1995 Sun Herald story: Lamar County residents don't trust cancer studies

BAXTERVILLE -- A quarter of all Lamar County residents will die from cancer.

And that's normal.

The grim statistic mirrors national figures.

But some residents blame cancer deaths on the federal government, which exploded two atomic bombs underground in 1964 and 1966.

"Half the people around here are dying with cancer," said Claudette Ezell, 59, who owns a country store about 4 miles from the site where two bombs were exploded.

"My husband died at 47. His best friend died at 45," said Ezell, who fears the underground tests contaminated the water. "I buy bottled water 'cause I'm scared."

Not everyone agrees the bomb tests spread radiation and caused cancer.

"I know it ain't causing cancer," said James Butler, 74, a Baxterville resident who hangs out around Ezell's store.

"I was over there," Butler said. "There never has been nothing to flow out of it."

Butler worked at the drill site. He is healthy and believes cigarettes, chewing tobacco and unhealthy living cause cancer. He believes residents who say the bomb tests have caused cancer are hoping to get money from the federal government.

Though government tests have found no radiation leaks, many residents discount the reports and believe the government is conspiring against them.

Butler's position is not popular.

"He's the onliest one that thinks it ain't causing cancer," said Ezell, who cursed at Butler. He cursed back and argued, and she eventually told him to leave her store.

Deaths not excessive

The U.S. Department of Energy recently examined death records in Lamar County for the 12 years after 1980. Among some 2,185 deaths, 562 were from cancer -- about 25 percent, which also is the national average.

"There are no excess cancer deaths for Lamar County compared to the rest of the state," DOE epidemiologist Bonnie Richter told residents at a public hearing in Lamar County on Thursday, when DOE released the study results.

If residents had been exposed to radiation, cancers should have shown up in the 15 years to 20 years since the blasts, Richter said.

"We couldn't find any pattern of disease," she said.

"I have concluded there is no excess risk of cancer in Lamar County."

Several government officials repeated the message: The explosions nearly 30 years ago have not created a health hazard for Lamar County residents.

During a question-and-answer session at a hearing, Huey Gibson stood to refute Richter with stories of suffering by the county's cancer victims.

Gibson, 64, leads those who believe the government has concealed information. He displayed a death certificate that listed a heart attack as the cause of death for a man Gibson said he knew had died of cancer. Gibson maintains Richter's report is meaningless.

He believes radiation has leaked from the salt dome and has poisoned the population.

"We know, and we believe people are dying from radiation from the salt dome," said Gibson, a veteran who lives 3- 1/2 miles from the test site.

He said he has found cases of sterility, deafness and multiple miscarriages in the county, which he attributes to radiation from the dome. He's contacted attorneys from Mobile, who took several depositions in Lamar County but dropped the case.

The government's arguments make him more determined.

"The federal government will lie to you," he said. "I'm ready to go national."

The cooler heads

County Supervisor Bill Bishop, 59, does not fear radiation from the salt dome, but he takes the concerns of his constituents seriously.

"I am concerned about the unknown," said Bishop, who has combed the test site with a Geiger counter and found no abnormal radiation.

"These are my people," he said. "When they are concerned, I am concerned."

Despite what the scientists and the studies have shown, these people are worried, he said.

Dan Johnson, 50, who works as a mechanic and handyman at Ezell's Baxterville store, said he remembers the blast nearly 30 years ago.

"It made the ground roll like wind on the water," said Johnson, who was holding his son in his arms when the explosion nearly bowled him over. Johnson and his son are healthy. But his wife is ill, and he believes radiation has caused cancer in some of his neighbors.

He is suspicious of reports that the number of cancer deaths in his community are normal.

"People have been getting sick and dying with cancer ever since," he said. "The federal government and the (timber company that owned the land) have sold the people out."

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 2:56 PM with the headline "1995 Sun Herald story: Lamar County residents don't trust cancer studies ."