Mayor: Arsenic not linked to Fallon leukemia

Brendan Riley

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The mayor of Fallon, which has been linked to 11 recent cases of childhood leukemia, said Tuesday it's irresponsible to keep pointing to high arsenic levels in local water supplies.

But Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, chairwoman of a legislative committee looking into the cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL, said it's too early to rule out anything as a possible cause.

Mayor Ken Tedford told the Assembly Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining Committee that naturally occurring arsenic is in many of the 4,000 wells in the Fallon area -- including private, city and U.S. Navy wells.

But Tedford said numerous experts have said there seems to be no link between arsenic and leukemia, adding, "I think it is irresponsible for anyone to suggest a link."

Tedford, backed up by a consulting scientist, Dr. Robert Meyer of Shepherd Miller Inc., commented after a federal Environmental Protection Agency scientist testified that high levels of arsenic could make people susceptible to leukemia, by impairing the body's ability to repair chromosome damage.

Dr. Bruce Macler of the EPA said Monday that studies showed arsenic caused such problems in communities in Taiwan, Argentina and Bangladesh -- creating a sort of "toxic background" that could help to trigger diseases such as leukemia.

While Fallon officials sought to turn the discussion away from arsenic -- which exists in area water supplies at levels 10 times the levels allowed under new EPA rules -- de Braga said, "We don't want to rule out anything."

"We want to encourage the idea that all possibilities be looked at," de Braga added as the second day of her committee's hearings into the Fallon ALL mystery concluded.

De Braga also said she isn't completely satisfied with answers to lawmakers' questions from Fallon Naval Air Station officials, who said none of the activity at the base could be linked to the ALL cases.

Navy Capt. David "Roy" Rogers, the base commander, told the committee there have been only a few cases of Navy jets having to dump fuel in emergencies, and a jet fuel pipeline that runs through town en route to the base doesn't leak.

Rogers also promised full cooperation in the state Health Division's efforts to pinpoint the reason for the leukemia cluster, affecting current or former Fallon residents ranging in age from toddlers to a 19-year-old. None of the cases has proved fatal.

Normally, the rate of such cases would be about three in every 100,000 people. About 25,000 people live in Churchill County.