Coal Ash, Thyroid Cancer Meeting Set For Thursday In Mooresville

MOORESVILLE, NC — In the wake of an explosive report on the emergence of what appears to be a thyroid cancer cluster in Mooresville, state lawmakers and a county health department official are scheduled to conduct an information session for real estate agents Thursday.

Event organizer and Mooresville Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Qualls, who is also a loan officer, said the upcoming meeting is geared for Realtors, however the public is welcome to attend.

The “Coal Ash & Thyroid Cancer Realtor Information Session” is set to take place Thursday, Jan. 9, from 9 a.m. until noon at the Charles Mack Citizen Center, 215 N. Main St. in Mooresville. “Update with facts, not fake news,” read a notice posted on the Town of Mooresville’s Facebook page Monday.

Scheduled to appear at the event are Sen. Vickie Sawyer, Rep. John Fraley and Brady Freeman of the Iredell County Health Department.

The Town of Mooresville has provided space for the event, but is not sponsoring it, Qualls said, adding that the purpose of the panel is to provide Realtors with information including reports, such as an assessment released last year by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on the history of thyroid cancer in Iredell County.

In that report, state health officials validated that new thyroid cancer diagnosis were higher in Iredell County, particularly in the southeastern and southwestern part of the county, over a period of time where diagnosis also increased around the state and nationally.

“The reasons for higher rates of thyroid cancer diagnosis in southern Iredell County are not known,” the report said. “Radiation is the only environmental exposure that has been clearly linked to thyroid cancer; our review found no evidence of increased exposure to radiation based on routine monitoring of the area around the McGuire Nuclear Site during the past 40 years”

The rate of thyroid cancer diagnosis in Iredell County is about double the statewide average, NBC News reported late last week. While rates appear higher, state health officials have not officially designated the county as a cancer cluster, citing the need for more research because the clusters “can appear or disappear depending on the parameters used," Kelly Haight Connor, a Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman, told NBC.

Qualls told Patch that the Jan. 9 meeting is not a result of the NBC report. “This event was created to keep the real estate community in the loop with information they can share with potential clients,” she said. “As a town, county and state- all elected officials take this seriously and will continue to support scientific testing and data gathering to see if any correlation can be made for any of the information and guide the next steps.”

The NBC News report may be found here.