Do you trust the government story of What they said you know Happened and how much radiation was Released the numbers that they’ve Eluded at no what you see in all three Cases Is a rise in the thyroid cancer rate i Had to lose my whole thyroid I have to do that for the rest of my Life On march 28 1979 at the 3 mile island Nuclear power plant near middletown Pennsylvania a cooling malfunction Caused part of the core to melt in the Number 2 reactor The tmi2 reactor was destroyed thus Sending the plant into a lockdown and Causing a massive panic in nearby towns This was the most serious accident in U.s commercial nuclear power plant Operating history and would forever Change the future of nuclear power in The united states Then u.s president jimmy carter visited The plant in the days after the accident In a move that was meant to assure the Public that the radiation levels being Emitted from the plant were barely above Normal However in the years since the Three-mile island incident many have Raised questions about just how much Radiation was released into the
Environment that day Although the official government story Is that no massive amounts of radiation Were released and that there were never Any adverse health effects on people who Lived in the area and continue to live There There is a group of people who are Raised in the area who have noticed Higher cancer rates in the region that Are directly related to radiation Exposure While i was in pennsylvania i decided to Stop by and speak to someone who had Contracted thyroid cancer herself Who believes that the incident and three Mile island had something to do with it This is the beginning of my special Mini-series here on the paranormal files Where i’m going to explore abandoned Dangerous and toxic locations across the United states and expose hidden truths That people in power simply don’t want You to know This is american toxic Do you wanna just say something anything Sure welcome to elizabethtown college Okay awesome so why don’t you just Look at the camera and show yourself and Then we’ll get going Okay so my name is christine achenbach Kimmel I was a freshman at cedar cliff high School
In camp hill pennsylvania on the end of March of 1979 When three mile island had its incident We’re currently at elizabethtown college And behind me our beautiful mineral Gallery And this is where i work i’m an Occupational therapist And my job right now for the last 18 and A half years Has been placing our occupational Therapy interns in their play in their Internships So i’ve been a health care provider for 32 years A master’s degree from penn state at Capitol campus in health education so My life has been all about helping People To be the healthiest that they can be And for that reason i think I’m motivated also to share this story Well i know that Tmi almost melted down At whatever happened on a friday i was Only it was 1979 And i was born in 64. so i was a Freshman in high school I don’t have a really great memory but You know whenever there’s a historical Kind of a Experience like that it’s kind of like You know exactly where you were when 9 11 happened
So i know i was in high school At the time i was dating a guy who had Just graduated high school from our Neighboring high school in the same District And he was threatening to Come to school come to cedar cliff pick Me up and just start driving And just to get me out of town because He was scared about what was happening He was a graduate redland high school Which is probably The high school that is closest to tmi As the crow flies it’s right across the River from tmi in lewisbury pennsylvania So he was really nervous about what was Going on And being out of school he was listening To the news and you know what was all Happening Just to give you a little context in 1979 we didn’t have the internet We didn’t have computers we didn’t have Cell phones So mass communication happened by tv Radio And you would have to pick up a landline Because everybody had one in their house So at least one if not two And you communicated that’s how you Communicated so trying to get Information out to the masses already is A challenge So i’m in school and we hear the sirens
Go off And we’re wondering what the heck is Going on so of course the teachers and The school officials they’re telling us What they know and what they’re allowed To tell us we’re all wondering well you Know if you if you knew Something about nuclear energy like our Physics teacher our chemistry teacher They kind of had a little bit more of a Clue but the rest of us Peons we didn’t really understand you Know what this nuclear energy thing was Just to give a little context to i lived In lemoyne which is Probably about 14 miles from tmi And they really only considered within a 10 mile radius of The reactors to be ground zero so we Were Safer than people in ground zero so People were wondering well should i I mean there were all kinds of people That were leaving town they were packing Things up Shutting up their house driving in any Direction just to get away And recently when witf tv and radio Put on a 40-year anniversary Celebration if you will or remembrance I’m not sure what they called it They had some events where you could get Together with other people that had Memories so their
