Statement On #pfas with Fire Fighter Testimonies to House Committee on Energy & Commerce May 15, 2019
HEARING ON “PROTECTING AMERICANS AT RISK OF PFAS CONTAMINATION & EXPOSURE”
May 12, 2019
The Honorable Paul Tonko
Chairman, Subcommittee of Environment and Climate Change
2369 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable John Shimkus
Ranking Member, Subcommittee of Environment and Climate Change
2217 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Tonko, Ranking Member Shimkus, and Honorable Committee Members,
My name is Diane Cotter. I am an accidental advocate for firefighters PFAS exposure.
I have not come here to tell you about toxic smoke and products of combustion. You all have a firefighter in your family, so you know. I am here to tell you about the greatest deception ever.
I’d like to tell you about products of deception, used in our turnout gear, and how the manufacturers that embrace us, knew of this carcinogen, immersed themselves in every aspect of firefighter cancer, financed firefighter cancer symposiums, financed firefighter cancer research, financed memorials to fallen firefighters, and sat as voting members of firefighter turnout gear standards set by the NFPA, and yet, never once mentioned their chemical PFOA used in staggering amounts to make our gear waterproof.
Four years ago my firefighter husband was stricken with career ending cancer. His diagnosis led to the discovery that the carcinogen PFOA has been used in the coatings of firefighter turnout gear for 20 years.
This discovery was not made by a government organization, it was not found by NFPA, EPA, CDC, OSHA, ACC, or any group involved with firefighter safety.
It was discovered when I sent a set of new never-worn turnout gear to nuclear physicist,
Dr Graham Peaslee of Notre Dame University. The amounts of PFOA and other long chain
PFAS are staggering in numbers. Thousands of times higher than the newly released MRL for PFOA in water. (Test results attached.)
The manufacturers deny knowledge of this carcinogen. DuPont, who makes the fabric and the coatings, denies use of PFOA. While DuPont tells us they have ceased using PFOA in the manufacturing process, they do not tell us the ‘precursor’ used will form PFOA in ‘hours to days’.
Professor Peaslee has discovered a textile signature PFAS that forms PFOA and PFOS as it oxidizes. With the help of fellow supporters and an ‘underground’ network of firefighters who seek the truth, and with funding granted by Last Call Foundation Honoring Firefighter Michael Kennedy in Boston, Professor Peaslee is now testing 20 years’ worth of new, never-worn and decommissioned turnout gear. He has worked on this project for over a year pro-bono.
He is about to reveal the results of his work.
I am privilege to those results.
The fire service has been poisoned.
poi·son
/ˈpoiz(ə)n/
verb
past tense: poisoned; past participle: poisoned
administer poison to (a person or animal), either deliberately or accidentally.
His results will confirm our worst fears and more. There was also a fire station ‘dust’ study performed in conjunction with our PPE study. Those results are just as shocking and concerning.
With no regulations in place, we have no requirements to study if PFOA/PFOS is been absorbed through our skin while we have been wearing this carcinogen for a 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 year career.
My husband’s cancer came in his 27th year. We were told his tumor had been growing for almost ten years. A firefighter’s body heats up and absorbs the particulates through skin like a sponge.
We cannot mitigate against a risk if we do not know it was there. We did not. But DuPont sure did.
Without EPA regulations the chemical giants have been able to protect shareholder value at the expense of America’s Bravest. The Stewardship Program has been a catastrophic failure to us. DuPont is one of the 8 signers of the PFAS ‘pinky-swear’. While able to technically say they do not use PFOA in the making of the threads or coatings of our gear, they do not say “but we do use a precursor that will form PFOA and PFOS in hours to days”.
I cannot fathom a more heinous omission.
They say if it is there it would be in ‘trace’ amounts as a byproduct of production. They make sure we only look at products of combustion, we have never once looked at the products of deception.
Until my husband’s cancer.
With no knowledge of this threat, he took no precaution. He and his 1.4 million brothers and sisters, wear their turnout gear daily, touch the gear, the face, the mouth, we store it in our vehicles and wrap our children in it for photos. The gear has been degrading in our stations for twenty years. The PFAS adheres to the dust in the fire house we ingest this daily.
Per nuclear physicist, Dr Graham Peaslee, “There are exposure routes to PFAS through AFFF and gear”. I’d like to remind those reading, our exposure is cumulative; daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.
Please understand the amounts of PFAS used to make FF turnout gear are staggering. Nothing like the amounts used in ‘water resistant clothing’. The amounts used in turnout gear are more in
line with industrial strength for outdoor construction materials withstanding years of outdoor use.
In addition, firefighters have been omitted from the National PFAS Study that has been awarded to the military and water affected communities. ATSDR states because firefighters are ‘occupationally exposed’ it does not suit their criteria for a ‘water’ study. Omitted even with bipartisan support of the Senate and House, as well as a 47 page letter from Environmental Attorney Robert Bilott and a petition signed by 10,000 firefighters.
Please accept this petition to include firefighters in the National PFAS Study funded by DoD for CDC/ATSDR, signed by 10,000 firefighter families:
We have no seat at the PFAS table. There is no urgency for firefighters, no agency coming to our fire stations to check on our water. We have no one to ask about studies. We have nowhere to gather as a community to discuss our cancers and our concerns if in fact the gear we wore is the cause of our cancers. There are 58,000 fire stations going unchecked.
There is no national protocol for testing fire stations in the USA to test for PFAS from years of training and/or storage of AFFF. With 58,000 fire stations in the nation we have no one sounding the alarm to the firefighters that live in these stations. Only the state of New Hampshire sounded the voluntary alarm in October of 2017: https://www4.des.state.nh.us/nh-pfas-investigation/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Fire_Department_H20Sample.pdf
I have contacted EPA, CDC/ATSDR at least 20 times on this. There has been one reply from EPA Region One RA stating she was seeking contacts for me. The emails stopped being responded to.
I received word from Commander Kenny Fent CIH, NIOSH, who expressed concern and advised NIOSH was performing some tests. Yet, this is not happening fast enough, and no one is sounding the alarm.
