Public Health Assessment (PHA) Findings

 

The PHA draft findings were released to the public on April 13, 2004.  The draft is intended for public review, comments and questions for 60 days after which the Department of Public Health will respond to those questions and comments in a published and final PHA document.  June 8, 2004 is the deadline for submitting questions and comments (In the coming days, we will provide a method for submitting comments, questions on this website.)  On May 13, 2004, the DPH and the Town of Cheshire will host a forum for public comments, a presentation, and a q & a session.

In the coming days, we will provide our analysis and summary of the PHA draft findings.  In the meantime, here’s a sample of what we found interesting:

Confirmed:  Toxic exposure of TCE in the public drinking water supply.  PHA does not conclude whether exposure persisted for 10 years, 16 years, or 30 years because of missing data (PHA page 20).

Confirmed:  Elevated levels of cancer in Cheshire, confirmed with statistical significance (as compared against CT state rates).  The PHA has flagged at least four categories that are elevated with statistical significance:  Female breast cancer, female brain cancer, non-hodgkins lymphoma, and “all ‘invasive’ female cancers” (PHA pages 29-37).

Confirmed:  Unknown risk from Cheshire’s private water supply/wells (pg 26).

Confirmed:  Past known contamination sites in Cheshire (most discovered before 1985) may still be contaminated (PHA page 16).

Confirmed:  Other factors seem to warrant further investigation.  “This type of analysis cannot determine … if an observed increase in incidence in the community is or is not related to a specific environmental contamination [sic]” (PHA page 34).

We strongly urge you to read the PHA findings document.  To download it, please follow these instructions.  You must have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed:

1.    Right-click on the PHA findings document link above.

2.    Select Save Target As or Save Link As (depending on your browser version).

3.    Save the file to your computer (pay attention to where the file gets saved).

4.    Once the file is saved, open it by double-clicking the file's icon or by opening it directly in your browser.