Memories kind of filled in some of the Blanks for me and i Learned a little bit more i think as to What we have learned as a culture in a Community and Just the general area and what science And what exelon wants us to know And you know all the people that were Involved at the time We’ve kind of learned a little since 1979. so My dad was a mechanic and a car salesman He owned a place in steelton Pennsylvania which is very close to Middletown which is the address for tmi If you go up 230 He had a place there where he sold and Repaired cars And because he was such a great mechanic He had people from out of the area who Would bring him their oldsmobiles Mercedes benz you know more Expensive cars they trusted him he was a Good mechanic well when tmi Happened they actually refused to come Pick up their cars And at that time in the late 70s Into the early 80s car businesses Were failing at about half Half of the car businesses that went Into business were failing So we had that issue and we had The service manager was coming in on Sundays when we would go to church he
Would come in on sundays and steal parts From the parts department to the tune of About ten thousand dollars So between customers not picking up Their cars Coming back in town to pick up their Cars and they were calling my dad Saying charlie you need to keep the car In your shop i don’t want to Expose any more radiation than it Already is being inside this brick Building So my dad’s like i’m trying to run a Business here how can i bring other cars In and have them repaired if yours is Here in storage and you’re not Paying me so it was a really rough time So I never actually put it together until In march when i was reviewing all this Again and my dad actually closed the Doors and lost the business in 1980 and We declared bankruptcy as they declared Bankruptcy as A couple my my dad and mom probably has A combination of the tmi incident And the kind of the fallout if you will It’s a really bad Word but a double meaning there from all Of that So being you know 14 whatever i was at The time I never really put the pieces together To realize that these things were all
Connected So it really did impact my social History But getting back to the actual day i Just remember that they closed school We went home we were told to do whatever We needed to do whatever our families Felt was the right thing to do for Us whether that was leaving town i don’t Remember how many days school was closed But i do remember that jimmy carter came To town And toured tmi shortly after all of this Happened So from what we’ve pieced together since Then They were worried about the hydrogen Bubble that was Accumulating in uh reactor two or Cooling tower two i believe it was And they were worried about all of the Overheating that was happening And what they shared at the witf events In march this year Was that there was a release valve that Was Not opened when it should have been it Would have released The extra hot water that was Accumulating in the cooling tower And because of that there was something That the reading wasn’t correct so the Technicians didn’t know to fix this Problem
And that they’re claiming is what caused All of the problem So i’ve been looking at some of the Research since then And have some information that i think Is interesting so if there was Radiation released that day there’s Conflicting stories about that Apparently there’s a helicopter that Flew over the tower That day and because it was directly Over the tower the reading that it got Got miscommunicated to the masses that That was actually the reading Like outside the that general vicinity So everybody assumed that that reading Was um an indication that there was a Lot of radiation released But i don’t know that anyone has really Ever come Forward and said this is how much Radiation there was I know i’ve i’ve looked at research that Has measured residual radiation of Course radiation you know has half lives So If uh let’s say a certain let’s say Plutonium has a half i’m I’m not a chemist or an engineer so i Don’t know these things but let’s say If something has a half-life of 10 years That means in five years it still has Half the radiation it had when it was First
Kind of created and then half again it’s Still going to have half that much so it Never Actually fully is not radioactive Because you can cut things in half all The time and you’re still going to have A number So how much radiation it was retained by Things like the rocks in the susquehanna River So there are studies out there that Measure residual radiation In that situation i’ve also looked at What’s happened In chernobyl in the area surrounding Chernobyl since that Accident and also in japan since that Reaction And what you see in all three cases in Tmi Chernobyl and also in japan is a rise in The thyroid cancer rate Because we know thyroid cancer is caused By radiation overexposure So there’s been a lot of things that Have happened since then That i think are attributable but There’s really no one smoking gun that Says yes this is truly Cause and effect and as someone who’s Been working in Social science for the last almost 19 Years and doing research i can tell you You really never can fully say a causes