September 5, 2017, Attorney Robert Bilott along with Fire Chief Jeffrey Hermes and C8 Science Panel member Dr Paul Brooks, notifies EPA, CDC/ATSDR, and US Attorney General (then) Jeff Sessions, that he will sue the US Government ‘and others’ if first responders are not provided with PFAS Testing and Studies.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3988104-Firefighter-Letter.html
One year later, in September 2018, Attorney Bilott would send a 45 page letter to CDC/ATSDR challenging them for the omission of firefighters completely from the National PFAS Study due to occupational exposure. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/27/2018-18446/proposed-data-collection-submitted-for-public-comment-and-recommendations
To restrict this study to drinking water exposures, any adult occupationally exposed to PFAS will not be eligible for the study (i.e. ever firefighters or in chemical manufacture). Likewise, children whose birth mothers were occupationally exposed will not be eligible.
In October 2018, Attorney Bilott would file a nationwide class action suit on behalf of every man, woman, and child in the nation. His plaintiff is Fire Chief Kevin Hardwick. Who was exposed to PFAS without his consent or knowledge via AFFF and PFAS coated turnout gear:
Per the Fox Biomonitoring study of 2015, Firefighter PFOA levels are 3 times higher than the national average. From a … ‘yet unknown source’.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4274322/
PFOA causes testicular cancer. Please take a look at our cancer stats, look closely at TC: https://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FF-Cancer-Fact-Sheet.pdf
DuPont knew this in 1992 from their own testing : http://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-content/pesticides/effect.pfos.class.timeline.htm
In 2005 the UAW Union sent out 4000 letters advising DuPont and W.L. Gore that they had a ‘duty to warn the end user’ that their products contained PFOA. See full report: http://www.ohiocitizen.org/campaigns/dupont_c8/marketreport.pdf
That warning never came.
In 1990 another issue began that we would not realize how significant this would become until thirty years later with the discover of PFOA used in turnout gear.
The members of FEMSA Fire & Emergency Manufacturers Association lobbied for and won the right to not put warning labels in our gear. To solidify that, this group, whose members also sat on NFPA 1971 then wrote the NFPA 1971 standard that a ‘warning label’ would not be used as it could lead to a ‘industry stopping crisis’. Instead we now have a product label telling us how to care for our gear. https://www.femsa.org/whois_femsa/history/
And, in 2006 DuPont lobbied California to NOT put PFOA and PFOS on their Proposition 65 register.
https://oehha.ca.gov/media/downloads/proposition-5/presentation/pfoapresentationall121206.pdf
This is significant as the 2004 new, never-worn gear tested by Dr Graham Peaslee, Professor of Physics of Notre Dame, showed PFOA thousands of times higher than the newly released MRL for PFOA in water (see attached test results from Dr Peaslee).
In February 2006, DuPont’s Susan Stalnecker (DuPont VP and Treasurer sent this ‘urgent’ email to DuPont people regarding ‘scripting’ she wished to convey to the EPA. https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/chemical/docs/?fbclid=IwAR19PD3Y5XpbFATkScapovzjsys2X4rMzp38y4KgZI_aOQbKW8M5pa2Bjxg#id=jppw0228 This concerns me gravely. It states she will be asking ‘Chad’ to reach out to ‘Steve Johnson’. Steve Johnson was Administrator of the EPA from 2005 to 2009. The familiarity of a DuPont executive to send an urgent letter to advise the EPA what to say about PFOA is astonishing. If the EPA did heed the script I do not know.
Earlier still, from 1977 is the ‘NIOSH Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to the Decomposition Products of Fluorocarbon Polymers’
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/77-193/default.html
It’s now forty years later. Federal government is still telling us we are occupationally exposed. And still not taking any action to protect us. In fact, the government is blocking us from protection. Will not provide the studies we need and will not see us as a impacted community.
With the August 2018 release of the ATSDR Toxilogical Profile on PFAS we are listed as Occupationally Exposed. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp200.pdf
p. 536, ATSDR Tox Profile
Occupational Exposure: “Individuals who perform jobs that require frequent contact with perfluoroalkyl-containing products, such as individuals who install and treat carpets or firefighters, are expected to have occupational exposure to these substances.”
Environmental Impact from PPE.
No regulations meant no one was watching the landfills where we dump our PPE:
Professor Graham Peaslee has end-of-life concerns for the textile footprint of PFAS which makes up 36% of the fluoro-industry sales. He provided me this information before I spoke at the January 2019 Stakeholder Statement at MassDEP PFAS MRL Petition by Toxics Action Center and Conservation Law Fund:
Diane, we don’t know how much of the PFAS coating in a jacket will degrade into PFOA, and how much will degrade into other PFAS unfortunately. I do know the timescale on textiles like turnout gear will be on the order of a decade or two before it all decomposes. And I do know from literature (attached) that the majority of clothing will decay in PFOA compared to other PFAS…maybe 50–60% will end up as PFOA. This leads to a scary amount of PFOA in a typical landfill leachate.
So to get you something more concrete, I went back to the measurement of the new turnout gears, that had 116 ppm of PFOA that was readily available from the material on the jacket. I am guessing 95+ % remain on the jacket, but this was what would come off immediately if you soaked the jacket in water for a couple days. I went to the internet and looked up how much material is in a men’s jacket, and it is about 3 yards x 45 in wide fabric or 1620 inches squared. Then I weighed a piece of jacket fabric in my lab from Boston FD, and I calculate about 730 g of fabric per jacket. (This is under 2 lbs, which seem a little light, but there is a lt of reinforced cloth and buckles on a typical jacket that probaly gives it a few more pounds, but no more PFAS.) If there are 730 g of fabric per jacket and there are 116 ppm PFOA per gram, then you end with about 85 mg of free PFOA per jacket. This may not seem like much, but if you tossed two jackets into an Olympic-sized swimming pool (with 660,000 gallons of water), this amount of PFOA would exceed the 70 parts per trillion EPA standard for drinking water! This is without decaying in a landfill 20 years. Imagining pants are about the same as a jacket, that means one set of new turnout gear tossed into water would produce enough waste PFOA to contaminate a full-sized swimming pool. Then if you let it decay in a landfill for 10–20 years you would probably get enough PFOA to contaminate 100 times that much…but the exact ratio of PFOA to to other PFAS isn’t known in decaying fabric, and the total amount of fluorochemicals applied to the clothing isn’t known exactly by anybody but manufacturers, so it will be hard to say whether it is 100x or 500x. But the bottom line is that these heavily treated textiles will contaminate 300,000 gallons of water per item readily, and maybe 100 times that over a couple of decades in the landfill…which is a lot of water.
