil and building compounds at Colonia. All three have been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I don't trust anyone who says that nuclear plant was safe. Lupiano grew up in Woodbridge Township and he now works as an environmental scientist; he no longer lives in Woodbridge. I had stage 4 cancer. Most of them during the years of 1972 to 2000, said Matthew Stanmyre with NJ Advance Media, who broke the news. Environmental engineers have been testing for radiation at Colonia High School in New Jersey after reports that over 100 former students and staff members were diagnosed with brain tumors. Hill: Brain tumors, relative to other types of cancer, are typically rare but can be very lethal. "I need your help Facebook. While generally only life threatening if left untreated, radiation and surgical removal typically leaves individuals with numerous debilitations including chronic headaches, balance issues, fatigue, deafness, slurred speech, inability to blink, and facial paralysis (to name only a few), and that assumes it doesnt begin to regrow in the future. A high school in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, is being investigated by environmental experts after reports of more than 100 former students and staff being diagnosed with brain tumors. The results will then be reviewed by federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, plus the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health. Earlier this spring . Colonia is not a mega high school. DeCillis died in February from glioblastoma multiforme, a form of brain cancer. Youre 98.6, youre fine, go home. Jason Wisinski, who lost his wife and sister-in-law, both Colonia High alumnae, to primary malignant brain tumors at the age of 38, became one of many convinced that a cluster a. Is it a cancer cluster or a coincidence? They said they took your temperature. Some of these are non-cancerous, yet very debilitating forms of brain tumor. She loves a good music pun and wakes up very very early. "When I started looking into it, I quickly amassed 15 of our classmates with these rare brain tumors," he told NewsNation. Last year, Lupianos wife and sister also developed brain tumors, as first reported byCBS New York. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormick lives just a few blocks from the high school. I made a promise to my sister while she was dying that if something did this to us, I will find out what did it, Lupiano says. Immediate action from our State and Federal agencies is warranted, Lupiano said. Over 1,300 cases have been reported of people getting sick after eating the Lucky Charms cereal. Thats what makes the numbers staggering, says Lupiano. "It is also important to note that the data compiled and posted to social media by Mr. Lupiano has yet to be evaluated and verified by any federal, state, county or municipal agency with competent jurisdiction to fully vet and verify his research. Three weeks later, Komorek collected a caulk sample from a northern exterior wall of the school and sent it to another state-certified lab in Fairfield. By pairing specialists and experts in the field of cancer with robust resources, facilities, and technologies, Hackensack Meridian Cancer Care is committed to getting patients back to the life they love. . At the time, medium lifespan for her type of tumor was 18 months. Both sisters were graduates of Colonia High School. ", "We are taking this incredibly seriously," Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac told Patch earlier this April, saying that he finds Lupiano's theory "quite credible and legitimate. "Woodbridge Township contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the CDC, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (which is part of CDC), and the state Department of Health last week, and we've begun initial discussions with them.". Fortunately one of the survivors is an environmentalscientist Al Lupiano, who is bringing attention to this and he is relentlessly looking for answers. Is it a cancer cluster or just a coincidence? Advertisement. Lupiano is still looking for any and all Colonia High School alumni to come forward. His wife graduated in 1991. This is terrific news for current students of Colonia High School (CHS) and their parents who worried about their safety along with current staff members, Mayor John E. McCormac said. Colonia High School: Environmentalists determining possible link between New Jersey school and brain tumors - ABC7 Chicago tumor Former students wonder if their brain tumors are. WOODBRIDGE - Work is underway to create a portal for people with ties to Colonia High School who have developed brain tumors to share information with the New Jersey Department of Health. He said he is specifically looking for anyone who graduated from or attend Colonia High School from approximately 1975 to 1995. $4 Million Settlement Mass Torts $203 Million Class Action Financial Services $75 Million Class Action Mass Torts $200 Million Class Action The environmental assessment study at Colonia High School was