B You can never really identify that There’s a causal relationship you can Say there’s a correlation But to fully say there’s causal Relationship you have to be really Really Conservative about that if you’re within Um 10 miles of tmi now you every year you Get In the mail a printed color brochure About what to do in case there is an Emergency at tmi So i always look at it and laugh and say Yeah buddy you’re about 40 years too Late You know we could have used this Information so To bring it to today then what i think Is some poetic irony so my birthday’s in September And in september of this year tmi would Be officially shut down and i see that As Kind of a victory if you will What’s also interesting in in the after Effects from tmi Is that there have been no new nuclear Reactors open In the country since tmi so i think That’s another historical marker that Is worth noting about this whole Incident so the whole
Entire complex is going to be shut down Right yes And they’re saying that to completely Dismantle everything will take fully 60 Years Yeah that’s it nuclear energy is one of The least Researched kinds of forms of energy So i remember at the one witf event I think he was a physicist and people Were asking him well why do we have to Go For nuclear energy why can’t we develop You know renewables like wind and solar And he said no matter what you pick Energy and matter cannot be created or Destroyed they just change states So you’re going to take solar energy and Turn it into electricity To do all of those things will take some Sort of Material that is toxic to our Environment So i had never really thought about that Before so solar panels apparently use a Heavy metal To collect solar energy so what do you Do with a solar panel when it’s no Longer able to collect solar energy Efficiently Does that go on a landfill do we reclaim It repurpose it what do we do with that But i i still think that nuclear energy Is probably the
Least smart in my opinion uh Source that we could do you know why not Do Turbines on a dam and use the motion of The waterfall or the dam to create some Steam heat and for electricity i just Think that we’re not Putting our research dollars and our Energy dollars where they really need to Be Okay question number three this one’s a Pretty short one Do you trust the government story of What they said you know happened and how Much radiation was Released the numbers that they’ve eluded At so I what you’re asking is is the Government ever fully truthful with Us my categorical answer to that Regardless of the country you’re talking About is no I don’t really think that anyone fully If they’ve got something to convince Someone of that they’re ever fully going To Tell the truth objectively i think They’re going to spin it They the way they want people to hear it The way they want people to believe it I think one of the purposes of the Government is to reduce the fear Response to any event regardless of what It is
You know you’ve got to i mean there’s What 350 or Million or more people in this country If we all got up in arms about Anything all at once and we actually did What people In france do where they protest and they Gather and they say look we want this to Stop We’d have some major things going on Especially if public health is at risk I would hope we would have a big Response and that’s what i think the Government needs to manage And one way that they manage that is Through mitigating And spinning and we see that coming out Of the white house all the time Let’s put it the way i want you to Believe it so We never quite can get at the truth so What do you think Is the truth behind the incident in any Way that you’d like to present it What do you think happened what has been Happening The core of the argument is so my Personal belief is i’m a conservative Christian And one of the tenets of our faith is That we have to be good stewards of what We have God gave us this earth he created the Garden of eden he gave us all the
Animals and the Foods and the trees and everything for Our Needs and for our enjoyment but he also Put us in charge of taking care of it And The job we’ve been doing at that we Should all be ashamed of ourselves Just global warming enough whether Whether you believe that or not that Certainly the evidence is there that That’s happening and we are ruining our Earth Why we even have plastic bags anymore in Grocery stores is a mystery to me Because we know that When you create a piece of plastic it’s There for how many hundreds of years That is not good stewardship so in the Context of that of being a good steward I think that nuclear energy makes Absolutely no sense whatsoever Spent fuel rods we know that that Radioactivity continues to be emitted Where do you put that whether you take It out in the middle of the nevada Desert and you bury it deep in the Ground You know for every action there’s an Equal and opposite reaction Something is going to happen that will Be a result of that I really think that what witf was Sharing
