Corby Families Searching for Truth Concerning Toxic Waste Areas

A local mother and Andy Hinde faced life-altering news in 2018 when their toddler their child was diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer.

24 months of intensive medical care ensued, involving drug treatments, radiation therapy, and biological therapies before a cellular therapy. The young boy, at three years old, made a remarkable improvement from the procedure, with doctors confirming the cancer in recovery.

During this period that Gaffney, 36, began seeking explanations. She remained troubled by observations made by medical professionals at the time of her child's illness. “It keeps us up at night wondering how he got his disease,” a doctor had informed her.

“We're constantly wondering wondering how he got his illness,” a doctor had told her.

Background Information

The botched disposal of vast quantities of hazardous substances after the cessation of the town's primary employer in Corby in 1979 had “always been a known thing,” said Alison. A 2009 civil case associated the improper remediation efforts of the site to a string of birth defects in local children during the twentieth century.

Increasingly, the concerned mother started to link the situation to her own. “[The disease] is not inherited,” she explained. “So what are the reasons? … It has to be down to the community. So many children [with] the disease.

“Every resident is acquainted with a person who’s got a minor [with] cancer. This isn't typical.”

Collective Efforts

Gaffney and Hinde started to connect with more parents in Corby with similar stories – among them some of Gaffney’s former classmates at a local school – and the group began compiling comprehensive documentation on those involved. They now spearhead a movement supporting about 130 families with cases of youth disease starting from 1988.

The group has been pressuring the municipal government to investigate any links between cases of pediatric illness in this community and the decommissioning of the plant. Soon, public health officials are expected to release their analysis of whether the town has had a disproportionate number of occurrences of pediatric illness for its inhabitants of seventy thousand.

“All we want is to attempt to safeguard coming generations so they can avoid the pain that we've endured,” said Gaffney.

Historical Context

The decision in the 2009 civil claim accepted that, between a fourteen-year period, millions of tonnes of hazardous waste from the manufacturing site were moved “regularly” from the one area to a specific location in the north – with “substantial volumes” of hazardous materials carried and dropped on local thoroughfares and “considerable amounts” of particulate matter generated by the reclamation.

Nonetheless, it also referenced reports from the environmental authorities in 1997 that identified stockpiles of contaminated material that had been deposited at the site were later taken away in “substantial volumes”.

Additional Issues

Gaffney maintains waste was not only dumped at the primary location but in different locations of the community. Recently, she applauded a “major step forward” after local authorities said it would examine ground that could be tainted and investigate where hazardous materials was disposed of.

Gaffney said government representatives acknowledged in the meeting that they did not know where the sites of toxic materials could be. “They stated: ‘We lack information where these areas are. There are no records, there's no data available.’”

Public Endorsement

The government declaration was also embraced by Tonia Shalgosky, a school staff member at a primary school, whose young child, the child, was found to have blood cancer in recent months.

“I was forced to trim my little girl's hair because her tresses was falling out from the treatments she had to use to eliminate her cancer. Therefore it’s in everyone's benefit, it’s in the child's wellbeing [for the council] to share that data,” she stated.

“Numerous individuals in the area that have been diagnosed with childhood cancer and It seems it’s too much to ignore – it demands examination. This isn't typical.”

Individual Accounts

A community member, 31, who is employed in business and now lives in London, said households deserved “absolute honesty and openness” from the government.

The woman's family member, the girl, succumbed on a specific date after being found to have a rare bone cancer at the childhood. The girl, who collected money for cancer charities, was “among the lovable, funniest and compassionate” persons, she stated.

Her parent remembers the consequence of the shutdown of the industrial facility on the town, she said. “She recalled you could not position your hand in before you because [of] the red ash.”

“This has been going on since I’ve probably been about my youth. It’s an excessive amount of time and it is negligence toward the community members.”

Past Associations

A relative, a community member, was part of multiple parents participating in the court proceeding against the then Corby council after her infant was born with a foot condition. Her husband, Derek, was a member of the lorry drivers participating in removing waste from the steelworks. Their story was depicted in a television program, and illustrated the woman beating the particles from her spouse's clothing.

Gaffney said the collective has been reached out to by informants who were involved in the disposal of materials in the area.