recently completed, in response to allegations that suggested the school had radiological hazards that contributed to diagnoses. She also cautioned that additional toxins could be present at the school because she described her initial testing as very limited, meaning it did not include taking air samples or probing deep into the soil or groundwater. McCormac says last Saturday, environmentalists placed random canisters inside the school to collect air samples. When he started digging and looking for a link, the common link was Colonia High School. He has contacted: Mayor McCormac confirmed these details yesterday to PEOPLE Magazine. "I started doing some research and the three became five, the five became seven, the seven became 15," Lupiano said. They all attended or worked at Colonia High School most of them during the years of 1972 to 2000. After nearly 100 people who attended the same New Jersey high school developed rare brain tumors, an alumnus and cancer survivor is demanding answers. Additionally, T&M Associates has begun conducting historic site research to obtain any and all necessary records related to the construction of Colonia High School when it was built in 1967, through to the present. The action (should) be undertaken immediately, due to high exceedances of the State and Federal regulatory standards for PCBs and pesticides, as well as the fact that PCBs and chlordane inhalation may be occurring by students and staff, Komorek stated in a letter to district officials. And there are many different forms of these cancers. Our sister station WABC-TV has reached out to the EPA for comment. Whittington believes that the Colonia High School students and staff have developed glioblastoma multiforme, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor that invades the nearby brain tissue. The sample came back indicating PCBs at concentration of 4.3 ug/wipe (or 100 cm2), indicating that PCBs may be present in indoor air, according to a report compiled by Komorek and obtained by NJ Advance Media. 100 former students, staff of Colonia High School in New Jersey say they have rare brain tumors. Lupiano says that most of the people on his list were at the high school prior to 1997. This all began last year when Al Lupiano made a startling discovery. The conversation is available below. In a statement to CBS News, Lupiano said he is anxiously awaiting the results of the two-week-long radiological survey which concluded this weekend and he anticipates he will receive the results in weeks. He shared a 2020 Emmy for the PBS NewsHour series Stopping a Killer Pandemic and in 2019 received a George FosterPeabodyAwardfor the PBS NewsHour series The Plastic Problem. Nsikan has also worked for NPR, Science News Magazine, Science Magazine, KUSP Central Coast Public Radio, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and as a writer at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. Accordingly, no further testing or remediation is required or recommended at this time. ", First Patch report: Brain Tumor Link To Colonia High School 'Credible,' Town's Mayor Says, Get great local news about YOUR town and state. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac immediately and responsibly got engaged. Both had graduated from Colonia High School, the news outlet reported. When it didnt happen, Komorek who earned a joint degree in environmental science from Rutgers and New Jersey Institute of Technology and specializes in air, ground water and soil contamination took matters into her own hands. They may need to excavate soil underneath the school. United States Department of Environmental Protection. As per this resolution approved at their April 5 meeting, the Woodbridge town Council hired T & M Associates and Cabrera Services, Inc. to do the radon testing (officially called "environmental engineering services for radiological assessment") at the high school. When a former student at Colonia High School in Woodbridge, New Jersey, realized that he, his wife and his sister all had brain tumors, he wondered if something about their high. The school campus is just under 12 miles from the Middlesex Sampling Plant, which was used to crush, cry, store, package and ship uranium ore during the development of the atomic bomb under direction from the Manhattan Project, the outlet continued. