Residents Near Fort Detrick Seeking Answers on Cancer Concerns

FREDERICK, Md. - The search for answers in Frederick continued on Thursday. People who live near Fort Detrick want to know if what’s been happening there has been causing cancer clusters in the community.

Monica Chew lives a few hundred yards away from the area in question. Two years ago, she had her kidney removed because of tumors.

"It was really freakish that they found it by accident because I was having problems with my liver and it was a sudden, scary thing," said Chew.

It got even scarier when Chew says she started hearing stories about her neighbors getting sick. Chew’s neighbor lost her husband of 40 years, dying from cancer in February.

The county health department is holding meetings with residents who live in the area that may be affected. The goal was to answer questions and give an update on the investigation.

By one account, 400 families have at least one person with cancer within a two-mile radius of Fort Detrick.

Many are concerned that the fort used chemicals like Agent Orange in the past and now they are suffering.

"We have asked the Army and the Army has agreed to this. They’re doing historical records research on tactical herbicides that they have used in area B. In other words, Agent Orange,’ said Hank Sokolowski of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Government leaders say they hope to have some final answers about what is going on by December. In the meantime, residents continue to wait and wonder.