Donna Cuthbert, the Unexpected Environmentalist

Donna Cuthbert, center, with blog post author Susan Burke, right
and physicist Ernest Sternglass.

Blogger's Note: I was out of town on Sept. 14 when I learned that Donna Cuthbert, the lion behind the Alliance for a Clean Environment, had passed away. 

I was able to attend her memorial service and had meant to write a column appreciating her drive and her passion for reducing environmental risks, but the clock got away from me. 

Luckily, Susan Burke, a friend of ours, contacted me and asked if she could write one. 

Here it is:

When I first met Donna Cuthbert, it was at her house. We went downstairs into the Alliance for a Clean Environment office, filled with notebooks labelled and organized like a library.

Donna and I sat and spoke at her desk. Her granddaughter came in briefly, and Donna took the time to talk with her too.

Then we walked into the next room. I saw it. Hanging on the wall, actually encompassing the entire wall, was a map. A HUGE MAP! This map was of the Greater Pottstown area and was covered in colored dots. Each dot represented a person – a person (adult or child) who had cancer.

This was Donna’s cancer map.

I was in shock. The dots formed circles and lines and there were too many of them to fully comprehend the gravity of the disease’s impact on the community. Our friendship began there, and never stopped.

We shared a passion for clothing, and we each appreciated the other’s style. We shared a love of children and family and hard work. We shared the determination to get to the truth. Truth was key. 

Many go about their lives ignoring truth, because of the pain that may accompany understanding it.

There was no stopping now. I sat back down with Donna, and I asked her what her dream was – what SHE hoped to accomplish most. Without skipping a breath, she said “closing the Landfill.”

The Pottstown Landfill in West Pottsgrove represented a massive reservoir of contamination. The smell could be noticed traveling down Route 100. Facts from official documents showed dumping of waste from other countries, and even radioactive waste. Then Donna said “but this will never happen.”

But Donna proved her own words wrong. It did happen, and I know that she is at the heart of the Landfill closure.

Even Kathleen McGinty, Pennsylvania chief environmental officer, came to a Pottstown press conference at Donna’s request to better understand this danger, and enlighten the press and local people about the hazards of the Landfill. 

Not long afterward, the word came: the Pottstown Landfill would be closing. Donna’s years of hard research had paid off. 

One toxic site closed down, and many future cancers would be prevented.

Donna also knew of the heavily toxic chemicals that were across town at the OxyChem plant. At times, people reported a yellow film that covered their cars, and they would call ACE for information about this toxic film. Donna’s research continued. 

They asked Donna about various cancers they felt were attributable to the chemical plant. In time, OxyChem closed as well.

Donna’s wish of a healthier Pottstown was progressing. However, these toxins linger and remain in food, water, and people for decades. No one knows the true impact of these polluters.

I recall Donna collecting children’s teeth for the baby tooth study. The teeth were tested for Strontium-90, a chemical produced only in atomic bomb tests and nuclear reactors. Teeth from the tri-county area had the highest average Strontium-90 concentration of any of the six nuclear plant areas studied, a precursor of cancer later in life.

I remember when renowned physicist Dr. Ernest Sternglass came to Pottstown to help with the tooth project. He stayed with the Cuthberts, and Donna and he became good friends. They spent long hours discussing the implications of radiation, and their hope for a better future.

Donna had calls flooding in from people near the Limerick nuclear plant. Not only were there multiple cancers reported around the plant, but other strange events, which Donna documented in Letters of the Editor, and on ACE’s show. 

People reported trains traveling through the power plant property – a red flag considering the enormous security risk posed by nuclear plants. It was documented (and still exists) that the cooling tower lights remain out, still unlit even though the Limerick airport is just a mile away. 

This raises the risk of a plane crashing into one of the towers. People wanted to know more, and Donna was the one who would open up her library to all in need.

She lived a healthy life, using essential oils and natural remedies in her own home. Just this past summer, for my birthday, Donna made me my own essential oil kit. Every time I smell my oils, I think of Donna. 

We always enjoyed breakfast at Arlene’s on Asbury Avenue, when she and her husband Buzz were here at the shore.

Many may remember her from her family clothing shop, Madaras, in Stowe, and many may remember her from school board meetings in Pottsgrove. Words do not describe fully what Donna contributed to her family and the Pottstown area, but here are just a few: dedicated, honest, courageous, relentless, energetic, passionate, and humanitarian.

Even when Donna herself was not well, she never turned away a phone call from a person with questions about health or environment. She was always thinking about other people and their well-being. I miss her, and will never forget the enormous impact she made on the lives of many, including me.