Corby Families Demand Answers on Cancer Links to Toxic Waste

Families in Corby, Northamptonshire, are raising urgent concerns about a potential link between toxic waste sites and rising childhood cancer rates. This follows a personal tragedy experienced by Alison Gaffney and Andy Hinde, whose son, Fraser, was diagnosed with a rare type of leukaemia at just 17 months old in 2018. After enduring two years of intense treatment—including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and a stem cell transplant—Fraser achieved remission. However, as he recovered, Gaffney began to question the factors contributing to her son’s illness.

During a hospital visit, a consultant remarked, “It keeps us up at night wondering how Fraser got his cancer.” This comment lingered in Gaffney’s mind, driving her to explore the connections between Fraser’s condition and the contamination issues surrounding Corby. The town has a troubling history; after the closure of Europe’s largest steelworks in 1979, millions of tonnes of contaminated waste were improperly disposed of. A civil case in 2009 linked the local council’s negligence in handling this waste to various birth defects in children throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

As Gaffney delved deeper, she uncovered alarming statistics. “Fraser’s cancer is not genetic,” she noted. “So what are the reasons? It’s got to be down to the town. Everybody in this town knows somebody who’s got a child with cancer. That’s not normal.” Alongside Hinde, Gaffney has connected with around 130 families in Corby who share similar experiences. They have begun documenting cases of childhood cancer dating back to 1988, advocating for a thorough investigation into the potential links between these cases and the town’s toxic legacy.

Public Health Analysis on the Horizon

At the end of the month, public health officials are expected to release an analysis assessing whether Corby has experienced an unusually high incidence of childhood cancer relative to its population of 70,000. “All we want is to try and protect future people so they do not have to endure the pain that we’ve been through,” Gaffney emphasized.

The 2009 civil claim established that from 1983 to 1997, contaminated materials from the steelworks were transported predominantly from southern Corby to Deene Quarry in the north. During this process, large quantities of toxic waste were dumped on public roads, creating substantial dust pollution. Gaffney believes that the waste was disposed of not just at Deene Quarry, but throughout other areas of the town.

Recently, Gaffney welcomed a positive development when North Northamptonshire Council announced plans to test land suspected of contamination. During a recent meeting, council staff admitted they lacked documentation regarding the locations of contaminated sites. “They said: ‘We don’t know where these sites are. We have no documentation, we have nothing on it,’” Gaffney recounted.

The council has stated that while they have information indicating waste was disposed of at Deene Quarry, they are investigating other areas where contamination may have occurred. Their commitment to transparency has prompted a cautious optimism among residents. “Local authorities don’t normally hold their hands up and take this on, but we’re really proud of them for doing so,” Gaffney added.

Community Response and Calls for Transparency

The council’s recent actions have garnered support from other families affected by childhood cancer. Tonia Shalgosky, a pastoral lead at a local primary school, shared her own experience of watching her nine-year-old daughter, Bella, battle blood cancer. “It’s in our interest, it’s in Bella’s interest for the council to share that information,” she stated. “There are so many people in the town diagnosed with childhood cancer, and I just feel it’s too much to ignore.”

Meg Lyons, who lost her sister Eve to cancer in 2017, echoed this sentiment, asserting that families deserve “complete and utter truth and transparency” from the council. Lyons’s mother recalls the environmental impact of the steel plant’s closure, stating that the air was so thick with dust that “you couldn’t put your hand in front of your face.”

Gaffney’s campaign group is also receiving insights from whistleblowers connected to the waste disposal activities. Notably, Gaffney’s father was among the lorry drivers who transported waste from the steelworks. She recounted, “He wasn’t even licensed to drive a lorry. He said: ‘Me and the other guys weren’t licensed but they had us drive these big lorries through the town, just dumping it.’”

Des Collins, the lawyer who represented families in the 2009 civil claim, now advocates for Gaffney and other families. He insists that only a statutory public inquiry can uncover the full truth about the situation. “Environmental testing, in order to rule out causation, is a highly complex process requiring stringent parameters and oversight,” Collins explained.

The leader of North Northamptonshire Council, Martin Griffiths, expressed optimism about the path forward, stating that their meeting with Gaffney and Hinde represents a commitment to collaboration for the benefit of Corby residents. The council plans to establish a working group, which will include Gaffney, to address public health and contamination issues.

As testing on potentially contaminated land approaches, Gaffney remains hopeful. “Every family that comes through, I’m listening to their stories and it’s so hard. If anything, it just gives us that further fight,” she said. “We’ve got to find answers for these children.”