CROWD FUNDED CANCER TESTS
BELLARINE CLUSTER FEARS
BARWON Heads residents esidents have gone to the extreme treme measure of crowd-sourcing ourcing for their own soil testing sting amid fears 14 deaths s could be linked to a cancer cluster uster on the Bellarine Peninsula. sula.
Newly formed group oup Discovery 3227 has already begun testing soil in the town despite a chief health officer probe last week ek finding that there was as no evidence of any unusual usual spikes of cancer in the he area.
The State Government nment yesterday announced ed it would host a community unity meeting to allay fears, rs, while Gordon Legal has been een contacted by several l families of young locals who died or fell ill from cancer.
BARWON Heads residents will start crowd-funding for extensive soil testing to determine whether dangerous toxins have leached into local parks and soil.
The new group, Discovery 3227, recently ordered soil testing at local football ovals amid persistent fears of a cancer cluster along the Bellarine.
The revelations come weeks after Gordon Legal confirmed it had been contacted by several families of young people who had died or fallen ill from cancer.
All were students at Bellarine Secondary College’s Drysdale campus.
The contamination concerns are linked to the now- banned pesticide dieldrin, which was used across the area decades ago by farmers.
The State Government has repeatedly moved to allay the fears, ordering a Chief Health Officer probe into existing cancer data that found no evidence of a cancer cluster.
But Discovery 3227’s Ross Harrison said the community wanted independent testing.
To date, the group has ordered three self-funded tests of local ovals and parks, but hopes to expand the testing through crowd-funding.
“The testing is being driven by a concern for those we have lost and those searching for answers, regardless of quoted statistics and anomalies,” Mr Harrison said.
“I’ve lived in the township since 1989 and know most of the people concerned.
“It is a relatively small town — it is more intimate and ripples of ill-health are more widely felt.”
Mr Harrison said “whispers” of higher than normal cancer rates had circulated in the community for more than a decade but had only just come to the surface
He said the aim of the group was not to be alarmist but to uncover information.
“The thing is, there is a lack of information,” he said.
“When you don’t have that transparency, when you have to put in freedom of information requests, people will be asking questions.”
He said this prompted the founding of the group, which would look at the Bellarine and areas with a history of dieldrin and other chemical use.
“We will be looking at this areas, at soil samples, wet samples,” Mr Harrison said.
While there was “no smoking gun” regarding toxin levels at the Bellarine Secondary College site, he said locals had a right to be informed.
He said the Government had been “slow to react” and allay the concerns of residents.
“We will be asking questions of what is a safe level and will be starting further discussions,” he said.
“When you see young people dying with cancer that seems to be exotic, that raises questions in the community.
“The answers are not clear and you’d be crazy not to dig.”
The Geelong Advertiser has been told up to 20 former students and teachers have been diagnosed with cancer, with claims as many as 14 have died from the disease.
The Government will host an open house at 13th Beach Golf Links, Barwon Heads Rd, Barwon Heads, from 3-7pm on February 25 to discuss the Chief Health Officer’s report.
“When you see young people dying with cancer that seems to be exotic, that raises questions in the community.” DISCOVERY 3227 SPOKESMAN ROSS HARRISON