Environmentalist Erin Brockovich is now investigating the strange illness that has effected at least 13 students that attended the same high school in Le Roy, N.Y. The illness seems to have many of the same symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes the sufferer to have uncontrolled body twitches and verbal outbursts. As of this writing doctors have been stumped as to the cause of these symptoms and are exploring the possibility of mass hysteria.
Brockovich is now investigating the possibility that the strange symptoms may have been caused by a train derailment in 1970 that was not cleaned up until 20 years later. The train was carrying poisonous chemicals including cyanide and trichloroethene. The cyanide was in crystal form so was easily cleaned up, but the trichloroethene seeped into the ground before it could be cleaned.
One of the teens affected, Chelsey Dummars, explained how the illness has changed her life in an interview with NBC’s Amy Robach.
“I was doing things,” Dummars said. “I was going places a lot before this happened. Now I don’t feel like even going to stores because I feel like people look at me and judge me.”
Erin Brockovich was made famous by Julia Roberts portrayal of her in the movie of the same name. The movie detailed her efforts to help victims after a cover up of chemical contamination by PG&E in California. She has championed victims as a consumer advocate for almost 20 years, including working with victim of the Gulf oil spill.
In an interview with USA Today she said “We don’t have all the answers, but we are suspicious, They have not ruled everything out yet. The community asked us to help and this is what we do.”
The spill was within three miles of Le Roy Junior-Senior, the high school these teens attended.
Erin Brockovich’s team was denied access to the school grounds to take samples by security and local police, but was allowed to walk the grounds with the press. State health officials have released results of air quality testing inside the schools, all of which were negative for any contaminants.