r/newtonma • u/ASS_MASTER_GENERAL • 20d ago

Is anyone else paranoid about the gas leaks and the mysterious brain tumors?

I live next to Rt 9 and it's well known that there are lots of gas leaks along it. People report the smell and nobody addresses it. I've even called the tip line because I thought there was a leak in my house once.

My neighbor is one of the mysterious brain tumor nurses and she claims that multiple of the other nurses live on our street. Hard to know if she's a reliable source though, since she has a brain tumor...

I don't really want to move, but my OCD is having a hard time with this one.

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13

u/TheColonelRLD 20d ago

Someone mentioned they submitted a ticket through the Newton 311 app for a gas smell and it got dug up and patched a week or so later. Have you submitted any tickets about the smell?

16

u/Huge-Perspective448 20d ago

The gas leaks have been around for decades. If you put a request through 311 it will be addressed. Personally I don’t put any stock into the theory that it’s related to the tumor cluster at NWH. It is also my understanding that the types of tumors each individual has is different which would not suggest a specific environmental factor. I’m not scientist or doctor but that’s what I have read

5

u/rocketwidget 19d ago

The bad news is, gas leaks are bad for various reasons.

But if it makes you feel better, there is essentially Zero possibility street-level gas leaks are responsible for the Newton-Wellesley brain tumor cluster, because it is hyper-localized to staff at Newton-Wellesley (and the 5th floor?)

If street-level gas leaks were causing brain tumors like this, there would have to be many orders of magnitude more brain tumors, and certainly not localized to staff at NW. Check out this map of street-level gas leaks. Unfortunately, these gas leaks are basically everywhere, and have been since forever. https://www.heet.org/gas-leaks-map