The Ilion Project continues to progress, says leader

ILION, June 22, 2010 -- Carrie Firestone said in recent months, the progress of getting somewhere for the Ilion Project is finally going somewhere.

State and local officials are giving more consideration into what could really be happening in Ilion in terms of a potential cancer cluster, she said, especially after the project's task force commissioned their own independent study with Upstate Laboratories, an accredited environmental testing lab.

"They went to people's basements, to the athletic field behind the school and other areas (where there is suspected contamination), and the labs came back with some concerning results," Firestone said.

BACKGROUND

Fore more than a year. Firestone has been canvassing the area of the Village of Ilion in search of answers to what she feels cannot be a coincidence -- an alarming number of people diagnosed with cancer and other debilitating illnesses.

Back in March, Utica Daily News spoke with Firestone and several state agencies that were asked to look into her concerns, which began with her sister's diagnosis of brain cancer. The Ilion native, who now resides in Connecticut, emailed former classmates and said she was floored by the hundreds of responses she got citing cancer and other diseases by the dozen. She decided to conduct her own study, dubbed The Ilion Project.

Ilion is home to Remington Arms, the gun manufacturer rooted in the Mohawk Valley since 1816. Firestone said the Ilion project will look into many environmental concerns, including possible dumping sites in the village used in the past by the gun manufacturer. She suspects there may have been more than one dumping site in Ilion for Remington Arms, including Montgomery Street, Spruce Street, River Street, East Street, and the land that is now home to Remington Elementary School on East North Street.

Read more background BY CLICKING HERE.

FINDINGS THUS FAR

At a June 16 meeting of the Ilion Project task force, the public and area officials were invited to see what findings had been discovered thus far, Firestone said. In a detailed Microsoft PowerPoint report, she and Anne Rabe, a BE SAFE campaign coordinator for the Center of Health, Environment and Justice, presented those findings.

Health complaints of Ilion residents included dozens of cancers, auto-immune diseases and reproductive issues. They presented family trees full of diseases otherwise rare or not genetic. They presented photographs from suspected dumping sites, lined with 55-gallon drums and random rubbish. and they showed the results of Upstate Laboratories tests; which found the following contaminants in soil:

• Lead
• Arsenic
• Selenium
• Cobalt
• Chromium
• Cadmium
• Thallium
• Phenols
• Polynuclear Aromatics

Perhaps most unsettling were tests done on hair samples of someone living near the Duofold site. The woman whose hair sample was taken tested positive for high concentrations of toxins related to the studies done -- lead, arsenic and Polycyclic AromaticHydrocarbons. Furthermore, Firestone said, with the help of Assemblyman Marc Butler (R-Newport), she was able to obtain copies of letters from the New York State Environmental Protection agency and the Department of Environmental Conservation, both who said the sites suspected were cleaned up and acceptable.

"That's not true," Firestone said. "They're not fine. An oil spill they tested for (Polychlorinated Biphenyls), but they didn't test for the other things we are finding. The EPA either didn't know about this document or didn't care to have not mentioned this months ago. The public was told one thing and to our knowledge nothing was ever done. People are getting sick all over the place in this neighborhood. There needs to be a legitimate investigation."

  VIEW INFORMATION AND PHOTOS OF ILION PROJECT TASK FORCE FINDINGS IN IMAGE GALLERY AT RIGHT >>> 

NOW WHAT?

The next step, Firestone said, is to take action and get state agencies to listen when the community reaches out and asks for legitimate testing.

"We need to put together a detailed report and send it out to the DEC, the EPA the (New York State) Department of Health and the (New York State) Education Department. There are two schools in the middle of all this -- Remington Elementary and Ilion High School. How can the DEC walk these sites and not see there's a need for testing? How can they -- in good conscience?"

Firestone said she and the Ilion Project task force will continue advocating their cause -- finding out what, if anything, is making Ilion sick. The task force will make a prominent appearance by marching in the Ilion Days Doo Dah Parade on July 16.

"The Ilion Project is building momentum," she said. "The community is enthusiastic about doing this now."

Anyone seeking additional information about the Ilion Project can visit the Web site at http://theilionproject.ning.com/.