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DUMPSITE AND RESIDENTS ARE NOW ALARMED ABOUT CANCER. >> IT WAS FILLED WITH OIL. REPORTER: SANDRA SULLIVAN COULD GO ON ABOUT THE TOXIC WASTE SHE CAN DIG UP IN HER BACKYARD NEAR PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE. OLD ENGINES, UNIDENTIFIED FLUID, EVEN A CONTROL PANEL. JUST GETTING NEAR THE STUFF OF SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. >> MY LYMPH NODES WERE SO SWOLLEN THAT I COULD NOT PUT MY ARMS DOWN FOR THREE MONTHS. I HAD A LUMP. REPORTER: THAT IS WHY THE MILITARY PUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD ON A LIST FOR A MAJOR CLEANUP. IT SEEMS THAT IT WAS BUILT ON A DUMPSITE USED WHEN THE AIR FORCE BASE WAS A NAVAL AIR STATION IN WORLD WAR II. THE DUMP COVERED ABOUT TWO SQUARE BLOCKS, AN AREA NOW COVERED WITH ABOUT 55 HOMES. PEOPLE AVE BEEN COMPLAINING FOR YEARS THAT THEY ARE SUFFERING A HIGH INCIDENCE OF CANCER HERE. THE GOVERNMENT SAYS THE RATE IS NOT UNUSUAL. BUT IT IS SAYING, AFTER YEARS OF LOBBYING, THAT THE OLD DON’T MUST BE CLEANED UP. >> THIS -- DUMP MUST BE CLEANED UP. >> THIS IS MY LIFE. NOW IT IS ACKNOWLEDGED, THEY WILL DO THE TESTING AND FIND OUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. REPORTER: ALTHOUGH THE WHEELS ARE FINALLY TURNING, IT WILL TAKE YEARS FOR THE MILITARY TO GET THE FUNDING. RESIDENTS BELIEVE MUCH OF THE DIRT IN THEIR YARDS WILL BE TRUCKED AWAY AND REPLACED, BUT THE HOMES WILL STAY. IN SOUTH PATRICK SHORES, DAN BILLOW, WESH 2 NEWS. MEREDITH: NEIGHBORS HAVE ALSO DUG UP SHELL CASING

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A small community near Patrick Air Force Base is on the list for a major environmental cleanup by the military.Dozens of homes were built on a dump site, and residents are alarmed about cancer."And that was filled with oil," homeowner Sandra Sullivan said.Sullivan said she can go on and on about the toxic waste she can easily dig up in her backyard near Patrick Air Force Base. Old engines, unidentified fluids, even an aircraft control panel. Getting near some of those things can have serious consequences for her."My lymph nodes under my arms were really swollen, to where I couldn't put my arms down for three months. I had tenderness in my breasts and developed a lump," Sullivan said.That's why the military has put the neighborhood on a list for a major environmental cleanup. It seems that South Patrick Shores was built on a dump site that was used when today's air force base was a naval air station in World War II.There are 55 homes on the dump site.Residents have been complaining for years that people suffer an unusually high incidence of cancer there. The government, though, says the cancer rate is not unusual, but it is saying, after years of lobbying by residents, that the old dump needs to be cleaned up.Although the wheels are finally turning for the cleanup, it will take years for the military to finalize a plan and get the funding. Residents believe much of the dirt in their yards will be trucked away and replaced, but the homes will stay. Neighbors have also dug up old practice bombs and shell casings, and have some concern that they could run across live munitions.