There are some assumptions in here…but this is why I am concerned about the end-of-life disposal of turnout gear…like carpets they represent a significant source of PFAS for a few generations to come.
…………………………………
67% of 100 firefighters will be diagnosed with cancer.
PFOA causes testicular and kidney cancer, two of the most prevalent
cancers in the fire service.
Our immediate needs are a direct result of inaction to pass laws that would require testing of chemicals used for first responders, that would prevent precursors being the loophole giant corporations can use to protect shareholder value at the end users expense.
Although there are two possible studies testing PFAS in firefighter PPE, or one serum studies across the nation, this falls far short of the much needed large scale PFAS study the fire service desperately needs. The fire service has immediate PFAS needs.
*We have no seat at the PFAS table.
*Our community is not recognized.
*We have no ability to come before any government organization and ask
questions or receive answers.
*We have no government agency directing fire stations to test water
and wells.
*We have no government agency directing fire stations to test for PFAS
dust.
*We have no replacement for our turnout gear. The only chemical that meets NFPA 1971 for structural PPE is PFAS. The same manufacturer that makes this chemical also sits as a voting member on NFPA 1971. At no time did this corporation, DuPont, ever advise the NFPA that there was a SVHC or CEC in use of firefighter turnout gear.
*We have no national plan for the use of AFFF, for the removal of fluorine AFFF
from fire stations/fire trucks, we have no tracking of AFFF.
* We have no ‘comprehensive cohort study’
Serum testing: Are our cancers related to the actual gear we wear? PFAS adheres to blood. We have been wearing PFAS laden gear for 20 years, and never knew till January 2018.
Australia has just begun the first ever removal of firefighter serum to attempt to remove PFOA from the blood of their firefighters. MFB Commander Mick Tisbury has initiated this study.
*There is no ‘end-of-life’ protocol for these garments. Tens of thousands of yards of
staggering amounts of PFAS are degrading in landfills. Every single PFAS molecule
will remain in the soil and groundwater/waterways after the fabric degrades, PFOA will still be forming. Remember, textiles make up over 30% of the fluoro-industry footprint.
We would like the opportunity for you to hear us in person, by a Senate and House of Representatives. I understand this recommendation must come from a Chairperson.
Please consider this a formal request for Hearings.
We speak often to the of Jim McGovern, Annie Kuster, Chris Pappas, Elizabeth Warren, Jeanne Shaheen and Dan Kildee. All are very knowledgeable, concerned, professional, and extremely helpful, and we are grateful for the work of Senators Warren, Hassan, Murkowski and Representatives McGovern and Fitzpatrick for their bipartisan letters demanding ATSDR include firefighters in the National PFAS Study.
https://mcgovern.house.gov/uploadedfiles/pfasletter.pdf
We are grateful for Senator Warren and her amendment seeking a 5 million dollar first responder PFAS study. https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-files-amendments-supporting-massachusetts-firefighters-police-officers-and-first-responders
We ask that she continue to amendment any bill that would get us that funding.
Yet, we are frustrated. Who is protecting the protector?
I must respectfully say that our government has failed us in a bipartisan manner. That elected leadership on both sides of the house have failed the fire service for almost five decades. Without legislation of these chemicals, we have been the guinea pigs for the nation. For fifty years we have been using AFFF and for twenty years wearing industrial amounts of PFAS.
QUESTIONS:
We have questions that must be answered. Surely we are owed that.
Q. Beginning with ‘who knew what and when did they know it?”
This is the exact same question Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick asked of the DoD in 2017 when a ‘personal note’ was released from 2001. That note was from a member of the NFPA 11 Foam Committee (in article). This note stated that 3M was leaving the AFFF business.The others in the committee were floored. The author of the note state AFFF was PBT, ‘a death sentence’.
No one told the boots on the ground.
https://www.theintell.com/news/20170609/dangers-of-firefighting-foam-discussed-in-2001-document-shows The NFPA committee member notes from 2001: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4178280-NFPA-Schedule.html
Q. Did this ‘omission’ of PFAS in our turnout gear the last 20 or so (we have no information from the corporations when the coatings began) benefit the corporations bottom line?
PPE is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/personal-protective-equipment-ppe-market
Q. Does/has the use of this precursor that forms PFOA in ‘hours to days’ sidestep the Stewardship Program? By way of volume of total PFOA, and/or Precursors? Who is measuring this?
Q. Has there been an antitrust issue? If DuPont was warned in years past to notify the end user, and they never have, in fact, they make sure we only look at toxic smoke as causation, while knowing of the PFAS chemicals in our gear, have they misled their shareholders?
Q. Are the insurance agencies of this nation paying the cost for the fire service cancers when it should be investigated if the chemical corporations that sat on NFPA and remained silent about the amounts of PFAS in their chemicals, that they themselves then voted into standards, giving us no other option or alternative?
Q. Would have/ will insurance agencies now look differently at the fire service?
Q. What about the firefighter that has cancer, and loses their insurance? What if that cancer was testicular or kidney cancer? Again, it was only months ago we learned of the carcinogens used to make our gear.
A veteran diagnosed with cancer, who is/was a firefighter will have their claim denied. Because they are considered occupationally exposed as a firefighter. These are the same group of servicemen and women who serve this country, who have worked as firefighters in the service.
