That was then, this is now
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported in “Cancer Occurrence in St. Louis Park, 1993-2012” that “detailed study encompassing 20 years of cancer data firmly establishes that overall cancer incidence and mortality rates in St. Louis Park are virtually identical to cancer rates in the Twin Cities Metro area”[i].
I appreciate that finding as highly encouraging for folks who lived in the city during that time.
That said, as an insatiability curious person, I can’t help but note that the MDH study period started for folks living in the city a full 15 years after the wells were shut down, and to the best of my understanding did not include evaluation of the mortality or morbidity experienced by folks who lived in the city during the time that the drinking water was contaminated but who had subsequently moved away (my family moved out in 1978).
As my good friend Aaron pointed out, another missing data point is for folks who drank the contaminated water regularly for some other reason. His father worked in multiple offices during the time the wells were known to be contaminated but he never lived in St. Louis Park. When his death was recorded with the cause of lymphoma in 2012, it was included in the cancer rates outside of St. Louis Park in MDH’s study.
I know we’ll never have complete data. A longitudinal study of folks who lived there is simply not possible because the data needed to do the analysis cannot fully be collected by experts. The MDH report acknowledges this by listing the limitations of the study and also notes that using the current residence of victims at the time of diagnosis doesn’t tell the full picture of mortality and morbidity in a community (which is top of mind for me). That said, I do express gratitude that because of Reilly Tar, the MDH has been recording cancer deaths across Minnesota since 1988.
In the absence of statistically rigorous data for pre-1988, there is a community-led effort to crowdsource information. It includes a Google map[ii] where folks have contributed their cancers and where they lived in St. Louis Park. Some folks have posted to their private Facebook group stories of playing around the site in the mid-twentieth century. The scientist in me fully recognizes this data set for what it is and the nostalgic side of me embraces this citizen-sleuthing like a warm blanket.
You can view the map below or click on the rectangle near the upper right to “view larger map” in a new window. If you open the window in a new window, you can click on the magnifying glass to search for point 952. It’s at the corner of West 33rd Street and Yosemite Avenue South and that is my old house. I am point 952.