Fallon NV Leukemia Cluster Lawsuits. Our firm is investigating a childhood leukemia cluster in Fallon, Nevada which may be linked to the 240,000-acre Fallon Naval Air Station. Located only a few miles from Fallon, the Fallon Naval Air Station is one of the Navy’s largest bombing ranges, and home of the Top Gun fighter […]
Fallon NV Leukemia Cluster Lawsuits. Our firm is investigating a childhood leukemia cluster in Fallon, Nevada which may be linked to the 240,000-acre Fallon Naval Air Station. Located only a few miles from Fallon, the Fallon Naval Air Station is one of the Navy’s largest bombing ranges, and home of the Top Gun fighter pilot training school. Local residents believe that the childhood leukemia cluster in Fallon, as well as unusually high rates of other bone marrow disorders among children and adults, is associated with jet fuel spills and fuel dumping by Navy aircraft. Our Fallon, Nevada childhood leukemia cluster lawyers are working now to help families impacted by this public health tragedy obtain the justice they deserve.
If you live in this community and someone in your family has developed leukemia or some other bone marrow disorder, our Fallon, Nevada childhood leukemia cluster lawyers want to hear from you. We are offering free legal consultations to all affected Fallon families. If someone you love is a victim of leukemia or some other ailment possibly connected to the Fallon Naval Air Station, your family may be entitled to compensation. We urge you to contact one of our Fallon, Nevada childhood leukemia cluster lawyers today to protect your legal rights.
According to one study, the children of Fallon, Nevada are more than 100 times more likely to be stricken with leukemia then children elsewhere in country. Children and adults in Fallon and surrounding Churchill County have also reported a number of other rare bone marrow diseases, such as Myelodysplastic Syndrome and aplastic anemia. Such illnesses are often caused by some type of toxic exposure.
JP-8 jet fuel, a combination of kerosene and benzene, is a known carcinogen and has been linked to leukemia and other bone marrow diseases. While the Navy claims it has ruled out any connection between jet fuel and childhood leukemia and other health problems in Fallon, it is known that that the Fallon Naval Air Station is responsible for at least 26 toxic waste sites, 16 of them contaminated by jet fuel.
The ground beneath Fallon is playa – a dry lakebed over shallow groundwater. Nearby residents charge that Navy fighter pilots routinely dump excess fuel into the desert prior to landing at Fallon. The Navy says this is a rare occurrence, with emergency fuel dumps happening about three times a year. However, Navy records show that in a single instance a few years ago more than 800 gallons was dumped into the Carson playa. According to the US Geological Survey, several distinct plumes of jet fuel have entered the water table beneath the air base.
The Fallon Naval Air Station also utilizes a pipeline, which runs from Sparks, Nevada to Fallon, to transport jet fuel to the base. Residents and environmentalists claim this pipeline is a source of frequent leaks. Again, the Navy claims these leaks have been “inconsequential”, but in recent years, two whistleblowers have charged that 30,000 gallons of fuel had leaked from the pipeline and from a truck in 1988 and 1989 alone. At first, the Navy dismissed those charges, but later admitted there had in fact been two major spills.
Another source of jet fuel contamination of Fallon area water could be three old underground storage tanks. A report filed with Congress several years ago revealed that underground saltwater has seriously corroded the 45-year old tanks (each with a capacity of more than a half million gallons) and noted that the tanks lack any kind of overfill and leak protection.
In 1989, federal officials demanded an oversight system to monitor jet fuel inventories at the Fallon Naval Air Station, yet there has still been no independent monitoring of jet fuel inventories at the base. Because of the lack of oversight, the Navy has almost no idea how much fuel it has on the base or where it goes. In fact, in 1990, the base commander admitted that he couldn’t account for the whereabouts of more than 350,000 gallons of fuel.
The threat of jet fuel spills are not the only issues at the Fallon Naval Air Base. A 1994 survey of groundwater in the Fallon area by the US Geological Survey showed that 31 or 73 drinking water wells showed high concentrations of radioactive minerals. A possible source of the radiation could be depleted uranium expended by bombs and missiles at the Fallon bombing ranges. Navy statistics show that more than 7 million pounds of ordinance is dropped on the Fallon bombing ranges every year.
It is difficult to believe that the environmental problems at the Fallon Naval Air Station and the high incidence of childhood leukemia and other ailments in the surrounding community could be a mere coincidence. Our Fallon, Nevada childhood leukemia cluster lawyers are determined to get to the bottom of this public health mystery. If your family has been impacted by leukemia or any other health problems that could be the result of toxic exposures in Fallon, you may have valuable legal rights. To discuss your case with one of our Fallon, Nevada childhood leukemia cluster lawyers, please fill out our online form or call 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-529-5636) today.