Newsday on Montel

[Andy Hull <hull@mail.sep.bnl.gov>]

Although I hesitate to burden you all more than I may have already
concerning BNL's afflictions, it's encouraging that our most widely read
Long Island daily, Newsday has provided some balanced reporting on it. Your
recent messages of support/shared outrage (which I have shared with our
Public Affairs office and with Bob Casey) are most appreciated.
Andy
S&EP-BNL
Upton, NY 11973
Ph.  516-344-4210
Fax  516-344-3105


>X-Sender: deitz@mail.sep.bnl.gov
>Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 09:07:41 -0500
>To: esh_coords@mail.sep.bnl.gov
>From: John Deitz <Deitz1@bnl.gov>
>Subject: Newsday on Montel
>
>I've noticed a very different tone in the stories in Newsday since Charlie
>Zehren has been reporting on the lab instead of Liam Pleven.  I only wish
>they had brought him in earlier.
>
>
>`Montel' Takes On Brookhaven Lab
>
>By Charlie Zehren. STAFF WRITER; Jordan Rau contributed to this
>story.
>
>
>    Ratcheting up their campaign against Brookhaven National Laboratory,
>opponents will appear on Montel Williams' syndicated talk show today to
>suggest there is a link between pollution at the lab and rare childhood
>cancers in the area.
>    But a State University at Stony Brook researcher said there is no
>evidence that the incidence of the cancer is higher around the Upton
>facility, and lab officials said the show is "fear mongering at its
>worst."
>    The show  -  taped several weeks ago and slated for broadcast today
>at 2 p.m. on WWOR-9  -  is hosted by Williams and features as one of its
>guests actor Alec Baldwin, who is leading a campaign to force the
>federal government to conduct independent studies to prove that there is
>no link between cancer on Long Island and low-level radiation emanating
>from the lab.
>    The most emotional moment in the program comes when 8-year-old
>Kenneth Hughes of Mastic Beach describes what living with cancer has
>been like.
>    "I know a lot of adults have said to you what they think has caused
>this. Why do you think you have cancer?" Williams asks the boy.
>    "Brookhaven Lab," he responds, quivering next to his mother, Debra,
>after telling the rapt studio audience all he wants is to have a little
>fun in life.
>    Scientists at the lab reacted with consternation and outrage after
>learning of the thrust of the show. They asserted that they would never
>risk the health of themselves, their families and their community, and
>noted that researchers at the facility have led the way in developing
>new cancer treatments.
>    "In accusing BNL of causing cancer, activists may inadvertently
>prevent the identification of the real causes, which will be essential
>for the future protection of our children," said John Shanklin, a lab
>biochemist and leader of Friends of Brookhaven.
>    BNL interim director Peter Bond said he was "very disappointed" with
>the show because it "seems to give credence to unsubstantiated claims .
>. . This is fear mongering at its worst."
>    On the tape provided by the show yesterday, Baldwin  -  who has a
>home in East Hampton  -  invoked his involvement with the anti-lab group
>STAR  -  Standing for Truth About Radiation  -  and joined Williams in
>claiming that circumstantial evidence shows pollution from the lab is
>causing rare childhood cancers.
>    Also appearing to attack the lab were Helen Caldicott, an Australian
>anti-nuclear activist, and attorney Jan Schlictmann, whose legal work on
>behalf of the residents of Wodburn, Mass., is documented in the
>bestseller "A Civil Action."  The residents accused two large chemical
>companies of polluting their drinking water and causing cancer in their
>children.
>    But most of the hourlong show features the heart-wrenching tales of
>toddlers living near the lab dying of cancer. Images of horribly sick
>kids  -  including the late Zachary and Lucas Powell of Brentwood  -
>flash across the screen as Williams and Baldwin discuss unproven links
>between eight cases of rare rhabdomyosarcoma and activities at the lab.
>    Despite the opponents' claims, repeated studies by federal, state
>and local government groups and independent agencies have failed to
>reveal any link between the lab's activities and cancer.
>    Dr. Roger Grimson, the chairman of a task force created by the
>Suffolk Legislature to evaluate cancer concerns about the lab, said
>yesterday that task force found rhabdomeyosarcoma was less frequent in
>Suffolk County than in Nassau or the rest of the state.
>    The task force's draft report, to be released next week, reports
>that between 1979 and 1993, Suffolk's annual rate was 4.1 cases per 1
>million people, less than 5.6 cases per 1 million in Nassau each year
>and 5.3 million statewide annually.
>    "There is no cluster of rhabdomeyosarcoma in Suffolk County or in
>the lab," said Grimson, a State University at Stony Brook scientist.
>
>
>Copyright 1998, Newsday Inc.
>`Montel' Takes On Brookhaven Lab., pp A33.
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