In march i have no reason to believe That they have any hidden agenda I tend to believe that public television Public radio Probably has one of the more pure I don’t want to say completely objective But one of the more trustworthy Approaches to newscasting and news Reporting than maybe fox news or some of The other Agencies that are out there not that i Fully trust anyone because All of us have our opinions and human Memory is not Not infallible so i think i believe That it was that technical Malfunction of the heat vent or heat Release Valve that caused the buildup of energy That almost Caused the hydrogen bubble or almost Caused a nuclear meltdown I am thankful that they caught it and Remediated it in time That whatever damage happened was all That happened Because it could have been horrific it Could have been hiroshima Or nagasaki right here in middletown Pennsylvania And then that means that the current Generations would know that tmi stands For something besides too much Information
If you’ve ever flown into hia harrisburg International airport you fly Basically over the um cooling towers And it’s really eerie there’s four of Them there two of them are still Producing steam they will still continue To produce electricity until september Two of them have not produced Electricity since march of 1979. Yeah i think that what they’re telling Us is probably True is it all of the truth I would never think that that was the Case what do you think is happening to The people that lived in the area And i know you mentioned the elevated Thyroid cancer rates Can you kind of explain that absolutely Concept a little further So and there’s even a physician at Hershey med center that is specifically Studying this but he’s got inclusion and Exclusion criteria that i don’t I’ve been excluded from that because my Own i was diagnosed with thyroid cancer In august of 2010. So that was obviously 31 years After tmi melted down or almost melted Down listen to me So when i first was being treated for That I there is a history of cancer in my Family my dad died of liver cancer Remember i said he owned a car shop well
He did a really stupid thing osha wasn’t A big thing then And so he didn’t have the msds sheets on Carbon tetrachloride which was the parts Cleaner they use and a lot of Even today used in a lot of shops carbon Tet is the parts cleaner so they used to Have safety clean had these big drums With a faucet on it so if you took a Part out of a car and you needed to Clean all the oil and the grease off of It You could put it under this running Spigot of this carbon tet Well when it’s airborne it causes lung Cancer that was shown in lab rats in The 80s but my dad had big hands and he Would cut his Hands when he was working on the engine And stick his hand directly under that Because it stopped the bleeding real Well Well he may as well been injecting it Into his body so in 1987 he was Diagnosed with liver cancer because your Liver detoxes your body from any Chemicals that are in it So his liver basically at that point Said i can’t do this anymore you need to Stop Putting the stuff in and so i don’t know Was it the combination of his exposure His occupational exposure And tmi i don’t know but when i was
Diagnosed then Of oh and he by the way he passed away Uh 21 months after his diagnosis or 22 Months i think it was so he lived a Whole 10 months longer than than people Usually do after a diagnosis of liver Cancer because it’s pretty nasty Interesting speaking of political kinds Of things too at the same time that he Was out at presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh Twice to be a liver transplant candidate At the same time the governor at that Time was being considered For who was about the same age as my dad At the time was being considered for a Double lung And liver transplant his surgery The governor got the transplant my dad Because he was just a lowly mechanic With A cancer diagnosis didn’t get The liver transplant so not making any Judgment calls on that i’m just saying Are things political maybe fast forward Then to 2009 actually i went to My ob gyn for my annual exam And my you know i always get a physical As part of that exam And my gynecologist was palpating my Thyroid and he said you know Your thyroid gland feels enlarged you
