Delaware officials have confirmed a cancer cluster near the Indian River power plant; the rate of cancer cases in the area is 17 percent higher than the national average. Indian River is a coal-fired power plant.Despite this finding, the Division of Public Health is unlikely to study the cluster further. The Department cited a lack of resources and historical difficulty in connecting environmental causes to cancer rates.
Resident activists say that this decision is not acceptable and that more study is needed.
"We are saying, you need to spend the money and do it right," said Pat Gearity, spokeswoman for Citizens for Clean Power. Gearity said that the state is responsible for this investigation, not private citizens.
