The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an agency I didn’t know existed until right now, had the very unenviable task Monday of informing people in a region of Northwest Pennsylvania that the area is home to a cluster of polycythemia vera (PV), a rare blood cell cancer. The area, about 80 miles outside Philadelphia, is also home to many Superfund sites and a waste-powered coal plant.

People in the 20-mile stretch considered to contain the cluster are four times as likely to develop PV as people in the rest of the country. Though some residents blame the cancer on the waste sites in the area, researchers made clear that that connection had not officially been made.

Researchers cautioned, though, that their investigation was not designed to uncover an environmental link to PV, a cancer that results in the overproduction of red blood cells and can lead to heart attack or stroke. PV’s cause is unknown. “We don’t want to give the message that there are no connections,” said researcher Vince Seaman. “We just don’t have the data.” [Associated Press]

Though the correlative evidence may not be available, this may kind of be like A Civil Action, where proof is hard to get, but the people living there have their theories.

Some residents blame their illnesses on a recycler that accepted hundreds of thousands of gallons of paint sludge, waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide, pesticides and many other known or suspected carcinogens.

That recycler closed almost 20 years ago, and is now a Superfund site. So, yeah, that might have something to do with something. You can takepart and visit the American Cancer Society and learn more about how to reduce your risk. You can also takepart by visiting the Sierra Club and getting in touch with people working to stop waste coal power plants from coming on line.