NFPA 1971 has a standard that sets how much water resistance the PPE must bear. There are some manufacturers that exceed this standard by 10%. No one has ever asked why? Is that a place where expensive chemicals can be stored and shareholder value can increase?
Q. What is our recourse? We spend thousands on PPE. Many/most? firefighters pay out of pocket for a set of gear that runs 2000 or more.
Q. What about cities and states that cover firefighter cancers?
Lastly, this may be the only list of ‘non-military’ fire-stations that have tested elevated for PFOA/PFOS that you will find. The data is from the EWG database and new articles that appear daily of AFFF contamination. I research to see if it was a fire station or fire training academy.
It is kept by me. A firewife. I’m saddened to think this is the best we can do for America’s Bravest:
https://medium.com/@dianecotter/see-link-for-how-to-test-your-station-b512ae2ac42c
Remember, every fire fighter in this nation will still don that toxic gear. Knowing he/she has no other choice. They are doing it every single day, they are doing it knowing we have no alternative. It will take years for NFPA and PPE manufacturers to create new technology. I’d like to ask you, when you don your suit coat for your office, if you knew you had to wear staggering amounts of PFOA for a forty hour week, with no end in sight, would you do it?
I wish to thank you for hearing me today.
I realize this has been a very lengthy statement.
But we had one shot, and we had a lot to tell you.
I ask you to please read the messages and testimonies from members of the fire service below. They are speaking to you directly.
Sincerely,
Diane Cotter
Rindge, NH (formerly of Worcester, MA)
www.yourturnoutgearandpfoa.com
******************************************************************
Testimonies of Fire Service Family Members Suffering Cancer
(Submitted with statement of Diane Cotter, Rindge, NH)
Jason Burns
Good morning members of the Environment and Climate change subcommittee in attendance at this important hearing on Protecting Americans at Risk of PFAS Contamination and Exposure.
My name is Jason Burns and I am writing to you in my capacity as President of International Association of Firefighters L-1314 Fall River Firefighters.
Sadly, I do not believe my words or the story I will share with you is unique but I could not pass up the opportunity to write to you. I will be direct and brief.
I began in my role as President of this local in January of 2013. In February of that year I led our local in burying one of our own, Paul Chippendale, due to cancer. Paul, a childhood friend of mine, was just 37 years old when he ended his battle with this insidious disease. Paul left a wife and two young daughters.
Two years later in March of 2015 my department was again faced with burying one of our own, 32 year old Adam Franco. Adam left behind a wife and a young son.
While searching for answers as to why these two young, otherwise healthy firefighters are dead and several other of my firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer I came across information about a chemical family known as PFAS. While I have always known and accepted the dangers of my profession not once was a conversation had in my presence about the dangers of these chemicals which are hidden in plain sight.
These chemicals are in the fire fighting foam that we use to help put fires out. These chemicals are in the gear that is intended to protect firefighters. We have come to find out that the chemical manufacturers have known for decades that they are carcinogenic.
It is quite disturbing in light of our losses that this information was withheld. I can’t tell you my members got cancer from PFAS….but we cannot rule it out. I can sit around and complain and feel sorry about the loss of my friends and bemoan the fact that firefighters continue to battle cancer in record numbers. Or we can stand together and do whatever it takes to create the change we seek.
Members of the subcommittee and anyone else this letter reaches, I am sounding the alarm and I am imploring you to take every step necessary to investigate, educate and most importantly legislate our way through this. Without the appropriate regulation and legislation preventing use of these chemicals or others like it there will be many more firefighters lost to cancer. We have an opportunity to help ensure other firefighters don’t suffer the same fate as Paul and Adam.
Your firefighters around the country are counting on you to respond to our call for help.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jason Burns
MITCHELL G. GAUGE, MSgt (Ret)
Delaware ANG Airmen AFFF PFOAS and Drinking Water Exposure; Our drinking water at the Fire Station was terrible.
MSgt Mitchell G. Gauge: 10 yrs. part time 22 yrs. full time for 32 yrs. at DE ANG. AFFF Exposure training exercises Home Station and ANG Training Site Alpena MI, Gulfport MS, Savannah Ga, Volk Field MN. Training Deployments to; Eglin AFB, Tyndall AFB, MacDill AFB, Wurtsmith AFB. Out of Country; Bentwaters RAF UK, 8 Trenton Ontario Canada, Al Dhafra AB UAE, Shakih ISA AB Bahrain. Medical Problems; Alopecia Totalis, Memory Loss, Advanced DJD; C-4,5,6 Fused in Neck, Total Left Shoulder Replacement, Right Wrist/Thumb Fused, S-1 to T-10 Spinal Fusion, Ocular Degenerative Disease, In Pain Management Program. My Son was born in 1983 and developed eye problems, hearing problems and ADHD. In my opinion, this is no coincidence. In 2014 High Levels of C8 were detected in water wells supplying the City of New Castle Delaware, with the ANG Base being eyed as the cause. The wells are in the proximity of New Castle Airport with one of the wells within 50' ft. of the Air National Guard Base. Up to the middle 1980s we performed live firefighting training on an open burn pit on ANG property using contaminated JP Fuel and AFFF.
