WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- The crowd was small but the emotions were overflowing at a meeting Monday night to address the latest findings in the state's investigation into a possible cancer cluster in the Acreage.
Residents, including Tracy Newfield whose daughter Jessica's brain tumor at the age of 11 helped spark the investigation, came to demand answers.
Newfield hoped to learn findings that could bring peace to her family.
She said, "I can't sleep at night. I have to be assuring her every night before I go to bed and tell her she's gonna survive and she's fine. But, then at night I say to my husband, 'Should we be here? Should we be living in this house?' "
The Department of Health's Senior Environmental Epidemiologist Doctor Sharon Watkins tried to bring some clarity.
For the first time, she explained results from Phase 1 of their investigation, noting a higher than normal rate of pediatric brain tumors but admitting the study's limitations.
"I wish we had more answers but we don't," she told the crowd gathered at the Clayton E. Hutcheson Agriculture Center.
With few answers the investigation now moves to Phase 2.
Palm Beach County Health Department Director Dr. Alina Alonso explains that questionnaires are being created for residents and interviews for cancer patients' families will begin in a few weeks.
She also admits there are vast limitations, saying, "Science will not be able to answer everything you want to know."
So, patience wanes and frustration grows.
Although Dr. Watkins says the state is doing all it can, Newfield and other Acreage residents leave feeling they're walking away from yet another meeting with no answers.
Newfield says, "I don't understand. It's sad."
