ABSTRACT
Many who have read the book or have seen the movie may get the mistaken notion that Woburn, a toxic “hot spot,” is a rare occurrence. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Toxic “hot spots” abound. Most striking are areas of cancer clusters-a short list includes:
Woburn, where about two dozen children were stricken with leukemia over 12 years, a rate several times the national average for a community of its size. Storrs, Connecticut, where wells polluted by a landfi ll were suspected of sickening and killing residents in nearby homes. Bellingham, Washington, where pesticide-contaminated drinking water was thought to be linked to a sixfold increase in childhood cancers.