Respectfully submitted,
MITCHELL G. GAUGE, MSgt (Ret)
USAF/DEANG
Michael O’Reagan
My name is Michael O’Reagan. I’m a 25 year veteran of the fire service in Fall River, Massachusetts. Never thought about doing anything else as a kid. I grew up watching my dad, a hero in the service, at the stations. Now, I watch as different cancers ravage his 78 year old body and wonder if that will be my fate. I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2016. Just about 10 years after another member of the ladder company in my station retired from it, one year after my friend, a driver on the same truck i’m on, also was in treatment for lymphoma. I remember washing walls with AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Foam) at the station, standing in feet worth of foam at fires and dumping tanks FILLED with foam into the drinking water supply every year for “drill”. And then I was diagnosed. Just a small lump in my face. Stage 1. Aggressive lymphoma. Thought it was just a minor issue. Knew better. Got a biopsy on a Wednesday, got a call on Friday, be at Mass Eye and Ear for surgery Monday morning. Strange though, as I sat in the OR, a wonderful nurse came to speak to me. “hello fireman” she said. You aren’t alone today. Not sure of what she meant I asked, what do you mean. There are 6 other fire fighters here today having a similar surgery. I was floored. ‘We usually have plenty of fire fighters here, sadly’ she commented. Sadly is right. But why? Getting my life back to normal wasn’t and still isn’t easy. I get ZERO financial relief from my city, my state or my department. I live in constant fear of the cancer returning. Every lump, every itch, every fever brings me back to 2016. So I met this wonderful woman, Dianne Cotter. She introduced herself to me in 2018 and had a few questions for me. Then I had questions. And now I REALLY have questions. But the answers come from you. From the lawmakers. People say WE are heroes. I disagree. If you happen to be the person who decides to take this issue on, YOU will be. Not because of you doing your job. But because the lives you will save in the process. Be my hero. Be my dads hero. Be the hero of the thousands of fire fighters with cancer. Be the hero to the thousands of fatherless and motherless children because of occupational cancer. Napoleon Bonaparte one said “Courage isn’t the strength to go on, it’s going on when you don’t have strength” . I am tired. Most firefighters with cancer are. But you can be our strength, be our courage. Be OUR hero. Not a political issue, but is one of the most important issued you can solve as a politician.
Thank you
Michael O’Reagan
Fall River Fire department,
Fall River Ma
Joseph Marchetti
Deputy Chief Brockton Fire Dept
Brockton, Ma
In the spring of 2015 I was alerted to an increased probability of prostate cancer through blood work done by the people at Heartfit For Duty. I followed up with urology and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May of 2016. I was 46 years old with 19 years of service to the department. On July 16, 2016 I underwent radical, robotic prostatectomy at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In the spring of 2017 I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma on my face. In August of 2017 I underwent Mohs surgery to remove the skin cancer. I sincerely appreciate your efforts to protect us.
Daniel Russ
retired after nearly forty years in the fire service. I kept up my annual physicals. I had had fluctuations in my PSA test during my employment years. A year after my retirement my PSA was once again rising, only this time it wouldn’t go down. After five (yes five) biopsies I was diagnosed with aggressive Gleason 8 prostate cancer. Watched my PSA go from a 5 to a 13. It required surgery and radiation to put it to rest. It has changed my life.
But that is not the worst of it. When I was recovering form my surgery my wife collapsed in our house. After many tests she was diagnosed with .Multiple Myeloma, another cancer associated with firefighting. She washed my dirty firefighting clothing all those years.
Besides working at an active fire department all those years, I worked several years at an oil firefighting school, where we used AFFF firefighting foam almost every day.
John Choy
My name is John Choy. I’m a 26 year veteran of the San Francisco Fire Department. Last April, my doctors discovered a tumor in my left testicle. It was removed on April 30, 2018 and the biopsy showed that it was cancerous. No chemo or radiation needed so it was onto surveillance.
Two months later, in June, I reported back to duty on Rescue 1, located at Station 1, along with our engine and truck. As most heavy rescue units do, we respond to all the fires in The City.
I entered the San Francisco Fire Department in the summer of 1993.
I hope this helps you in your fight. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you do on behalf of firefighters across this great country of ours. Please let me know if there is any thing else I can help you with.
Strength and Love,
John Choy
SFFD
Rescue 1
Station 1
Ryker Haselden,
Ryker, 49, called his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2017 a “gut-punch.”
He’s been a firefighter in Mississippi for about two decades.
Haselden has two children, one of whom is developmentally disabled, so his wife is a full-time mother.
Haselden said he opted for surgery and had to take about four months off work.
“It was really hard,” he said. “We struggled. This cancer thing, we’re learning, is so prevalent in fire service … I’m starting to know so many people out there diagnosed with cancer or dying from cancer.”
Lillian Carney — Firefighter Widow with an Occupational Cancer Story
My late husband is Battalion Chief Joshua Carney, Midway Fire Rescue, Pawleys Island, SC. With
over 25 years in the fire service. It began as a volunteer firefighter while still in high school from
1992–1995. He then joined the US Air Force as a firefighter 1995–1999, before moving south to
join Midway Fire Rescue, where he started as a firefighter and promoted over the years to
Battalion Chief. He would work at Midway from 2000 — October 19, 2017, his death. He spent
more than 25 years in the fire service, more than half of his life was at the service of others, to
protect them. Yet he was unable to protect himself.
Josh was diagnosed June 21, 2017 with Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma, at the age of 41. He
would have subcutaneous tumors through his head, neck, and torso, including several in his
brain. He would begin immunotherapy as well as direct brain radiation to begin shrinking his
tumors. He passed away less than 4 months later on October 19, 2017. We live in one of the
last remaining states that doesn’t believe in occupational cancer, however we know differently.
His cancer journey, our cancer journey only lasted 4 months. Little did we know, the cancer was
already eating away his insides months prior. How is it even possible for a man ONLY 41 years
old be given a death sentence? How does a wife begin to comprehend that at the age of 40,
she will be handed the American flag that was once draped over your husbands’ casket? A 40-
year-old widow? How does a 16-year-old daughter navigate a future without her father?
His cancer was aggressive, more aggressive than we ever knew. In hindsight we were only
financially prepared for short term care. Had he been alive longer, our story would be different.
But he would have been alive longer. I would trade all the comforts in life to have him here 4
more years, heck even 4 more months. He could have, correction, should still be here to see
our daughter graduate high school in a few weeks. Thanks for nothing occupational cancer.
College is her next step. College isn’t free. There is no financial assistance to her just because
her father died of occupational cancer. She has worked so hard to maintain her grades during
these past 2 years. She was accepted into her top schools of choice. And she has to take out
student loans to pay for her education because we have lost an income, and there is no one to
help.
