EPA
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The EPA is aware of the parents and community's concerns and we are working closely with the school district and all of the involved state agencies to give them information related to the Lehigh valley Derailment Superfund site about 4 miles from the school.

While EPA is gathering information about actions that took place at the Lehigh site before the site became a federal Superfund site, we do not believe pollution from either site is impacted the school. As we gather all of the facts, we will keep the community, our state partners and the school district up to date. In addition, there is another Superfund site about 10 miles east of the school that EPA also believes has no impact on the school.

Congresswoman Kathy Hochul
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The last several months have been challenging for the community of LeRoy. While we are all are anxious for answers, it's important that we allow medical and environmental experts to collect the facts and accurately identify the source of this unusual and unfortunate situation. Our top priority must be to protect the health and safety of the community of LeRoy and to this end, my office has been in contact with various federal agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency. As a Representative of this community, I'm committed to ensuring that the residents of LeRoy have access to the resources needed to fully understand this situation."

Dent Neurologic Institute
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We at the Dent Neurologic Institute understand the concern and fear that the patients and their families are having in regards to the diagnosis that has been established.

We also appreciate the input of any credible expert, as long as it is in the best interest of our patients. Their health and well-being has always been our primary goal. While this is a difficult time for all involved, it is equally important that the media's coverage of this matter be handled sensitively and responsibly with due consideration for our patients privacy and well-being.

Jennifer McVige, MD Laszlo Mechtler, MD
Pediatric Neurologist Vice President Dent Neurologic Institute

Le Roy Central School District to media
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Kim Cox, the superintendent of the Le Roy Central School District, is referring media inquiries on medical and environmental questions to the experts from the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. They are best equipped to answer your technical questions, as they have ours.

As has been communicated, the District has been working closely for months with numerous medical professionals, the State Department of Health, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. All of these agencies and dozens of professionals from these agencies have assured the District that the school is safe. There is no evidence of an environmental situation or infectious cause. In addition, to help assist the District with assessing all aspects of this situation, it hired its own independent environmental expert to conduct a review of the findings and offer alternative approaches if needed. This was done not because the District questioned the state medical professionals or federal agencies, but to help reassure the community. There are also some who are attempting to marry the 1970 derailment to the school when in fact the plume has been shown as moving in the opposite direction some three miles away.

The Le Roy community should take assurance that the Department of Health concluded extensive reviews of both the epidemiology and the clinical evaluations and found no evidence of environmental or infection as the cause of the students' illness. An environmental exposure would affect many people. The treating physicians ruled out PANDAS. The school was tested for Volatile Organic Compounds (including TCE) by an independent firm. The school is served by a public water system. The Gardasil vaccine was ruled out because many of the girls did not receive the vaccine. The Department of Environmental Conservation reaffirmed the evaluation that there is no evidence of environmental factors.

The District will certainly welcome input from outside experts if they choose to offer it in a professional and constructive manner. It will rely on its own expert as well as counsel from the Department of Health, DEC and EPA as to whether any further testing is deemed appropriate. However, in the event that it is recommended, it will be done with a specific plan based upon all available information and accepted scientific protocols. The District wants to be clear that it has confidence with respect to the conclusions of the Department of Health based upon its comprehensive review of this situation as well as the assessment of the physicians at the DENT Neurologic Institute.

The Le Roy Central School District and the Leroy community want what is best for the children in the schools. Unfortunately, the endless speculation without factual basis is creating an extreme level of anxiety and concern. Students are unable to focus on learning. The constant attention has had a negative impact on the recovery of some of the students who are directly affected, many who were improving and whose symptoms have now become exacerbated. The District knows this has been an emotionally hard situation on the community and everyone hopes for the speedy recovery of its students.

Leroy Central School District
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The Leroy Central School District uses natural gas from the Medina rock formation produced from several wells located on District property constructed in accordance with regulatory requirements. The gas is also processed on District property by adding mercaptan to it (by adding the distinct odor associated with natural gas) and by separating brine water from it. The gas produced by the District is used at the high school for only a portion of the year, as most of it is used at other school campuses in the District. No additional processing is required as gas produced from the Medina rock formation does not contain other substances which require removal in order to be safely used. In any event, the gas is produced from the wells and then piped into an airtight, self-contained delivery system, and is not released into the air inside the school or the air around the school; any leaks from the system would be noticed by persons in the area as the mercaptan (the odorant) would be easily detected by anyone. Natural gas from the Medina formation and the system used by the District to distribute it are used by many different schools and residences in this part of the state.

Did a chemical spill from a train derailment four decades ago have anything to do with an illness that’s causing uncontrollable outbursts and twitching in 15 girls and one boy in Le Roy, New York?

Bob Bowcock, an environmental water specialist associated with famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich, went to the derailment site Saturday to test for contaminants.

