Several people from Le Roy, N.Y., continue to suffer from an illness that’s causing uncontrollable twitching and outbursts.
Numerous events that may or may not be linked have taken place in the area over time. Here are just some of them:
- December 1970: A train derails in the town of Le Roy, spilling two chemicals: crystallized cyanide and tetrachloroethylene (TCE). The TCE was absorbed into the ground.
According to a 1997 report on the train derailment by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), one week after the spill in December 1970, owners of two private wells, located just east of the derailment site, noticed TCE in their water.
- June 1971: A railroad company provides drinking water to residents with contaminated wells and installs charcoal-filtering systems at affected wells.
- November 1971: Seven wells are confirmed contaminated
- 1990 and 1991: A 1997 report by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation says that in 1990 and 1991, in response to another inactive hazardous waste disposal site, the New York State Department of Health sampled private water supplies east of the spill site and discovered TCE contamination in more than 35 private wells.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "sampling of private wells between 1990 and 1994 detected TCE in approximately 50 wells located east or southeast of the site." The EPA installed water-treatment systems at 37 locations where TCE levels were high.
- August 2003: A public school, Le Roy Junior/Senior High School, opens about three-and-a-half miles from the site of the derailment.
- October 2011: Several teens at the school spontaneously develop tics and twitches -- various health agencies investigate.
- January 2012: Neurologists confirm what several of the teens` own doctors had diagnosed -- that they suffer from conversion disorder or mass psychogenic illness. Almost all of those who have developed symptoms are teen girls who attended Le Roy Junior/Senior High School. One boy from the school is known to have symptoms. Also another woman from the town reports similar symptoms -- a 36-year-old nurse.
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich and her team are looking into possible chemical causes. The medical community is not ruling that possibility out, but neurological experts stand by their findings.
To read full statements from organizations regarding the NY medical mystery, click here.
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