Our daughter was 16 at the time of his diagnosis and death. 16 years is NOT enough time for
anyone to have with their father. So many moments he has already missed out on, many more
to come. There shouldn’t be an empty chair for him at her wedding. She shouldn’t have to ask
someone else to walk her down the aisle, that spot was reserved for him. NOT someone else.
HIM. Thanks for nothing occupational cancer.
We had just celebrated our 20 th wedding anniversary a few days before the oncologist told us
there was nothing more they could for him, for us. He was told his clock was run out. It was
time to prepare for the end. The end? Umm, no. The end doesn’t happen at the age of 41. The
end doesn’t happen until well after retirement. The end? No, no thank you. But, it was the end.
There was no more.
We were financially not put to the ultimate test. Josh worked most shifts during the several
weeks, and had enough vacation and sick time in his bank to maintain a full paycheck, never
having to start the process for Short/Long term disability or FMLA. We were managing the out
of pocket expenses within our means. I was a work from home employee working for a great
company that gave me flexibility to be his caregiver. He worked with a great bunch of brothers
that helped out with driving him to appointments and daily household chores. We were
fortunate to have the support that we did, and that I still do.
Before diagnosis, we were already taking steps toward retirement and life after our daughter
went away to college. Now, we were sent home with nothing. The only plans we had left to
make were that of his funeral service, and the box in which his cremated remains would be
placed in. My daughter was robbed of her father. My mother-in-law was robbed of a child. I
was robbed of our future. I was robbed of our forever. Thanks for nothing occupational cancer.
I know its cliché to say that I married my best friend. But, it is true. You don’t stay married to
someone for over 20 years without having a special bond. We enjoyed our time together, yes
we struggled with silly arguments just like every other couple. But, that doesn’t make our
marriage any less significant. Occupational Cancer stripped me of more than just my husband
and best friend.
I lost my Friday Night Dinner Date (yes even at on shift nights).
I lost my weekend away travel companion.
I lost my listener and solver of my problems.
I lost my sit on the couch and be lazy with me partner.
I lost my confidant, my rock when I needed someone.
I lost my ying to my yang.
I lost my peace-maker for the normal mother/teenager struggles.
I lost my provider and protector when we were surrounded by the storm.
I lost my warm and heartfelt hugger.
I lost my forever.
I lost my soul mate.
Thanks for nothing Occupational Cancer.
Jay Post
My name is Jay Post.
I was a Firefighter in Brevard County Florida for 33 years. June of 2017 I was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer. In January of 2018 I had my vocal cords, epiglottis, part of my esophagus and some lymph nodes removed. I breathe through a hole in my neck, I can only speak with the help of an EL-Electronic Larynx, which I must press against my throat to make the vibrations my vocal cords used to make. I lost my sense of smell. There is virtually no air exchange any more in my upper airway. With no epiglottis to stop food or liquids from leaving my stomach the same way they came in, after eating or drinking I cannot bend over for 20–30 minutes without it coming back up. The good news is I cannot choke on any food. My air way is separate from my esophagus. The bad news is I can literally drown taking a shower. I was an avid surfer my whole lfe, now if I am submerged in water, my lungs would fill up with water like an empty soda bottle. My esophagus is half the diameter it used to be, I have to chew everything into babyfood like texture to be able to swallow it. I was on a feeding tube for 10 months due to major complications from the four extra surgeries I had to have because of holes in the membrane of my esophagus. Anything I swallowed would leak into my trachea and into my lungs causing aspiration pneumonia. I had a negative pressure wound vacuum tube implanted into the front of my throat 24/7 for 10 weeks to suck out all the drainage and saliva before it made it into my lungs.
As of now, the State of Florida is one of only 3 or 4 States that does not consider Cancer an on the job injury. HOWEVER, as of next week, after many years of fighting, lobbying, pestering, demonstrating, petitioning, and doing any and everything legally possible, Tuesday, April 23,2019, just such a Bill is to be voted on in the Legislature. It is predicted to pass overwhelmingly, but the Fat Lady hasn’t sung yet.
The FPF-Florida Professional Firefighters, under the leadership of Pres. Jim Tolley has been after this for over 10 years. Their efforts were continually shut down every session, not even getting a committee assignment. Only untill the last few years had any progress been made. A few years ago, a Bill would get a committee assignment just to make it look like something was being considered but it never got out of the first of 3 committees it had to pass through.
Only in the past couple years, with all the new statistics proving that Cancer among Firefighters is an ever increaseing fact, did the State take notice. Very little notice, even though they gave a grant of around 2 million dollars to the University of Miami to study the number of occurences and types of Cancers Firefighters were getting. The results of that study confirmed the same findings as dozens of other studies done around the Country. Firefighters had a significantly greater incidence of Cancers than the general public. But they still took no action.
Thus, a grassroots campaign started taking off. Spurred by Firefighters themselves, tired of seeing their brothers and sisters, getting sick, loseing their jobs, or dying of Cancer at younger and younger ages, they took action. Last year, a Retired Central Florida Firefighter, Tom”BULL” Hill, after loseing 2 of his best friends to Cancer, in protest and to draw attention to the lack of action by the Politicians, started walking from mile marker 0 in Key West Florida to the State Capitol in Tallahasse. A distance of over 800 miles by Interstate. However , he took the roads less traveled and though he started by himself, along the way he was joined by fellow firefighters from the towns and cities as he passed through them. He carried a back pack with the badges and name tags of his two friends. Along the way other Firefighters and family members asked him to carry their loved ones whom they had lost to this terrible disease. Badges and pictures, even small containers of ashes were given to him. He has continued this quest, there are now almost a dozen packs laden with the names of lost brothers and sisters. He made it to Tallahasse last year, but nothing was done. At the same time, Two young women Firefighters, Jazz Zombo, from Central Florida and Heather Mazurkiewicz, from Southwest Florida, organized a demonstration on the Capitol steps. They brought 200 sets of Fire boots, pictures, and name tags, each representing a Firefighter who had died from Cancer, and placed them on the steps of the Capitol. Each and every Legislator had to walk by them on their way to work that day. Nothing was done then either.
