It was a questionnaire from environmental advocates asking residents in his Charleston, W.Va., neighborhood if they had ever been injured or sick, including cancer, by due to exposure to ethylene oxide – gas, produced by nearby chemical production plants, that federal agencies have said is linked to many types of cancer.
Flint looked over plants, one of which stood less than 750 feet away. It was the first time she wondered how safe they were or whether her cancer could be linked to exposure to potentially dangerous chemicals.
It was just part of life in this valley. There’s plants everywhere,” said Flint, 64, who has lived there for about 30 years. I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was safe. Obviously, it wasn’t.”
This month, Flint filed a lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court against a subsidiary of Dow Chemical’s Union Carbide and several other companies that make the gas, which is often used to clean medical equipment. A growing number of lawsuits are taking on companies that release what plaintiffs say are dangerous levels of the odorless, colorless gas that has been linked to many types of cancer.
The lawsuit filed by Flint – who believes that the gas caused his incurable myeloma – claims that the companies “harmfully, negligently, dangerously and carelessly produced ethylene oxide gas” during the production, storage and transport of matter caused high pressure throughout the area. . Meanwhile, several environmental groups have sued the Environmental Protection Agency in federal court, arguing that the March revision of the state’s emissions standards does not do enough to protect citizens from pollution. cause cancer, including ethylene oxide.
“Over the years, there has been no public education, by government agencies or anyone, to advise people of the dangers of being in an environment where there are many toxic molecules. from these plants every day,” said Stuart Calwell. Environmental attorney representing Flint. “If you choose to keep those molecules, hazardous materials in your possessions, you are responsible if any of them get out.”
In a statement, Union Carbide Corp. it said facilities in the area continue to operate in accordance with all their permits and have taken steps to reduce ethylene oxide emissions “below their currently safe levels.”
“UCC has successfully litigated these matters already in West Virginia” and “is prepared to defend this false complaint,” the company said.
Calwell said the Flint case is the first of more than two to be filed by local residents with claims related to cancer or other health issues, including Parkinson’s disease. At least 200 other people have been investigated by his legal team.
Kelly McCown grew up in the Flint area and has lived in the area for over twenty years. When she was 16, McCown learned that her severe period symptoms were due to polycystic ovary syndrome – cysts on her ovaries – and that she was also has cysts in her breast.
“I’d say I’m a rock,” said the 44-year-old, laughing about cysts and common kidney stones. Doctors recently found cysts in his liver.
The doctors told her that it would be difficult to get pregnant. Worried that nearby chemical plants could affect his health, he said, doctors even suggested he consider moving. Now, McCown, working with Calwell, says he is about to file a lawsuit against the same group of companies.
Current EPA standards for all air toxics limit the acceptable lifetime risk of cancer to 1 in 1 million people. A mapping tool from the EPA shows that the cancer risk for residents in the Flint area was 300 in 1 million in 2020. The risk was 200 in 1 million in 2018, the year Flint who received his diagnosis.
The Biden administration says the revised standards are expected to reduce ethylene oxide production by more than 90 percent, and also reduce cancer risks. The administration estimated that the standards would put the risk of cancer from ethylene oxide at or above 1 in 1 million — a reduction from about 7.2 million people to 6.3 million — but advocates they say that doesn’t go far.
“That’s not really consistent with the EPA’s obligation to reduce the number of people at risk of such cancer,” said Abel Russ, senior counsel at the Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog group. Lawyers are likely to challenge the EPA, saying the agency has failed to reduce ethylene oxide emissions and protect people from cancer.
“You can reduce emissions further, and it’s important that you do, because this legislation will leave about 6 million people at risk,” said Russ, who is also director of the Center for Applied Environmental Science.
Addressing ethylene oxide is a priority for the EPA, said agency spokesman Remmington Belford. Although the agency cannot comment on pending cases, he said, it is “liaising with air agencies to share information with the public about the risks of long-term exposure.” [ethylene oxide] in the outer air and provided technical support to air organizations as part of this work.”
Long-term exposure to ethylene oxide can increase the risk of various types of cancer, including breast cancer, leukemia and lymphoma, according to the EPA. It is also associated with developmental problems, miscarriage and other reproductive outcomes.
The gas is dangerous to humans even at low levels.
The North Charleston community “was known as ‘Cancer Bottom’ for a while,” McCown said. Both his grandparents, who lived in the area, died of cancer.
“We didn’t realize it was that dangerous,” McCown said. allowed to do anything to harm anyone.
Flint was devastated when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. He received stem-cell therapy and will have to undergo chemotherapy for the rest of his life. Multiple myeloma “eats holes in your bones,” he said, explaining why he gets monthly shots to strengthen them.
He said he was worried about having other cancers and realized that two of his neighbors had died of cancer in recent years. “I hate the fact that I have to live this life. It’s not fun,” he said.
A 2023 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that more than 14 million people live within five kilometers of ethylene oxide emissions. About 60 percent of those people identify as people of color, and 31 percent are low-income.
In June, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that ethylene oxide levels across parts of Louisiana were routinely underestimated by the EPA’s testing equipment, leaving the community at greater risk of cancer than expected. when considered first. Hopkins researchers found that average levels in some areas were 10 times the EPA’s accepted cancer risk for lifetime exposure.
The EPA’s risk model is based on estimates reported by utilities, said senior author Peter DeCarlo, an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. “I think they happen frequently, and often, they’re very large estimates.”
Calwell hopes that lawsuits like the one in Flint will force regulators to consider increasing greenhouse gas emissions, rather than allowing emissions that reach an acceptable level of cancer risk.
Flint said he hopes his suit will help the public understand more about emissions and their potential health risks.
“These plants need to be held accountable,” he said.
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