Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505150108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MONTVALE LENGTH: Long
Brown thinks the tank farms are to blame.
``When my son was there, during the warmer months, I could pass by and smell the gasoline really strong,'' she said. ``My son would tell me when he was outside and running, [the gasoline smell] would bother his chest. He kept a lot of colds.''
Brown's oldest daughter, Christie Stephens, said that ever since Jennifer ``started that school, she doesn't look good. She can't stand to go outside and play. She's always out of breath.''
Brown and her family live 4 1/2 miles from the tank farms, but Montvale Elementary is in the midst of them - two farms are next door to the school and four more are across the street. Brown is one of a small group of parents who think their children may have health problems from smelling gasoline vapors.
Gasoline fumes can be harmful or fatal if ingested in large quantities or over long periods. One component of gasoline in particular, benzene, is a carcinogen that has been proven to cause certain types of leukemia in adults.
At very high levels of exposure, benzene destroys bone marrow. It can cause blood cells to stop growing, which weakens the body's immune system. It also can cause cells to grow abnormally, which can lead to leukemia.
In Paw Creek, N.C., where the leukemia rate has been slightly higher than the state average, state toxicologists determined that residents have a marginally higher risk of contracting the disease because of benzene exposure from nearby tank farms.
Paw Creek also has a higher overall rate of cancer than the state average; some residents fear that's the tank farms' fault, too, but most medical experts say benzene has not been proven to cause cancers other than leukemia.
Montvale's cancer rate generally has been slightly higher than other rural communities of similar size and population, according to data from the Virginia Cancer Registry. But that's probably due to Montvale's having an older populace and a high number of cigarette smokers.
As for leukemia, Montvale - with a population of about 1,900 - has had three cases in 10 years, two of which are the type associated with benzene exposure. The national rate for leukemia is two cases per 100,000 people per year.
All of those who contracted the disease in Montvale were more than 50 years old.
``That's a little higher'' rate than one would expect for such a small community, said Dr. Samuel Gross, an expert on benzene exposure and medical director of the Walt Disney Memorial Cancer Center in Orlando, Fla. ``I think it's worth asking the people with the state Health Department to do a survey.''
But, he said, the leukemia cases in Montvale are so spread apart he doesn't think a connection can be drawn to the tank farms.
Dr. K. Wasti, director of the Virginia Department of Health's Bureau of Toxic Substances, said, ``I don't believe you can say it is related to the tank farms. If it was, you'd see a lot more cases.''
The state Health Department has done no studies on benzene exposure from tank farms, Wasti said.
If it did, several questions would have to be answered to put the leukemia and cancer rates in perspective, he said. You'd have to know how long the people lived near the tank farms, how much benzene they were exposed to and whether they were genetically predisposed toward getting leukemia in the first place.
For benzene to cause leukemia, Wasti said, the person would have to be exposed for a long time to high amounts. ``Those levels are not likely to be encountered by someone living near tank farms,'' he said. ``Occupational exposure has been linked, but residential exposure has not been linked to leukemia.''
The question of whether benzene exposure can cause health problems other than leukemia has been controversial all over the nation.
People living near tank farms complain of a wide variety of minor ailments, including breathing difficulties and nosebleeds, which some doctors believe may be related to low-level exposure to gasoline particles in the air and water.
``More is unknown than known, but what is known is, benzene is bad,'' Gross said. ``If kids live [in Montvale] and are exposed [to gasoline fumes], it's a public health hazard. It has to be addressed.''
Montvale residents say they occasionally smell gasoline, usually on hot or humid days or after a heavy rain.
``I've smelled it all times of day ... in the afternoon or sometimes when I come out to go to work in the morning,'' said one Montvale resident whose home overlooks the tank farms. ``I'm concerned about the air pollution. I don't know whether it's good to breathe ethanol or whatever's in gasoline."
Melvin Gordon can see more than a dozen giant white gasoline storage tanks from his yard.
He said he smells gasoline when it's raining or damp. ``It doesn't bother me,'' Gordon said. ``If it did, I wouldn't live here. [But] my boy has troubles all the time with sinuses, sore throats, colds, runny nose, stuff like that.''
One elderly resident who lived near the tank farms for 30 years until she moved to Roanoke, said, ``I have bronchitis or asthma. I didn't have it until about five years ago. It's been better since I moved.''
Does Ed Flowers, Star Enterprise's Montvale terminal manager, worry about benzene exposure? ``No,'' he said. ``I worry about it for other people.'' Star does everything it can to make sure his exposure is limited, he said.
Every three to five years, Star monitors its employees' benzene exposure. Employees wear chemically sensitive badges that detect benzene. So far, Flowers said, he's never had a test show harmful levels.
``Most people get more exposure from benzene living at home than from any other source,'' said Dian H. Boothe, a spokesman for the oil company. There is a background level of benzene present in such common household items as carpets, paint and cigarette smoke, he said.
Boothe allows that there is a correlation between benzene and certain types of cancer, but oil-company studies say living near tank farms doesn't put one at a higher risk for contracting cancer.
``There is no question there are people who don't like the smell [of gasoline] and react with a variety of symptoms,'' said Dr. Bernard Goldstein, director of the New Jersey-based Environmental Health and Occupational Sciences Institute. But there's no proof benzene causes asthma in a healthy person, he said, although asthmatic people probably are more sensitive to gasoline fumes.
Still, he said, ``If the kids are smelling it, it should clearly be of concern.''
Ground will be broken Tuesday for a new Montvale Elementary School. To be completed next year, the school will be about a mile from the old school and out of sight of the tank farms.
Montvale Elementary is moving to get away from the tank farms and the highway, Principal Ron Mason said. It was also more cost-effective to build a new school than to renovate the old one.
``I know there's a better site for a school than here,'' Mason said. But, he adds, ``There were some parents who were more concerned than I was'' about moving the school, because they worried about the proximity of the gasoline tanks and the danger of traffic from the highway.
In the five years he's been there, the school's never had any serious problems from the tank farms, he said.
``I probably smell gasoline in the mornings when the wind's blowing the right way,'' he said. ``But I never thought it was dangerous or bothered me.''
He says he's more worried about the threat of fires and explosions at the tank farms. ``We're not going to be here if that happens.''
Some parents think their children's health problems probably have more to do with the school's leaking roof and failing heating system than the tank farms. Until it was patched recently , the roof leaked dirty water.
Lisa Hackett - whose 9-year-old daughter, Veneta, attends Montvale Elementary - said the tank farms don't worry her.
``I went to school down here and I never heard of any problems,'' she said. ``I have real bad allergies and I don't smell anything. It's the condition of the school that bothers me more.''
by CNB