. >> there were too many patients with polycythehemia vera in tha- in thatat area than one could account for. whether the environment or toxins in the enenvironmenent lead t to an ind risk of polycythemia vera is unknown. thatat's really an area of research anand also speculation. the problem is that there are multiple toxic compounds that are in the ground and also in the air in this area, and to prove a one-to-one relationship is going to be very, very tougugh. in this area, there were a lot of supeper-fund sites and coal mines. so, you know, they weren't here, they weren't there. they were here. and that was the concern. and that's the concern in my mind toto this day. it's a question mark. i don't have the answer to this. i'm not a statistician, but intuitively it would seem to me more than chance that--that this would occur. >> while science continues to gather evidence, some people believe that politics and profit are outweighing the need to protect public health. >> whether it's a democratic administration or a republican administraration, coal talks. >> government agencies, in my