HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — A Huntersville commissioner is determined to take action to find out if a cancer cluster is linked to a common element.
“The families are frustrated,” commissioner Rob Kidwell said. “I'd like to see more action.”
There have been 10 cases reported in Huntersville. The rare ocular cancel impacts one in 6 million people.
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“I live in Huntersville with 53,000 other people,” Wagner said. “So it concerns me not just as a resident or commissioner, but also as a father. I have a 15-month-old.”
Kidwell said all standard procedures to investigate by the state have been exhausted.
Now, he is scheduled to talk with the Mecklenburg County Health director Thursday to take the next steps. He wants to get the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention involved.
“It is my hope that the county can persuade the state to get more tests. We need tests for soil, air water. We need boots on the ground.”
The state's epidemiologist has done a review but found no smoking gun explanation.
Physical testing to try to find the cause would be new and Kidwell believes it's long overdue.
“I want to make sure that we have gone the extra mile to secure the safety of our folks around here from anything that could be happening,” Kidwell said.
All the people who developed the rare ocular cancer have all either lived or worked near Hopewell High School.
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