Toxic waste in landfill made kids sick

News12
PELHAM BAY
12/10/03

Court to hear cases claiming toxic waste in Pelham Bay landfill made kids sick

Toxic chemicals dumped in Pelham Bay landfill decades ago may have caused a cancer outbreak in the northeast Bronx. After ten years, a court will hear the case of the Bronx families who say the chemicals gave their kids cancer.

Thirty-seven children were diagnosed with leukemia and numerous other types of cancer all within a five-year period. In 1978, the landfill closed. By then, millions of gallons of toxic waste had been illegally dumped on top of Pelham Bay Park. To this day, it leaks into Eastchester Bay.

This landfill has been closed for 25 years, but some Bronx families whose lives may have been affected by the illegal dumping will soon get their day in court. A Bronx court will hear their case in January. City officials would not comment on this issue because it is pending litigation.