Data source (Clara Molot, 2025): "The scientific community’s definition of 'cancer clusters' (an unusually high number of cases of the same kind of cancer in the same geographic area during the same period of time) hindered the Virginia Department of Health (V.D.H.) from studying Roanoke’s uptick in cancer cases, since the types of cancer and locations of diagnosis there varied extensively [...] Since 'the transition' to Donald Trump’s second presidency began [...] At the C.D.C., several of the employees who had been tasked with ensuring cancer clusters were investigated have been fired"

See also for further data (Clara Molot, 2024): "Baldwin decided to reach out to the V.D.H. in March of 2021 requesting a cancer-cluster investigation. In August, the V.D.H. declined her request. 'Unfortunately your inquiry would not qualify as a true cancer cluster,' the response read [...] In December of 2022, Kelsey Palmer died at the age of 29. She had beaten the Wilms’ tumor, but the chemotherapy had given her leukemia. Palmer’s death re-ignited Baldwin’s search for answers. The Virginia Department of Health wouldn’t do anything about this, she thought. So what else can we do? Baldwin reached out to local lawyers. 'Nobody got back to us,' she says."

  • What ECS did test — sub-slab soil gas — showed industrial levels of carbon tetrachloride beneath the school’s Bartlett Hall; perchloroethylene in a dormitory called Chalmers; and chloroform across multiple dorms, fraternity houses, and Miller Hall itself. All three chemicals are probable carcinogens, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, part of the World Health Organization) and the US National Toxicology Program (NTP).

    And still, according to the ECS report obtained by Molot, students weren’t relocated. Parents weren’t notified.

    https://katiecouric.com/news/opinion/cancer-roanoke-college-opinion/

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    Scandalous. Thank goodness Katie is still doing actual journalism.

    Class action suit needed.

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    Omg I feel like no one else but me ever remembers Ghostwriter!! It was so good lol

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    Open and shut case, no?

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    Kinda depends on how many other universities have similar levels of that stuff.

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    Getting any sort of justice in an air pollution case is basically almost zero

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  • So tangentially related, graduate housing at William & Mary is built over a former dump/disposal site. I lived there for five years. Everyone had mysterious illnesses, exacerbated by the ground it was built on but also by the fact that there was mold everywhere from the walls to under the unpadded carpets. Virginia has a lot of issues.

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  • There is also a cluster of a rare form of eye cancer in graduates of Auburn (link).

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  • As someone who grew up in nearby Blacksburg, VA, this is deeply disturbing and now I will enter this rabbit hole….

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    As a native of Lynchburg, I'm going to start texting some people I know who went to RC.

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    I had never heard of this before but definitely know people who went here for school :/ Hope your friends are ok and I’m curious to dive deeper into this

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    Ugh I’m from Roanoke which is why this caught my eye…

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  • I attended Roanoke during this time period, I know so many of the people listed in these articles, but I've only just found out about this now. I live abroad, but I haven't seen the College issue anything about this to the alumni. I'm currently going down a rabbit hole...

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  • That is horrific ! Why does no one care ? Like where is the Erin Brockovich in this situation ??? These people need HELP !

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    She’s still alive and runs a blog exposing similar cases!

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  • Sounds like a repeat of Love Canal. I bet the property used to be a chemical waste dump.

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    Yep and the Love Canal residents are still going through it.

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  • Testing of water table below these areas, especially if institutions have their own wells and water supply systems. What about current and past mining activities in these areas? Same goes for large agricultural activities. Also, current and past military bases where toxic substances could have been disposed of? Geologists and hydrologists should be consulted to see how below ground water flows below these areas. You could be 10s of miles from the polluting source at a higher elevation, but water flows “downhill” and can compromise an aquifer. Don’t forget about the railroads too. They use herbicides to help control vegetation along the rail line right of way.

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  • Can someone tell me exactly, which years are we looking at?

    Recent grads implies it could have started affecting students anytime between 2018 to 2021.

    Just wanna make sure people I know who worked in Roanoke are ok.

    Is it only affecting College students or the community as a whole?

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  • Is there a DuPont plant nearby perchance?

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  • The excuse that they can't investigate because the victims 'dispersed' is infuriating. It’s a college—of course people leave after graduating! Dismissing a 15x mortality rate just because the victims moved zip codes feels like gross negligence, not a scientific limitation.

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