SELINSGROVE — University officials and state environmental and health experts gathered Sunday afternoon on the Susquehanna University campus to answer questions concerning recent reports about the perceived prevalence cases of cancer among Susquehanna University graduates.

Students returning to campus at the conclusion of spring break and parents were assured by Bob Yowell, Northcentral Regional Office director of the state Department of Environmental Protection, Dr. Stephen Ostroff, director of the Bureau of Epidemiology of the state Department of Health and Dr. Gene Weinberg, director of community epidemiology of the state Department of Health, that the state would spare no effort in tracing any links between incidences of cancer among SU graduates.

Presentations by the state officials, as well as a video link with Dr. Paul Chrostowski, an environmental health scientist retained by the university, sought to reassure the audience that the university and Selinsgrove borough had done and continued to do everything possible to find answers to the concerns about cancer issues.

"We will go where the information takes us," Dr. Ostroff pledged.

Following the presentations, written questions submitted by audience members were answered.

The first question, which asked whether any reports from state officials could be expected to be truthful was met with a quick answer from Mr. Yowells.

"We have no reason not to do this right. It's what we do," he said. "If there is something out there causing this we want to find it."

"If we find it, we will report," he continued.

L. Jay Lemons, university president, noted, "We don't have the resources to undertake this ourselves. I have the highest confidence in these folks."

Another question concerned higher susceptibility to cancers.

Dr. Weinberg replied that there are plenty of chemical agents in the environment suspected of causing cancers.

"But we need specific agents," he explained. "There must be a pathway of exposure and it must be over a period of time." He went on to say that just because an agent is present, that doesn't mean a person has been exposed.

"It must be in sufficient quantity and length to overcome the body's defenses against insults," he said.

Asked why students were not told about the specific cancer concerns at the Warehouse, a privately-owned off-campus student residence, Phillip Winger, dean of student life at the university said there was no evidence of problems there.

"All we have are the news reports," he said. He said Susquehanna has offered to assist current residents by allowing them to move into on-campus housing, and students who have plans to live there next year may also opt for on-campus housing.

Mr. Lemons said he hoped the questions about the Warehouse in particular would be answered by next fall.

As to whether other residences on Orange Street in the vicinity of the Warehouse will be tested, Mike Welch, Northcentral Region environmental cleanup program manager, said a private homeowner had invited the testing team into his home, and he also said the owner of the Warehouse had allowed the team to take samples inside the building.

Carol Handlan, president of Selinsgrove borough council, and John Bickhart, borough manager, both expressed confidence in the work being done by the DEP and Department of Health.

"They are assisting the borough in any way they can," Mrs. Handlan said. "I have the utmost confidence in the DEP."

Mr. Bickhart said he had lived his whole life in Selinsgrove, raising two sons there.

"I have to tell you, I wouldn't object if my kids wanted to live there (in the Warehouse)," he said.

That brought an immediate rejoinder from Dave Sites, of Loysville, a member of the audience.

"You aren't in that situation," Mr. Sites said. "My daughter isn't going to live here. This gives SU a black eye. We can't risk our kids' lives."

A smattering of applause greeted his comments.

Mr. Welch said the DEP's response was not based on emotions, but on scientific evaluations.

Mr. Lemons said the university and the community had examined the matter 5 years ago when the concerns were initially raised.

"We answered a wide range of questions then," he said.

Following the question-and-aswer period, members of the panel came down from the stage and met informally with groups of students and parents to discuss the issues.

Mrs. Handlan spoke with one group of parents and students, pointing out that the matter was not only Susquehanna University's problem, but the borough's as well.

"This has given us a bad name," she said. "It has hurt our town. I'm very concerned."

She told the group that at a borough council meeting last week, she had read a prepared statement, but what appeared in the next day's Harrisburg newspapers was not what she had said.

"We have to live here, and we're here for more than four or five years," she said.

Most parents agreed that the coverage in the Harrisburg newspaper was sensational and had gaps in what it reported.

"I know you need to do what you need to do for your kids," she said. "I understand that."

"I am very saddened that there are people who suspect the Department of Health and the DEP," she concluded. "We don't have our own resources to do what they do."

Mr. Yowell, who supervises the testing currently underway in Selinsgrove, said that 50 separate tests were made last week, sampling soil and air samples. He said the samples were immediately analyzed in two mobile labs on site, and samples would also be tested in the state labs in Harrisburg.

http://www.dailyitem.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/NEWS/703120307