Good to know, thank you.

Both NJDEP and EPA are satisfied with the results, as in they do not believe additional sampling is necessary. I would imagine the Township is now on the hook for the this second round sampling.

From my understanding, the type of cancer comes from radiation exposure. There are plenty of radiation exposures in our daily life.

Radon naturally occurs and creeps into home's via cracks in the ground. Woodbridge is not in an area where this would be expected though, where the average is below EPA's 4 pCi/L threshold.

Although concerning and worthy of investigation, it appears, especially after the school tested negative and the general population cancer assessment determined that the cancer numbers are not an anomaly, it does not appear to be a cancer cluster

Edits: spelling

I figured, just want to tag on how much the original round of testing cost the folks of Woodbridge.

Completely agree.

Your fallacy is you will not accept the results. You want there to a a neatly package answer but in all likelihood that is just not going to happen. This is not some fiction novel that conveniently starts with tragedy and ends with a satisfying conclusion.

1 in 3 people get cancer and 1 in 5 die from it. The exact cause can often be evasive because cancer is not responsive as a light switch, it can take years or decades to be found.

Regarding the additional testing, > That kind of follow-up could have the opposite effect, said Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s commissioner of environmental protection, and send “the wrong message” that the suspicions deserved any more resources than what had already been invested.

> One month later, Mayor McCormac echoed this sentiment to me: “It’s frustrating that people who hoped that there was no radiation on the site now are upset that there’s not,” he said. “They asked us to do this, and we did it. We did exactly what they wanted.”

The Township did not hid from this. They did exactly what needed to be done. The issue is folks have a predetermined narrative. The school is toxic and we will not stopping testing until that is proven true.

> When the state health department calculated the number of brain and other nervous system tumors that would be expected among the cohort of students and staff from 1968 to 2021, it concluded it could be up to 120 individuals — just slightly under Mr. Lupiano’s count of about 125 (though he believes his tally is an undercount). At least one epidemiologist I spoke to for this article told me that, just glancing at the numbers, he wasn’t surprised that public officials have determined Colonia was not a true cluster.

From the same article: > The Woodbridge town council spent $221,000 to deploy 83 radon testing devices and conduct radiological testing at the school building and encircling 28-acre campus. Officials also reviewed local data on naturally occurring radioactive deposits and followed up on reports of a radioactive rock discovered in a science classroom in 1997.

This is not to say the original testing was not warranted, it certainly was but what is the point of testing if we do not accept the results?

Here is that article

A link between the cancer cluster and the school has not been established. Could they find something, sure that possibility exists but considering they have preformed a radiation survey and results were negative, more than likely the school is not the issue.

The concern is a cancer cluster folks developing a unique form of cancer. They conducted a radiation survey which came back negative. A parent tested material and soil at the school which came back positive for PCBs and pesticides both of which "are not sources of the ionizing radiation most associated with the occurrence of primary brain tumors". - from the linked article.

I do not understand the mentality that the government must be lying. How does it benefit the mayor to learn a school has an environmental threat to his constituents and his action is to cover it up? The amount of people involved for that to be pulled off is just laughable.

Is there ever a point were you stop and think that maybe the school is not the issue.

Unfortunately, I fear we are past that point and fear mongering has taken over. The only thing the residents will accept is demolishing the school and building another even though it does not provide an answer to your concern, why are folks developing a unique cancer.

Probably upwards of half a billion dollars and it does not stop or answer the question of why there is a cancer cluster some folks have developed a similar form of cancer.

I say this as a parent and someone that works in environmental consulting.

Edit: public officials have determined Colonia was not a true cancer cluster.