Now we come to this year, Bull’s walks, now named “ Carrying My Brother’s Burden” continued with more and more Firefighters, families and Departments joining in. Heather and Jazz now had 500 sets of Boots and Pictures to place on the steps of the Capitol. The Media started getting involved. TV, Newspapers, Social Media. Hundreds if not thousands of people started calling, emailing, getting Representative’s Cell phones. Texting the leadership of the Legislature. within the past few weeks, as this session is winding down, the pressure on the holdouts- the Leadership of the House, got to be to much. The Bill had sailed through the Senate committees but had not even been assigned to a committee in the House, even though the bill had 84 co-sponsers, bi- partisan, out of 117 members. Finally the House Leadership relented and sent the Bill to the Committee, the Bill passed unanimously 24–0. It will be voted on as I stated earlier Tuesday April 23 2019. Hopefully Florida will then join the rest of the Country and recognize that Firefighters do not have to die of this terrible disease, while leaving their families in sorrow and debt.
Cliff Edwards
I am a retired Fireman from the Denver area. Our Dept. had three carrier stations and betwwen 40 and 50 members. I was there for 32 years. We lost two brothers to the same brian cancer in 3 years time. The same 3 years there were 4 brothers that won there fight with testicular cancer. We boarderd an Air National Guard base and worked and trained with them regularly. The ANG ARF/CFR would replace there AFFF every year and give us the old stuff. We seldom used it on actual jobs and we trained with the ANG foam. So we constantly had pallets of AFF on hand. So we used it for soap! We washed hose, bunkergear, floors, uniforms, and even our dishes. Many of us would take jars of it to use at home.
Bill Heinemann
I’m a “retired” firefighter from st louis. I was just shy of 20 yrs when i left due to stage 4 colon cancer. Spent most of my career at the busiest fire fighting conpanies in missouri.
I just started my third round of chemo monday…..
How can i help?
Daniel Dodson.
I am a federal fighter with 14 years federal civilian and 28.5 US Air Force service. I have served since 1975. During that time I was exposed to AFFF during reservicing and pit fire training. We occasionally used AFFF on fires and fuel spills. Additionally, in approx 1987 while stationed at Gila Bend Auxiliary Air Field, we had a pipe coming from an overhead storage tank break on the wrong side of the valve. Three of us worked to stop the flow and in doing so were completely doused by the AFFF concentrate for a number of minutes until we could set up some hoses to save the very expensive liquid. We did shower quickly and for a long time. The medic at the site was aware the liquid could pull oils from our skin and brought some moisturizing skin lotion for us to apply after the shower. No other medical treatment was received. My wife took our uniforms home to wash, we didn’t have in station washers then. She had to run the washer on rinse only before using soap due to the foaming action. I know I probably inhaled quite a bit of vapor as well as having the AFFF soak into my skin from virtually every square inch. I am three days away from getting a prostate biopsy due to an elevated PSA. I also have sleep apnea which may or may not have been exacerbated by the excess AFFF exposure. I have not gotten a blood test for PFOA or PFOS since the military does not recognize it as a necessary test. I am willing to pay for it myself if I can find a doctor who will write a prescription for it. For reference, I am 62 years old, have stage II kidney disease and medically controlled hypertension. I was in extremely good shape until a few years after I retired from the military. For example, when I was 47 years old I was able to run a 1.5 mile distance in 10 min and 50 sec which is very good for that age group. Can I definitely say the AFFF caused the possible prostate cancer? Not yet. A blood test may help. We need the govt to add the PFOS/PFOA blood tests to our annual physical requirements. This will help line up our blood levels with some of the cancers we are experiencing. Oh, I forgot to add that I can’t run that fast or anywhere fast today.
Jason Linta.
I was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Lacrimal Gland on 1 December 2017. So rare 1 in 10 Million gets it. Also so rare nothing in Colorado for my type so I have to go to Boston and Philly about every 6 months for treatment, testing and follow up. Last year I had 38 rounds of proton/photon radiation and 7 rounds of chemo. Also there is no remission for this type. I was medically retired from the Air Force as an Air Force Firefighter on 29 Jan 2019 after 23.8 years of service. Finished my career as an Asst Fire Chief at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Estimated I had my tumor for about 7 years.
Impact: My family has been blessed with support from the military and we were hearing insurance horror stories of people with rare cancers not getting what they want. So February of 2018 we started our own 501c Non Profit called Jbirdsjourney. You can follow us and get updates on all social media for Jbirdsjourney and jbirdstrong or visit our website jbirdsjourney.org
We’ve had about 7 recipients in the year, 2 of which have been firefighters who are battling cancers. We’ve had a few fundraisers and have another golf tourney scheduled here in Colorado Springs in Sept. 100% goes towards everyone else. We do not get anything from it. We’ve also been working with our local senators and congressman along with some IAFF in California for H.R. 1174 Federal Firefighter Fairness Act. Life has been humbled for sure lol
Gretchen Powell.
