Ohio Orders Benzene Tests in "Cleaned Up" Oil Spill Neigborhood
When a local oil refinery changed hands in 1970, residents of a small Ohio neighborhood learned that an oil pipeline had been leaking under their homes for 50 years.
"In the 70s, you could go in any of theses houses and it smelled like you poured kerosene or gasoline on everything in the house. When we dug down about five feet, that product [oil] would be there," Larry Brown, a resident, told Ohio's 10TV News.
In the same year residents noticed a layer of oil floating on nearby Ramp Creek.
From 1975-81 the EPA began a clean up of near 400,000 gallons of petroleum, but that was a drop in the bucket in this heavily contaminated area. The underground oil slick spans 350 acres and flows directly under 40 homes
In 1989 the city of Heath informed the EPA that oil was seeping into their sewer system.
In 1990 the EPA took Ashland, the current owner of the refinery, to court. The result was a mandate for Ashland to clean up the area.
This year the Ohio Dept. of Health asked the EPA to conduct a study looking for benzene in the area. Underground concentrations of the carcinogenic petrochemical can cause vapors to be released above ground, and to seep into people's homes through basements, and plumbing.
Benzene is known to cause an array of blood diseases and cancers such as aplastic anemia, myelodysplatic syndromes, acute myelogenous leukemia, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The benzene study began this week and tests of 12 sites have not detected any "immediate health threats."
Benzene Leukemia Law Blog would like to point out that because benzene is an additive in petroleum products, and the area sits atop a massive oil slick, it is unlikely that no risk of exposure exists in the area.
Studies strongly suggest that even minimal exposure to the chemical, over time, is detrimental to health.
Locals complain of high cancer rates in the area.
"I have two daughters - the oldest one is 49 - she has leukemia, she is in remission. My youngest daughter is 47. She had cancer of the stomach." Ralph McCoy told 10TV News.
McCoy himself has survived cancer, and lost his wife to cancer.
According to 10TV News, Dept. of Health Records show five complaints regarding cancer near the refinery since 2007.
As mentioned earlier, benzene causes some very specific diseases such as aplastic anemia, myelodysplatic syndromes, acute myelogenous leukemia, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, to name a few. If you or a loved one suffer from any of the above, you should asses the possibility that you have been exposed to benzene, and contact a benzene attorney.