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream, Onlookers urged police to charge into TX school: 'Go in there! Stanmyre joined WNYC's Morning Edition host Michael Hill to explain the latest on these cases and what the investigation could entail. He said in 40 years of neurology, he had never heard of a married couple that both had the same type of primary brain tumor. Environmental engineering firm T+M Associates has been contracted by the township to test for radiation on the grounds of the high school, which was built in 1967. Here are the details: The lists below show 4-year graduation rates for New Jersey public schools for the 2020-21 school year. NJ cluster of brain cancer prompts investigation, We rely on your support to make local news available to all, Astoria pool will be closed this summer for renovations: Parks, Gov. They said it was about a one in a billion odds. In April, the township entered an emergency agreement with T&M Associates, of Middletown, for professional environmental engineering services for a radiological assessment of Colonia High in an amount not to exceed $221,350. He is presently working with local officials to address the situation. A Colonia High School alum said he found 107 people with brain tumors who went to or worked at the school. Its not air. Sneak Peek At Woodbridge Mayor's Mailer Urging 'Yes' Vote On March 14, Woodbridge Woman Writes Her 2nd Fiction Novel, Critically Praised, Perth Amboy Outerbridge Crossing Crash Blocks Lane Tuesday: DOT, NJ Camp Fairs at Menlo Park Mall Mar 4, 2023 - FREE to Attend (12-3PM), 2023 Spring Garden Tea Party Gift Auction, Raisin, The Tony-Winning Best Musical - Second Incredible Week, Johns Crazy Socks Enters the Wholesale Channel so Retail Stores Can Sell Our Socks, Protect Your Home from Ticks with Yard Guard from Viking Pest, The Doobie Brothers Play In New Brunswick July 8,9, Highest NJ Property Taxes: See Where Your Town Ranks On New List, Person Shot During Police Encounter At South Jersey Rest Stop: AG. Woodbridge will not get preliminary test results until after this Saturday, April 23, said Hagerty. It's not something in soil," Lupiano said to CBS News. Three of the victims are Al Lupiano, his wife Michelle, and his sister Angele Decillis. He added that the Environmental Protection Agency has gotten involved in the investigation. In 1999, when he was just 27, Al. She made it five years.". The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The city of Woodbridge, NJ is conducting an investigation after more than 100 former students and staff at the local Colonia High School were found to have developed brain . That's a huge number for such a small region. A graduate as recent as 2014 was found to have a primary brain tumor. Some are incredibly aggressive forms of cancer that need very aggressive forms of treatment. All rights reserved (About Us). Over 122 people connected to Colonia High School were found to have brain tumors. Whittington a board-certified MD in California claimed several of the brain tumors developed by ex-Colonia High staff and students are glioblastoma multiforme an aggressive cancer. WOODBRIDGE - Work is underway to create a portal for people with ties to Colonia High School who have developed brain tumors to share information with the New . A stock photo shows medical workers looking at a brain scan or brain scans. Part Time, Per diem position. The soil also tested positive for excessive levels of chlordane, heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide all pesticides, the report said. Almost 100 people from the very same New Jersey high school have all developed brain tumors. Township officials have posted the radiological reports on the township website at www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us. Its not contaminated water. The incident rate for GBM is approximately 30 out of 1,000,000 people. Officials are looking for potential radiation at the school. Theres no telling if they're going to find answers here. pic.twitter.com/mL9bVg9nE4, Katy Tur Reports (@KatyOnMSNBC) April 1, 2022, A majority of the graduates and staff members suffering from the condition were at the school between 1975 and 2000, but some students went through the school as recently as 2014, the NY Post continued. 100 PEOPLE WITH RARE TUMORS WHO ATTENDED SAME NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL DEMAND ANSWERS The 110 people that Lupiano has counted on his list of former Colonia High School graduates have been. This is also great news for all former students who attended and staff to work at CHS since it opened back in 1968., McCormac said they sympathize with anyone who has experienced brain tumors and brain cancers, especially those who lost loved ones to the terrible disease, but there is no cause-and-effect relation between those illnesses and the buildings or grounds at CHS.. I just felt like there were a lot of unanswered questions regarding the school, Komorek told NJ Advance Media. Woodbridge Township is paying T&M Associates $221,350 to do the radon testing. Dating back decades, newly detailed reports of more than 100 cases of brain tumors among former students and staff at Colonia High School in Woodbridge have raised obvious concerns. All Rights Reserved. Also, just on Monday Gov. The brain tumor cases, appearing over a thirty-year period, are a significant medical mystery that has caused alarm for experts. Luciano has reported his findings to Colonia High School. Rohit Ranjan. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Primary brain tumors are tumors that originate in the brain, as opposed to secondary tumors which start somewhere else and then spread to the brain. Some are the most awful worst kinds of brain cancer. 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