During a web exclusive interview Monday night, Bowcock told HLN’s Dr. Drew that an Environmental Protection Agency associate told him by phone “They basically admitted that it's been a while since they've been out there. They haven't even updated the case since 2008,” adding that the consultant for the party responsible for the spill had been out on the site.

Dr. Drew “Did they drop the ball?”
Bowcock: “They pretty much dropped the ball.”
Dr. Drew: "Did they admit they dropped the ball?"
Bowcock: "They didn’t say that we dropped the ball … but they did say it’s been a long time since…”
Bowcock then added: “They actually kind of did say they dropped the ball. It's been four years since they’ve been out there."

When asked to respond to Bowcock's claims, EPA spokeswoman Mary Mears told HLN that "No, we really don't have much to say at this point."

Earlier this week, the EPA released a statement, saying:

"The EPA is aware of the parents and community’s concerns and we are working closely with the school district and all of the involved state agencies to give them information related to the Lehigh Valley Derailment Superfund site about four miles from the school.

While EPA is gathering information about actions that took place at the Lehigh site before the site became a federal Superfund site, we do not believe pollution from either site is impacted the school. As we gather all of the facts, we will keep the community, our state partners and the school district up to date. In addition, there is another Superfund site about 10 miles east of the school that EPA also believes has no impact on the school."

The EPA says one ton of cyanide crystals spilled onto the ground in the December 6, 1970, derailment. About 30,000 gallons of the industrial solvent trichloroethene (TCE) was also released from two ruptured tank cars, the agency said.

"I have read and been involved in cases that we have had that TCE can be associated with neurological disorders," Brockovich told Dr. Drew.

The EPA's Superfund website, which provides a progress report of the cleanup done in the area over the past 20 years, said, "Drinking wells in the area were found to have TCE contamination. "Additionally, "Sampling of private wells between 1990 and 1994 detected TCE in approximately 50 wells located east or southeast of the site." The EPA installed water-treatment systems at 37 locations where TCE levels were high. "A water-line extension was selected to provide a safe, potable water supply to all affected residents and businesses," the EPA said.

To follow every update in this developing story, don't miss "Dr. Drew" weeknights at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on HLN and follow on Twitter @DrDrewHLN.

A 36-year-old woman who is a nurse has been diagnosed with conversion disorder. It's also known as Mass Psychogenic Illness. But are her tics and twitches related to the cases of more than a dozen teen girls and one boy in Le Roy, New York? She'll speak to Dr. Drew and his guests about the possible links between them. And does a limestone quarry in the area have anything to do with this medical mystery? Get the tonight's breaking news and today's developments about a situation that has an entire town holding its breath.

Watch Dr. Drew tonight and every weeknight at 9 on HLN.

Famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich sent her team over the weekend to look into whether a chemical spill from a 1970s train derailment had anything to do with an illness that's affecting 15 girls and one boy.

Environmental investigator and longtime Brockovich associate Bob Bowcock took soil and water samples in and around Le Roy, N.Y. However, he was told by school district officials that he was not to take any samples from school grounds.

“Well, if they`re not going to let them get a couple of samples, they should know that it makes them look like they`re trying to hide something,” said Lydia Parker, one of the tees suffering from the illness.

When Bowcock arrived at the derailment site, he was surprised to find an untended cleanup site, noting that some of the storage drums were leaking and corroded.

“Fifty-five gallon drums are rotting away, leaking material out into the environment right now,” he said. “Draw your own conclusion.”

Dr. Drew asked Brockovich and Bowcock why this was unlike anything either of them has ever seen.

“It took agencies so long to respond to a spill - 25 years,” Brockovich said.

Dr. Drew interjected, “So was there leaching of the spill for 25 years?"

Brockovich replied, “Absolutely.”

Bowcock also stated that the site itself has been rendered into a toxic dump.

“They`ve gone in and excavated some of the materials to do their testing, put it in 55 gallon drums and left in there to rot and just go right back into the environment,” he said.

Brockovich added, "We`ve done this for 21 years, and to see agency report, a federal agency report that discloses in the bedrock the levels of TCE are at 550 parts per million, neither he nor I in our 21-plus years of experience has ever seen where they've actually been able to show those concentrations.”

Bowcock concluded, "This one is just standing out like a sore thumb - the toxic dump and the derailment site. The derailment site is actually where the toxic dump is. What concerns us the most is that the care that`s been given to the cleanup of this has actually exacerbated or made the problem worse.”

Dr, Drew also asked about how the water table is pushing the chemicals.

“It`s being pushed and pulled,” he said.

Brockovich added, “The phenomenon - where the water rises and gets into the bedrock and pushes it out.

Dr. Drew noted, “What we need to now figure out is where it`s concentrating and find out if the girls have been exposed to one of these, and find this.”

In the video clip above, hear Brockovich talk about people who’ve written to her that live in this vicinity with similar medical problems.

“It may be the tip of the iceberg,” Dr. Drew said.

Watch Dr. Drew weeknights at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on HLN and follow the show on Twitter @DrDrewHLN.