u/Affectionate_Win_844

Throwaway for obvious reasons. This is personal so bear with me.

I grew up in a small town (~5k people) with a few surrounding towns nearby (around 1,500 each). Over the years there have been around 13–14 brain cancer cases among people who lived or grew up there, including my dad, with more than half being glioblastoma, also dad, a very rare and VERY deadly form. (3ish per 100k) A lot of these people were in a similar age range and lived near the same former mill.

In the industrial park in question there was a large paper mill as well as two chemical manufacturers. A lot has been lost in translation but could be found again. The highlights are accounts from my ~very close family member~ who worked there all of their life and recalls the mountains of creosote that was buried under what is now a runoff / pond, the ash or soot that filled the air of the entire town like a fog, and the 4 superfund investigations split between the mill and chemical plants. From what I could collect from the investigations paperwork was that at least one was opened and never closed - only archived.

That being said, I’m not chasing ghosts and I do NOT think that I’m Erin Brockovich lol. What I am, is extremely interested and extremely nosey.

So Reddit — is this worth pursuing? Has anyone navigated something like this before? Would you contact environmental researchers? An attorney? Or is this the kind of thing where the damage is done, and nothing changes without 50 years of research and a fortune of investment.

Throwaway for obvious reasons. This is personal so bear with me.

I grew up in a small town (~5k people) with a few surrounding towns nearby (around 1,500 each). Over the years there have been around 13–14 brain cancer cases among people who lived or grew up there, including my dad, with more than half being glioblastoma, also dad, a very rare and VERY deadly form. (3ish per 100k) A lot of these people were in a similar age range and lived near the same former mill.

In the industrial park in question there was a large paper mill as well as two chemical manufacturers. A lot has been lost in translation but could be found again. The highlights are accounts from my ~very close family member~ who worked there all of their life and recalls the mountains of creosote that was buried under what is now a runoff / pond, the ash or soot that filled the air of the entire town like a fog, and the 4 superfund investigations split between the mill and chemical plants. From what I could collect from the investigations paperwork was that at least one was opened and never closed - only archived.

That being said, I’m not chasing ghosts and I do NOT think that I’m Erin Brockovich lol. What I am, is extremely interested and extremely nosey.

So Reddit — is this worth pursuing? Has anyone navigated something like this before? Would you contact environmental researchers? An attorney? Or is this the kind of thing where the damage is done, and nothing changes without 50 years of research and a fortune of investment.