A cancerous tumour robbed Craig Coombes of one of his vocal cords in 2012. Speaking is now nearly impossible by the end of each day. Mr Coombes, in his mid-50s, struggles with a “grumbly voice” that people find difficult to understand.
But he had no shortage of words this week, following a NSW Health study which dismissed suggestions of a cancer cluster on Williamtown’s Cabbage Tree Road, where Mr Coombes lived in the 1990s.
“This is such a huge kick in the guts again,” Mr Coombes wrote in an email to the Newcastle Herald.
“Dealing with cancer is pretty hard; it takes so much away from you physically and emotionally.
“Every day you wonder if today’s the day that I commence that dreaded stage of final decline into death. Every day.”
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NSW Health’s study was prompted by a Herald investigation which uncovered 50 cancer cases in 15 years on the rural stretch, which runs through the heart of a toxic contamination plume enveloping the Williamtown RAAF base. The effects of the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl [PFAS] chemicals are still under debate, but overseas studies have linked them to various cancers and suppression of the immune system.
The state government’s study – widely condemned by residents and Labor – was based on the cancer statistics for more than 12,000 people, some living 30-plus kilometres away from Cabbage Tree Road and most occupying properties unaffected by the contamination.
Mr Coombes now lives in Melbourne but remembers working outdoors and eating home-grown eggs during his time on Cabbage Tree Road.
Since then, he has been plagued by a slew of serious health problems: diverticular disease, a vocal cord tumour, thyroid cancer and, in the past six months, a growth on his adrenal gland and kidney stones.
He was incensed by NSW Health’s approach.
“It seems like they just don’t care about human life but it all boils down to money and admission of guilt,” he said.
“Money won’t change the prognosis, knowing they are guilty won’t change the prognosis, but it would help as life has become difficult in so many ways.”
Mr Coombes described it as “deflating” to feel that the residents’ lives were not considered to be of value.
“It’s such a huge kick. [We are] already down, so digging the boots in is easy.
“It’s like a waiting game I suppose – hoping that the already weakened will give in and let it go because it’s a stress we don’t need.
“I hope that it’s not the case ... I hope somehow they are brought to justice, I hope they have sleepless nights because living with the guilt destroys their conscience.”
