Former students and teachers of a New South Wales high
school have raised fears of a cancer cluster after dozens became ill and
some died.
The old Camden High School in Sydney's west was closed in 2001 after contamination was discovered in soil underneath classrooms.The school was built on the site of a gasworks that had been in operation since 1911.
Now lawyers say 70 people have joined an investigation into the school to determine the cause of a range of recent illnesses.
The group includes people with various forms of cancer, brain tumours and children with birth defects. Some members of the group represent former teachers and students who have died.
"I don't want to be alarmist about it under any circumstances, but at the moment at this very early stage it could well be defined ultimately as a cancer cluster," lawyer Jim Marsden said.
Mr Marsden says the complaints could lead to a class action against the NSW Education Department.
"If ultimately we find that a department or a number of departments are responsible and then going on from there there has been illnesses caused as a result of these contaminations, ultimately whoever is responsible must be held accountable," he said.
The ABC's 7.30 spoke to several former students who blame their illnesses on the old gasworks site.
Raelean Borg was 40 when she died last year of breast cancer. Her husband, Joe Borg, says he suspects the school is responsible.
"I didn't know it was actually built on any sort of gasworks. This is the first time I've heard of that, and now that I've heard of that I think, geez, how does that happen?" Mr Borg said.
"In my opinion it's just wrong."
Ex-student recalls strong smell of chemicals
The contamination at the high school was discovered in 1995 and contained the following year.Reports from the era include lists of chemical substances which were found such as benzine, banzoapyrene, cyanide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Photo:
Raelean Borg, pictured with her husband Joe, was 40 when she died of breast cancer.
Former student Rachel Dowling is one of many who recalls the strong smell of the chemicals.
"There was always an egg smell and I always thought that the Bunsen burner gas taps had been left on or leaking, but I didn't know until after I left school that this was a gasworks," she said.
Ms Dowling attended the school from 1985 and now has thyroid cancer.
"I'm in stage one at the moment. I've had my thyroid removed. I've had my first round of chemo and I've just got to take it as it goes," she said.
"It's not in my family so I would presume it came from here. No-one in my family has had cancer and not this form of cancer either, so I would say it came from Camden High."
Education Department 'must take responsibility'
Former science teacher Allen Powell worked at the school in the 1980s and '90s. He says he had his worries at the time."Every student in this school would have been exposed to whatever the contaminants are there. Probably every single day you could often smell gas there," he said.
"It was really obvious. After about 1988 when we had a lot of rain here, stuff started oozing out of the ground which was black and sticky-ish."
He believes the site has caused cancer and the deaths of some of his former students and colleagues.
He says the Education Department should take responsibility.
"I'm really upset, very saddened by it. It's very distressing. I wish I'd made more noise, I feel guilty about it. And what can you say, I think they are culpable," Mr Powell said.
"These children at their most formative period of their development, being exposed to this kind of stuff is criminal. That's all there is to it."
Proof of cancer cluster hard to find
But health experts say proving a cancer cluster is extremely difficult.The research director at the NSW Cancer Council, Freddy Sitas, has urged caution.
"I think we'd have to see all the data in a bit more detail to see if there is a case for an investigation," he said.
"These investigations can go on for three or four years, and nine out of 10 of them turn out to be nothing.
"So it is important not to raise expectations when investigating a cluster and not to call it a cluster when it is not so."
Sydney University professor Tim Driscoll says the illnesses should not be ignored.
"I'd be concerned anytime if kids were playing and exposed to the things that you've talked about," Professor Driscoll said.
"If it's right that those substances are there and there was real potential for people to be exposed, that's another reason why you wouldn't dismiss it.
"It doesn't mean that there is a problem but it certainly sounds like it's worthwhile looking at."