SOUTH PATRICK SHORES, Fla. – This week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will start digging in the yards of a neighborhood that’s been at the center of a possible cancer cluster.
For decades, some have blamed military chemicals and waste for a higher than average number of people getting cancer.
Two years ago, the Corps scanned yards with radars.
Then, at last week’s county commission meeting, the Corps said it will now dig in yards where its ground-penetrating radars may have detected old junk.
“If there is problematic soil or contaminants, then yes, it would have to be addressed,” project lead Brad Tompa told commissioners.
Tompa said during World War II, before homes were built, South Patrick Shores was an ‘uncontrolled dump’ for the old Navy airfield where Patrick Space Force Base is today.
“Are you aware that there are residents who have dug in their own yards and that they have had massive side effects from the things that they have dug up in their yards?” Commissioner Katie Delaney asked him.
The county commissioner was talking about neighbors like Sandra Sullivan.
In 2018, Sullivan found her yard was full of junk like lead, bullets, and even an oil barrel she said still had oil in it.
“I know it’s made me sick,” she told News 6. “Every time I dug up something, between eight days and seven weeks, I would have symptoms.”
In 2019, a report found certain types of cancer were higher around South Patrick Shores than in other parts of the country, but the Florida Department of Health couldn’t confirm the cause.
For homeowners who gave the Corps their permission, the Corps said it will dig in their yards with an excavator that will make trenches about eight feet deep and 10 feet wide. After they start digging this week, the Corps said it will start sampling that soil for any contaminants starting this summer.