Hi there. I am sharing my story as I hope it helps save the life of another fire fighter. My husband and I would have been married 18 years this May 25,2019. However I only got to enjoy 16 of those years with him. My husband had been a volunteer fire fighter and at one point a career Paramedic/ FF. He dedicated much of his life helping others and enjoyed what he did. Those tones rang in our home all hours of the night and he never hesitated to jump no matter the time or type of call he faced. He would run towards danger when others wouldn’t. He was a brave man my husband. November 2016 my husband began having trouble swallowing and every now and then found himself choking on his food. He knew something a asque and went to see his doctor. His Doctor immediately sent to the hospital to have a barium swallow so they could test different possibilities. The doctor then called that evening and said he needed him to report to The gastro center so they could scope his throat and esophagus. I took him to the appointment and almost immediately after the procedure The doctor came in and told us she suspected Cancer of the esophagus but further testing would need to be done. 2 days later we were sitting waiting to have a PET scan done to hopefully shed some light. The next day my husband received the call from the doctor and the bomb was dropped. Yes it’s cancer. My husbands world stood still so much that it took him two days to tell me the truth of the results. See, at the time my husband was a 911 dispatcher. A job he so very much loved. They were very understanding at first that my husbands schedule would be changing because we would need to report to meet his new TEAM of doctors. 4 doctors we met in the course of 2 days with very specific plans for my husbands care. Bill was a very tough man and was determined after each treatment to go straight to work because he was afraid of losing his job. He had wonderful benefits which included health insurance and life insurance. 25 rounds of radiation complete in 32 days. 8 rounds of chemo. February 20, 2017 my husband would undergo surgery that removed 2/3rds of his esophagus. They created a new one with portions of his stomach. During this time I also worked full time and still had children at home. The day before my husbands surgery our daughter fell ill with the flu. I arranged for her to be taken care of when I wasn’t there and would go back and forth wearing a mask to protect us all. I sat in the waiting room for my husbands surgery. That was the longest day of my life. Surgery went well and the tough guy I married forced himself well so he could get home sooner and get back to life. He returned to work on light duty because he still didn’t have his voice back. The running was that it was so nice and quiet around the house without his voice. We joked and he would shake his fist at me with the expression that he was going to send me to the moon Alice. LoL. It was one of our jokes. Anyway, he started getting his voice back and soon would be back to dispatching ambulances and fire trucks to those who needed help. It was like a kid on Christmas morning listening to him on the scanner with his deep voice back in full swing. During his surgery 18 nodes were removed and several came back cancerous. Chemo and Radiation were scheduled again but this time his body could not handle the treatment. The doctors stopped the treatment mid way because it was killing him. At this point the doctors said they did not want him returning to work so he was forced into to early retirement at age 49. The stress of what he was going through affected many aspects of our lives. Financially we were destroyed. He spent the next few weeks resting and had some good days and some bad. Where do you think my husband was on those good days? Yep….At the fire house. Every year there is a fire mans banquet and that year he received Fire Fighter of the year. He had run the most calls. It was his happy place. Yes he had us at home but helping others ran through his veins.He started feeling great and we returned for a PET scan in October of 2017 and received great news. No sign of cancer!!!! We went on with daily life and he continued to do what he loved. Run Fire and EMS calls. November 17th,2017 I received a call that our daughter had to rush him to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing during a fire call and knew something wasn’t right. I was at work and couldn’t leave so all I could do was wait by the phone. Finally he called and said they were keeping him because the area around his lungs had mysteriously filled with fluid. That night 1.5 Liters of fluid was drained from him. They couldn’t pull any more then that because it was too dangerous. The next day he was sent home with much relief and able to breath. That next day we enjoyed Thanksgiving but he was still not feeling well. The next day all of the sudden he couldn’t breath again so back to the hospital we went. The doctor came in and told us that the fluid had returned. So there we sat still scratching our head not understanding why this was happening. Nonchalantly a nurse strolled in and said,”Oh, so I see the cancer is back”. Um excuse me I said. She then realized that this was breaking news that she thought the Doctor had already told us. My husband sat there on the bed with disbelief in his eyes and me on the floor on my knees in pure shock and crying. The doctor then came in and started the conversation with a big sigh. “I am sorry to say but yes the cancer is back and it is now stage 4 terminal,”she said. We were blown away and knew our options we minimal. After the fluid had been drained my he was to stay in the hospital to continue drainage. The thought came around that we could possibly try another round of chemo. He said no more. Dec.5th my husband was turning 50 and we had planned a big surprise birthday party for him. The party was originally planned near home but because he was not being released like planned the party came to him. Surrounded by family ,friends and fellow fire fighters we celebrated him that day knowing this would be the last one he would have. Reality was taking a toll and our world was caving in. Cancer had won. Dec 8th my husband would come home to begin hospice care. Picked up in “his” fire truck. When they reached town The Police chief was waiting to escort them through town to the house. That would be his last ride. The doctors told us we would be lucky to keep him until Christmas. Each day was worse then the last. He went downhill quickly. We were all scared of what soon lied ahead. I was on a strict schedule with his meds and keeping him comfortable. We would sing silly stupid songs. All he wanted to do was watch Christmas movies. His favorite time of the year. December 9th was the last first snow fall he would witness. It was wonderful watching his eyes light up as I pulled back that curtain for him to see it snowing. We had visitors day in and day out. Many special visits from friends who knew it was the last time they would see him. He grew tired. I slept a total of maybe three hours during his final days. I would sit beside him wiping his forehead with a wet cloth. MAking sure he was comfortable in his favorite recliner. December 13th came and the day had been very daunting as he was now unresponsive to anything. I remember whispering in his ear that it as ok to let go and telling him I loved him over and over. His breathing became more and more shallow and at 5:23 Dec.13th my husband took his last breath. Cancer took my husbands last breath! The kids and I will never be the same. His mother will be seeing her second child buried.
During my husbands time as a fire fighter he was exposed to toxins and chemicals that would ultimately kill him. My husband’s death was declared in the line of duty by the state of Virginia. May 31st my husband will be added to the wall in Richmond. He is one of 7 being honored for giving the Ultimate sacrifice. We need to protect our fire fighters so no mother has to bury her child. No child has to be without their father and no wife ever has to take on a new name…..Fire Fighter Widow!!!
Sorry for the length
My family has pleaded for help from many different foundations who offered benefits for in the line of duty death. Only to be told that they could help us because my husband died of cancer and not anything traumatic such as a fire or an accident. Why do they think it is less devastating to our family? Why do we not deserve help? Why are we being pushed away as if our loved one meant nothing to them.
That is supposed to be *only to be told they Couldn’t help us.
The legislations need to be changed!!!!!!!!!
See also:
See also:
https://medium.com/@dianecotter/mark-vergnano-ceo-chemours-dupont-69cf060b0049
https://medium.com/@dianecotter/toxic-trifecta-pfos-pfoa-pfna-23b2baac1ff7
https://medium.com/@dianecotter/epa-and-the-pinky-swear-1bc2e57a096f
https://medium.com/@dianecotter/dear-mr-wheeler-d67fb1c7c46c