Public Health Assessment for Evaluation of Cancer Incidence, 1982-2000, and Environmental Concerns Related to the Bird Landfill in Walpole, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Bird, Inc. Landfill, February 15, 2007. MDEP Facility Management File Number: FM

摘要

At the request of the Walpole Board of Health, the Community Assessment Program (CAP) of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Center for Environmental Health (CEH), conducted an evaluation of possible environmental exposures and cancer incidence in relation to the Bird, Inc. Landfill, located on Merchant's Way, southwest of Norfolk Street in West Walpole, Massachusetts. This evaluation was initiated based on community concerns about cancer in the MacDonald Circle and Swan Pond Village neighborhoods, and the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detected in groundwater at the landfill. This project was conducted under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for MDPH to conduct public health assessments in Massachusetts. The investigation reviews available environmental data for the Bird Landfill site and considers potential ways that people may come into contact with contaminants detected in groundwater, surface water, and wetland soils and sediment. The evaluation also looks at the pattern of cancer in Walpole, focusing on residential neighborhoods closest to the landfill. Seven cancer types were evaluated in this investigation: cancers of the bladder, kidney, liver, lung and bronchus, and leukemia, as well as Hodgkin's Disease and mesothelioma. Using data from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry, rates for these cancer types were calculated for the town of Walpole as a whole and for the three census tracts that comprise the town.