Should go see an endocrinologist which Is the Medical professional that specializes in Endocrine which Your thyroid is an endocrine gland so i Went to see an endocrinologist and he Said yeah You’ve got some swelling there we really Need to do an ultrasound to find out What’s going on Oh by the way in 2009 i said oh it’s Just a thyroid gland what’s a thyroid Gland forget it so I did do nothing about it for tooth for A year So next year went back to see the same Gynecologist and he said Your thyroid’s still enlarged did you Ever get that checked out because he Checked his notes and said that he had Told me that in may of 2009. I said no i didn’t i said i probably Should do that huh So that’s when i saw the other Endocrinologist And he said that i had this mass and i Should get it assessed so i did an Ultrasound the ultrasound showed that i Had masses on both sides of one Centimeter And 1.2 centimeters because your thyroid Is a butterfly shaped gland so it has Two larger lobes sometimes if you’re Lucky and you only have a mass on one
Side they just take half out So when i was going through all of that Evaluation and treatment and eventually This scar Is my thyroidectomy scar so that was Done in August of 2010 and because i wanted to Get a second opinion i actually went to Johns hopkins hospital which you know World-renowned hospital And they said yeah we agree with your Harrisburg based endocrinologist Looking at my pathology reports i had a Fine needle biopsy Of both lobes which is a very Interesting experience just having the Biopsy If you don’t like needles you really are Not going to like needles in your neck i Had Four on each side that was a very Interesting test So the endocrinologist that i saw dr Renu joshi Who is in who is with upmc pinnacle Harrisburg Head of endocrinology she said you know As an endocrinologist i have Seen a very high rate of thyroid cancer In this area compared to my colleagues Across the country and what they’re Reporting So i started to do a little research and I found out
That the cdc reported and this these are Actually 2014 Examples this is what’s called the seer Rate and the seer rate Is actually the surveillance Epidemiology And end results that’s what c r stands For So they look at incidents of disease Across the country You’ll notice that pa is a red state and In this case that doesn’t mean Democrat or republican it means that’s The higher incidence rates So new york massachusetts Connecticut and pennsylvania new jersey On the east coast all have red rates Pennsylvania had in 2014 The unenviable position of being number One In thyroid cancer incidents in the Country So when i dug a little deeper in 2014 Because september is thyroid cancer Awareness month so In september i try to make a little Display for my students Because women are three to four times More likely to be diagnosed with thyroid Cancer Than men because it is a hormone-based Disease so i discovered that we had that High rate But when you look at the incidence
Geographically It used to be i think in south central Pennsylvania now it’s actually the Higher rates are in western pennsylvania Around pittsburgh Because you think about the steel Industry in pennsylvania The smelting of ore iron ore Into steel releases radiation into the Air and And pittsburgh had a lot of steel Industry going on So they still have a hotbed even though The steel industry is pretty much shut Down in pittsburgh now And they’ve repurposed those buildings If you drive along I think it’s the yakigni river where There’s quite a few Former steel processing buildings i Think i would be a little nervous If i was renting an apartment in one of Those renovated buildings because that Radiation again is still residual in the Steel girders of the building And the concrete of the building i just Don’t think It’s very smart use of the residual Landscape there When i looked at the seer rates recently It looks as though massachusetts is now Number one but we’re still number three So we still are high in the rate of Thyroid cancer and i think that that’s
Something that everybody that lives in Pennsylvania Should be doing a neck check so if if You don’t know how to do that you Put your fingers on either side of your Attic just below your adam’s apple on Either side and you swallow And you if you feel like there’s a Little lump that makes your fingers kind Of come out a little bit Even if it’s slightly probably a nodule The interesting thing about thyroid Cancer is that 50 Of us in this country have a nodule in Our thyroid gland But only five percent of those are Cancerous Or pathological let’s say pathological There are four kinds of thyroid cancer The one that i was diagnosed with was Papillary thyroid cancer And it’s the easiest one to cure so I basically had thyroidectomy Eight weeks later for two weeks i had to Go off of my thyroid medication And that’s like pulling your spark plugs Out like i had new Energy and but the reason for that was Because they were going to do a Radioactive iodine Treatment that was my chemo if you will My radiation Treatment and then they do a total body Scan and that radioactive iodine if
