Published in the Ocean County Observer
By MARGARET F. BONAFIDE
Staff Writer
A meeting is scheduled tonight on whether compounds found in Dover Township water cause cancer.
TOMS RIVER -- State and federal health officials will meet tonight to present a draft study on tentatively identified compounds (TICs) that may or may not have promoted cancer in the past.
Gerald P. Nicholls, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Environmental Safety, Health and Analytical Programs, will present the draft report on the TICs which researchers discovered while studying Dover Township's drinking water supply.
"We have been waiting for this for a very long time," said Linda Gillick, chairwoman of the Citizens Action Committee on Chilhood Cancer Cluster (CACCC). Previously unrecognized compounds "should be categorized" and people need to know and "be sure with the scientific knowledge" that "everything that can be done is done" to change or correct the effects of TICs and chemicals that have been found in the water.
"I don't think anybody really knows the health effects of chemicals," Gillick said, adding that technical jargon tends to obscure the reason for the extensive studies keeping water safe for children.
Gillick continues to work with families fighting to survive the various cancers that have stricken their children. Since starting an organization 11 years ago called Ocean of Love, Gillick has worked with more that 200 families, some battling the cancer successfully and others who haven't.
As an infant, Gillick's son, Michael, was diagnosed with metastasized neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system.
Now a 21-year old, Michael and the families in Ocean of Love continue to be the driving force behind Gillick's strength.
"People don't understand what these families go through. That is why it is so important that we get the answers," Gillick said.
"Maybe we have found" the answers to why there is increased childhood cancer in the area, she said. "We have to make sure to prevent what is within our power."
"I think people have become too comfortable and think that this (CACCC) committee of 10 people are the only ones that are responsible to put pressure on the powers that be to get the answers. This is a community that has been affected and it is everyone's responsibility to be active. If the government thinks the pressure is off, they won't move ahead" with the studies to find the answers, she added.
After tonight's meeting, Gillick will travel to Washington D.C. "to speak before the VA HUD congressional subcommittee" tomorrow with Rep. James Saxton, R-3rd. "This subcommittee are the ones that are going to determine if the money is allocated to complete the study for 2001," Gillick said.
Gillick, whose energy may seem tireless to the families who appreciate her efforts, admits it is difficult to carry on the fight at times.
"But, how can you not when you look at the faces of these children who are affected," she said.
Published: April 10, 2000
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