c'est la fin des haricots!

In the tiny town of D'Hanis, there is a ruined catholic mission situated on the lonely prairee. Nestled in its shadow rests the little pioneer cemetary of rough hewn and often broken headstones notable for unique funiary markings peculiar to the early german settlers such as hex signs and statuary. A bell stands at the gate, that I imagine the spirits toll in times of despair. One grave stones tells the story of a young mother who waded through the fridged waters of Seco Creek, carrying her infant child, only to sucumb to the wetness and chill of winter along with the ardures of the journey.

How perfectly ironic?

D'Hanis has flooded again over the weekend. The various ages of the villagers depicted above fit quite nicely into the chronology and frequency of flooding events.

They are all lining up for tetnus shots this morning. After re-challenging the state this morning after learning that the state health services were not acting to do any work to limit further exposure, I chastized several state officials. I will guard the names of my political and agency contacts so they have a chance to rise from their slumber and act with some amount of individual human compassion.

My experience tells me that's not going to happen. Usually, when one challenges the State of Texas forcefully enough, usually the messenger becomes the problem. Unfortunately, today seems no different. The weasels are already loose. You know who you are.

Regrettably, I think I should refer to some of my prior correspondence to protect the people who contacted me out of desperation to get the word out. Me, a gadfly with no power. Pathetic.

August 6, 2001

Texas Department of Health
Office of Regional Program Manager
Cancer Registry, Public Health Region 8
7430 Louis Pasteur
San Antonio, Texas 78229


Re: Occurrence of Cancer in D'hanis, Medina County, Texas


To Whom It May Concern:


I am a citizen of Medina County concerned about a possible cluster of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), whose underlying causal factor might be industrial chemicals, in D'hanis, Medina County, Texas. In the past I have enjoyed the privilege of working with your staff at TDH on other matters.

The existence of as many as four children with leukemia was brought to my attention in early April, 2001. My belief has always been that the random occurrence is usually the most valid explanation for clusters that are observed, and that this is often overlooked. We should not be totally surprised to find one or two cases of leukemia in Medina County generally because the normal incidence of leukemia in the U.S. is 150/100,000 folks. (http://www.uic.edu/com/uhrd/manual/section6/section6.html) However, with respect to the three children with ALL in the small town of D'hanis, it is especially significant that the families effected live a very close distance to one another; they seemingly are vicitims of the same illness, and present it at far beyond the predicted rate of indicence.

This situation is apparently well known to people in this area. Some facts have been reported by last week's Hondo Anvil Herald. I had found out from neighbors. I had asked the TDH representative in Uvalde about a report I had heard about some soil or water testing in D'hanis, since this would require some coordination with other parts of TDH, and she affirmed that this had been passed on to the Region 8 office. To the extent that the details of any investigation is public information, I would appreciate a copy of the final report when it becomes available pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act chapter 552 generally. (§552.001, 552.003(A)(v)).

I find it troubling that between 1973 and 1990, the number of ALL cases in children under age 15 rose by 27%. (http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.50258) This possible cluster exists in an area known for large use of agricultural pesticides. Some types of agricultural chemicals are known to cause cancer. There is a brickworks in D'hanis quite near to these childrens homes. It has been mentioned to me that some chemicals used in the glazing process may be suspect for certain types of cancer. There is an abandoned U.S. Army airbase nearby. A similar facility in the state of Neveda has come under scrutiny lately as a possible source of exposure, which seems siginificant to me in this case. Furthermore, the china plant in near-by Hondo, Medina County, Texas, has been cited mutiple times by U.S. Dept. of Labor for violations involving the release of toxic materials. After my review of the available reports from this agency, and in part from the Cancer Registry Division (CRD), I am concerned that the requests for information about other clusters in Medina County were not handled well enough to answer the questions and concerns from our friends and neighbors who are concerned about these issues.

For example, the 1997 referral to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), which resulted in an inspection of the china plant facility mentioned above, should have resulted in information being sent to CDR for investigation, but never did. After another request to this agency for investigations into the cancer in Medina County, the subsequent reports fromt the staff Epidemiologists from the CDR, dated 12/11/98 and 1/7/99, merely re-state this agencies' boiler plate about natural occurences, etc., the actual reported figures for cancer mortality in Medina County for a period of years prior, and a lament that there are only two available sets of data, which are 1992 and 1995, from which to help make their findings. I have observed that there is now information from 1998 to add to this, but given the admitted fact that CDR has no interest in studying the actual clusters, the focus of these reports seem besides the point.

In this case, I am convinced the the mission of this agency remains most faithfully in the interest of public health. To those most effected by the possible exposure to health hazards, a thorough investigation and detailed report would achieve a great deal. I look forward to being able to know that anything that might be killing young children and destroying families has been identified or ruled out, and that any measures to alleviate any possible problems are underway.

Sincerely,



P___ H__________

PCH:ph


cc: Fr. Wallis J. Stiles
Holy Cross Church
P.O. Box 426
D'hanis, Texas 78850

cc: Texas Department of Health
Cancer Registry Division
1100 West 49th St.
Austin, Texas 78756-3199

EDIT: There are a few people for the state that have indicated their interest in getting to the bottom of this, or at least, push the ball down the field a little. This developement holds promise. I'll keep us posted.