There’s any thyroid cells left in your Body They’ll pick up the iodine that’s in the Radioactive iodine it shows up on a body Scan Now the weird thing about thyroid cells You’re like well why didn’t they just Scan your thyroid Well thyroid cells can actually migrate To anywhere in your body There have been people who’ve had Thyroid cells show up in their big toe So it makes sense that when you’re going Through any kind of treatment for Thyroid cancer they have to check out Your whole body So at the end of the day Do you think that there was more Radiation release Than they’re talking about or what is Your theory on just You know how it all went down and what That has to do with These elevated rates is was it something That had to do with tmi or is that Culmination of tmi and the steel or do You think it’s For people in this area pretty directly Related to that incident I would say that there is building Evidence That you know as more and more people Are coming forward and just like dr Joshi saying hey i’m seeing this higher
Rate of thyroid cancer in this area Disproportionately so you can’t deny That My opinion is that i think there’s Something there Whether it’s now if every third person In south central pennsylvania in the Last You know 40 years was coming forth with Thyroid cancer that’d be pretty much a Smoking gun In my opinion but i think there’s still Enough Evidence to suggest that there was Enough Radiation released that day From tmi that probably it had an impact You know you’re hearing that more and More the newer phones are releasing more Radiation from the phone So we should especially if you use your Cell phone a lot use it on speaker mode Don’t hold it up against your head you Do not want that radiation Getting close to your brain i lost an Uncle to brain cancer you do not Want that experience so whatever we can Do You know putting a shield a radiation Shield over the front of your pc Screen because that emits radiation Spending as little time in your car as You can Our cars emit radiation whenever you go
To the dentist And this is also i think contributing But this is a nationwide thing When you go to the dentist and every six Months or a year or whatever it is You’re supposed to get a dental x-ray The dental x-ray technician is supposed To not only give you the lead cape But they’re supposed to give you a Thyroid guard to protect your thyroid Gland They don’t unless you ask for it it is Stupid things that we’re doing as a Society that just show we We don’t know what we’re talking about With protecting our thyroid glands so Was it tmi or is it tmi and all of these Other things I don’t know i just know that it’s Important that once you Do know that you take action to protect Yourself That’s really the i think what is the Takeaway from all this Do you have anything else left to say About is the incident or life or Well definitely the the most important Thing i think is to take care of Yourself You know and watching my my master’s Degree is in health education And one of the things we talked about in That program was how do you change Health behavior and i’ve seen all kinds
As an occupational therapist i’ve seen All kinds of approaches From the i’m going to stick my head in The sand and whatever happens to me I don’t care or i’m not going to eat Well i’m going to go to mcdonald’s you Know 10 times a month and whatever happens to Me happens to me That’s fine you know if that’s how you Choose to live your life But it also has an impact on the rest of Us Because our insurance rates go up you Know you’re more likely to have a heart Attack behind the wheel of the car and Then you’re gonna take a couple other People out with you So i really think for public health Reasons we need to be doing all of these Things preventative health things You know your health insurance if you Have health insurance Pays for a preventative physical once a Year for god’s sakes do it Or listen to your doctor i was stupid in 2009 and didn’t listen Had i listened to him and gone and had That Checked because my nodules were greater Than a centimeter I had to lose my whole thyroid so for The rest of my life I have to manage with synthroid which is
A synthetic Thyroid hormone replacement i have to do That for the rest of my life because i Can’t Because i don’t have a thyroid i can’t Produce that hormone anymore and For nine years i was pretty good at it And then in may My butt was dragging i have to take care Of myself because now Instead of my thyroid level my tsh level Being Below 1.0 which is what’s the Recommendation for someone who’s A status papillary thyroid cancer Survivor i was pretty good at keeping it Around 0.5 Well may 1st it was actually 5.03 which Explains why My butt was dragging and i was having to Take a nap at five o’clock in the Evening Now i’m i’m waiting now trying to get it Back in order I just got married in november for the Second time so Having just raised my son he’s 25 i now Have five step children the youngest of Which is 11 and he spends weekends with Us I got to keep up with an 11 year old boy If i don’t have energy to do that or to Live my life or to run my errands or If i’m falling asleep behind the wheel
I’m going to be a threat to everybody Else So there’s all kinds of good reasons why We want to take care of ourselves and Live the healthiest life we can live And be informed sticking your head in The sand doesn’t serve anybody So Hello
