A local mother and Fraser's father were given devastating information in 2018 when their toddler their child was confirmed to have a rare type of blood cancer.
An extended period of intensive medical care came next, comprising drug treatments, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy before a stem cell transplant. The young boy, at three years old, made a remarkable improvement from the operation, with physicians declaring the cancer in remission.
As Fraser improved that Gaffney, 36, began seeking explanations. She could not stop thinking about remarks made by hospital staff at the time of her child's illness. “We're tormented wondering how our son got his cancer,” a consultant had shared with her.
“We can't sleep wondering how he got his cancer,” a consultant had informed her.
The improper handling of millions of tonnes of contaminated waste after the cessation of a major industrial facility in this community in 1979 had “always been a known thing,” said Gaffney. A 2009 civil case connected the council’s negligent clean-up of the site to a series of developmental issues in town residents during the 1980s and 1990s.
Over time, the concerned mother started to connect the case to her own. “[The disease] is not inherited,” she said. “What could cause this? … It must be down to the community. So many children [with] the disease.
“Everybody in this town knows somebody who’s got a child [with] illness. That's unusual.”
Alison and Andy started to reach out to more parents in the town with similar stories – among them some of the mother's past schoolmates at Brooke Weston Academy – and the organization began assembling comprehensive documentation on those affected. They now spearhead a campaign representing about many parents with situations of youth disease dating back to 1988.
The group has been pressuring the municipal government to research any connections between instances of youth disease in the town and the decommissioning of the industrial site. In the coming weeks, public health officials are set to publish their analysis of whether the town has had a disproportionate number of instances of youth disease for its inhabitants of 70,000.
“All we want is to work to secure future people so they do not have to endure the hardship that we've endured,” said the mother.
The decision in the court proceeding accepted that, between a fourteen-year period, millions of tonnes of hazardous waste from the steel plant were relocated “typically” from the one area to a designated site in the northern section – with “large quantities” of contaminated substances transported and dropped on community streets and “substantial quantities” of particulate matter created by the cleanup.
However, it also referenced findings from the Environment Agency in 1997 that discovered collections of toxic substances that had been deposited at the site were later extracted in “large quantities”.
The campaign leader believes contaminated materials was not only dumped at the main disposal area but in other parts of the municipality. In recent developments, she applauded a “significant progress” after local authorities said it would analyze land that could be polluted and investigate where hazardous materials was dumped.
Gaffney said council staff confirmed in the discussion that they lacked information where the sites of contaminated waste could be. “They explained: ‘We're uncertain where these areas are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”
The government declaration was also welcomed by another parent, a school staff member at a local school, whose nine-year-old daughter, her daughter, was found to have a hematologic malignancy in June this year.
“I had to shave my young child's hair because her hair was coming out from the medications she had to administer to kill her illness. Therefore it’s in the community's concern, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to share that information,” she explained.
“Countless residents in the town that have been diagnosed with youth disease and It seems it’s too much to ignore – it needs looking at. This isn't typical.”
Meg Lyons, aged thirty-one, who has a professional career and now lives in London, said parents merited “complete and utter truth and transparency” from the government.
Her family member, her sister, died on 24 June 2017 after being confirmed to have a uncommon malignancy at the age of nine. Her sister, who collected money for health organizations, was “one of the most lovable, entertaining and caring” individuals, the sister recalled.
Her family member remembers the effect of the shutdown of the manufacturing site on the town, she stated. “She mentioned you couldn’t put your palm in ahead of you because [of] the particulate matter.”
“This situation has persisted since around about three years old. It's too long and it is irresponsibility toward the local residents.”
Lyons’s cousin, a community member, was part of multiple households participating in the 2009 claim against the then Corby council after her baby was diagnosed with clubfoot. Her partner, her partner, was a member of the vehicle operators involved in removing waste from the industrial site. Their story was portrayed in a media production, and showed Maggie cleaning the dust from her husband’s jeans.
Alison said the collective has been reached out to by individuals with information who were responsible for the dumping of materials in the area.
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