Families Against Cancer & Toxics
Stop cancer before it starts
September 20, 2009
SIERRA VISTA AZ CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA CLUSTER
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) led the cluster investigation, in cooperation with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the ATSDR, and the Cochise County Health Department.
Dr. Tim Flood of ADHS defined a "case" as a child between the ages of 0 and 14 diagnosed with leukemia while residing in Sierra Vista. The official number of cases for the Sierra Vista cluster was 13, plus 5 cases in children linked to Sierra Vista. Two of the linked cases are families who lived in Sierra Vista for years, but moved and were diagnosed in another community a few weeks later. The third linked child lives in another city but visits Sierra Vista on weekends and holidays to see her father. Dr. Flood chose not to include teenagers because he thinks we are less likely to learn causation because there is a longer latency period, and more "confounding" factors like carcinogenic exposures from working on a car, or from smoking. Case definitions are not standardized in the United States; in the Fallon childhood leukemia cluster, the Nevada public health officials defined a case as a child from 0-19 who resided in Fallon prior to diagnosis. This lack of standardization led to the unfortunate predicament for Annastacia Warneke's family, who moved from Sierra Vista to Fallon, and were not covered by either case definition.
Timeline
YEAR CASES LINKED
1995 0 1
1996 0
1997 1
1998 2
1999 1
2000 1 1
2001 3
2002 0 2
2003 3
2004 0 1
2005 0
2006 1
2007 1
Total 18 children
Source: AZ Cancer Registry
*these are the children with ties to Sierra Vista, but who were diagnosed elsewhere.
January 2001: Tricia Olma, a Tucson mother of a girl with leukemia, noticed an unusually high number of families from Sierra Vista with a child in active treatment, and requests it be looked into.
June 2001: A nine-month old baby from Sierra Vista died of leukemia in Tucson. University of Arizona Professor Mark Witten learned of three cases of childhood leukemia in Sierra Vista and began an independent investigation, which he financed himself.
August 2001: Arizona officials confirmed six cases of leukemia in Sierra Vista, one short of a statistical cluster, but declined to include Anna Warneke in their totals because she moved two weeks before diagnosis. Warneke showed symptoms of the disease before leaving Sierra Vista for Fallon.
Nov. 15, 2001: Jessica Durkit, 2, of Sierra Vista, was diagnosed with leukemia.
January 20, 2002: Dr. Witten held public forum in Sierra Vista, announcing that he wiould extend his Fallon leukemia cluster research efforts to Sierra Vista.
January 24, 2002: Dale Durkit, Jessica's father, saw a television news show stating that Sierra Vista won't be a cluster without seven official cases. He called the news station and invited them to the hospital to meet his daughter, the case that confirmed a statistically-significant cluster.
September 20, 2002: 9th child with leukemia announced
September 23, 2002: Congressman Kolbe requested CDC investigation.
September 29, 2002: Dr. Tim Flood of the Arizona Cancer Registry interviewed about the Sierra Vista cluster.
October 27, 2002: Environmental assessment of Sierra Vista performed, and results announced.
November 2002: KOLD -TV special report Address of Cancer
November 24, 2002: A rare cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma was found in Sierra Vista, Fallon, and two other communities with leukemia clusters.
January 2003: A public health team visited five Sierra Vista families in their homes to listen to their concerns. They apologized for state inaction, and promised to research each of their concerns and reply. It took until March 2004 for the reply.
January 2003: 10th child Susan Taylor diagnosed with leukemia.
May 2003: FACT was created when five Tucson parents with a child with cancer meet to discuss their concerns and frustrations with the Sierra Vista leukemia cluster, and agreed to form an organization to encourage better research into Sierra Vista and childhood cancer causation in general.
June 23, 2003: 23-year-old Dawn Harvey died of leukemia. She was not included in the official cluster, as they are only studying children diagnosed between birth and age 14.
August 2003: 11th child with leukemia announced
August 14, 2003: Sierra Vista economic development leaders discussed the economic ramifications of the leukemia cluster, and steps they needed to take to ensure Ft. Huachuca would not be closed in the next BRAC process. Water company CEO Judy Gignac and Team Cochise accused UA researcher Dr. Mark Witten of "using anything he can to obtain a large federal grant to continue his work with possible leukemia cluster" read full article. [Note: FACT applauds Dr. Witten's research. He has been a true champion for the families of Sierra Vista, Fallon, Sacramento and elsewhere.]
