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HI, The link between strontium-90 from nuclear reactor emissions and childhood cancer presents itself as a realistic hypothesis for study in Toms River, NJ. A cancer cluster in Toms River,
recognized by the Federal Government is located about
10 miles from the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generator in Forked
River, NJ.
The article covers the May 3 public
forum on the Tooth Fairy Project at Ocean County College featuring Alec Baldwin
and Christie Brinkley to the community.
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ASBURY PARK PRESS May 4,
2000
Actor, model want research into radiation By ELEANOR O ‘SULLIVAN- Staff Writer -DOVER TOWNSHIP --Hollywood and high fashion came to Ocean County Collegelast night for health and welfare reasons. Actor Alec Baldwin and super model Christic Brinkley, neighbors in the Hamptons, Long Island, spoke at a public forum yesterday in support of the ‘Tooth Fairy Project," national program that collects and tests baby teeth to determine the number of radioactive particles a mother ingested and transferred to the baby’s bones while pregnant. Baby teeth from Ocean County natives are included in the study, partly due to the invest-igation of elevated levels of childhood cancer in Dover, the presence of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey and decommissioned Bomarc unclear Missile site in Plumsted. Both celebrities expressed dismay at what they see as governmental unwillingness tostudy cancer clusters and the effect of radiation on humans. They live near the closed Shoreham and Brookhaven nuclear power plants in New York. Baldwin urged the audience to lobby Gov. Whitman and legislators for $75,000 in publicmoney to pay for the baby teeth research. He told the audience—"I’m not going to be political in the way I tell you this: - that Oyster Creek, which has been in operation for nearly 31years, is "a filthy, abomination "and that its closing is inevitable and that if the closing is not handled with the highest, degree of professionalism and care, there could be a toll to human life. When I speak to groups like this I am asked "Are you own here to close the nuclear reactor?’ he said. "I understand your concern. The answer is no, I am not here to do that. We’re here to give you more information to, and I don’t want this sound facetious, to better understand your relationship to your reactor." Baldwin linked the baby teeth research to determining the health threat that could be posed by Oyster Creek. He asked audience members to spread The word that baby teeth are needed. It costs $750 to test each tooth, he said, $75,000 would pay for research on 750 teeth. A representative of Oyster Creek could not be reached last night. However, the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, D.C., has said the safety barriers and monitoring used a nuclear power plants assure that any strontium-90 releases are so small as to be undetectable in comparison with the amount of strontium-90 already in the environment. That level, the institute ’says, is well below government limits. Baldwin and Brinkley spoke on behalf of the Radiation and Public Health Project and Standing for Truth About Radiation. They presented their program in the college’s Fine Arts Center and were joined by Joseph Mangano, research director of theTooth Fairy Project, Randy Snellfrom Seeking the Truth About Cancer Clusters, and Robert Alvarez, former senior policy advisor to the U.S. secretary of energy. Alvarez\became a member of STAR four months ago.Alvarez said power plants have a limited life, and keeping them open beyond that is dangerous. Brinkley, drawing parallels between models and nuclear plants, said ‘when model hits 30, that; you’re out. You’re old. So are nuclear reactors." I think as a country are coming to the end of our love affair with the atom." Alvarez said. ‘But the nuclear industry should not be abandoned, by doing that, we would abandon its workers." What we need to do is insist they (power plant operators) put money aside for the decontaminating and decommissioning older plants. "following their presentation, the speakers took questions from the audience. One audience member congratulated Baldwin on his impassioned and articulate resonation and wondered why Baldwin hasn't run for public office." I can’t afford to!" Baldwin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITH GBUR.... egbur@adelphia.net |