October 24-25, 2003 CDC staff met with ADHS staff to discuss the three new cases and the scientific approaches to investigating leukemia clusters.
October 30, 2003: 12th child with leukemia announced. Tiesha had asked her OB/GYN if it would be safe to move to Sierra Vista and start a family, given the possible leukemia danger, and had been reassured that the risk was minuscule. They moved to Sierra Vista, but when her daughter MJ was 17 months old she was diagnosed with ALL. Their story raises serious questions of whether it is safe to raise children in Sierra Vista.
October 31, 2003: Dr. Tim Flood of ADHS emailed six questions to the CDC, which are researched, answered [1.22 MB], and forwarded to Congressman Kolbe on January 6, 2004.
December 5, 2003: Dr. Witten receiveed Gerber grant.
February 19, 2004: Susie Taylor relapsed.
February 2004: CDC team visited Sierra Vista, announces biomonitoring, answered questions. CDC and ADHS met with FACT co-founder Terry Nordbrock, who presented a list of FACT's concerns and expectations for the visit.
April 2004: FACT calls for more definitive JP-8 jet fuel exposure testing
in the Sierra Vista leukemia cluster investigation than was done in Fallon.
May 2004: CDC reply:they don't like to use the EPA-developed JP-8 jet fuel exposure tests, but will develop their own methodology to measure for a JP-8 signature in time for the Sierra Vista biomonitoring.
August 2004: Cochise County announced new leukemia cluster webpage.
August 30, 2004: Susan Marie Taylor lost her battle with leukemia.
September 17-19 2004: FACT held cluster forum and advocates conference
November 7, 2004: Families help test sampling process
December 26, 2004: AP update article
February 7, 2005: Drought may be a factor
May 11, 2005: FACT requested an update on better ways to measure JP8 jet fuel exposure, and received CDC reply.
May 16, 2005: CDC bio-sampling taking place at last. Only four case families are being sampled. Read FACT's letter protesting excluded children.
May 18, 2005: Biosampling process nearing its end SV Herald, 5/18/2005.
May 18, 2006: For the Kids: Since government agencies often ignore or dismiss disease clusters, parents and scientists are taking matters into their own hands Tucson Weekly.
September 13, 2006: CDC again postponed Sierra Vista meeting
November 23, 2006: CDC to reveal SV leukemia study findings next week Sierra Vista Herald.
December 1, 2006: CDC Scientists Remain Mystified After Three-Year Sierra Vista Study Arizona Daily Star.
January 20, 2007: Lily Mae Doyle passed away
March 1, 2007: 12th local child leukemia case confirmed Sierra Vista Herald.
Related documents
CDC Biosampling Results and Report on Sierra Vista Cluster November, 2006. Sierra Vista case children and residents had elevated levels of tungsten, styrene, and PCB 52. CDC was particularly interested in SUOX genetic findings.
Sierra Vista Child Leukemia Assessment: 2006 Update AZ Department of Health Services, December 2006. Notes that Sierra Vista has an unusually high number of girls diagnosed with leukemia, and a higher number of cases in children born 1994-1995.
Environmental study of Sierra Vista Prepared by Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Environmental Health (with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry). Lists 42 toxic sites on Ft. Huachuca, predominantly petroleum hydrocarbons, one of which is benzene which is known to cause leukemia in occupational settings.
Environmental update 38 of the 42 contaminated sites on Ft. Huachuca have been remediated. Remaining sites include a 200-foot deep mineshaft with unexploded munitions.
CDC's very interesting second reply [1.22 MB] to Congressman Kolbe's request for study. They include their answers to Dr. Flood's questions about how to best proceed with the investigation. January 2004.
Cochise County Health Department's leukemia cluster webpage.
February 12, 2004 Tucson Weekly article "Cancer Wars: An abnormal number of kids in Sierra Vista are getting leukemia. Why does the government insist that it's probably just a coincidence?"
