Cancer Rates Rise in Brevard County as Officials Fall Short on Answers

May 1, 2019
4 min read

Updated: May 24, 2025

Cancer Survivors Launch Nonprofit to Expose Florida’s Toxic Water Crisis

SATELLITE BEACH, FL – May 2, 2019 – A group of cancer survivors from Brevard County, including alumni from Satellite Beach High School, founded the nonprofit Fight for Zero after raising alarms about elevated disease rates and the discovery of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in groundwater near Patrick Air Force Base in early 2018.

The Department of Defense reported that monitoring wells at Patrick AFB contained PFAS levels as high as 4.3 million parts per trillion (ppt)—the third-highest in the nation. For comparison, the EPA’s advisory level is just 70 ppt.

A Rare but Urgent Problem

While the group anticipated that achieving an official “cancer cluster” designation was unlikely, only 19 have been officially recognized globally since 1917, according to Wikipedia, they knew the public health issue could not be ignored.

Florida has the second-highest cancer burden in the U.S., with cancer surpassing heart disease as the state’s leading cause of death since 2011. The Brevard County Cancer Assessment shows elevated rates, but the Florida Department of Health did not confirm a cancer cluster after examining just two ZIP codes.

Satellite High School graduate Victoria Sittig, who is currently battling cancer, voiced what many in the community feel: “It would be unrealistic to assume that the high levels of toxic fluorinated chemicals found in the blood and tissues of wildlife have no impact on humans.”

A Widespread Environmental Concern

Fight for Zero’s data shows that health concerns stretch far beyond Satellite Beach. The group has identified disease hotspots along the Banana River and Indian River Lagoon, where PFAS-laden AFFF firefighting foam was used by Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

According to Stel Bailey, executive director of Fight for Zero and a long-time cancer advocate, pollution in the Indian River Lagoon is tied to decades of industrial activity. “We have documentation dating back to the 1970s showing contamination plumes and wildlife with tumors and disease,” she said.

Bailey also points to the region’s concentration of three active military bases and multiple aerospace contractors as contributing factors. “The Department of Defense is the world’s largest polluter,” she stated. “They exposed service members and families to PFAS for decades—fully aware of its dangers.”

Demanding Action and Accountability

Jeff Dubitsky, vice president of Fight for Zero and a Satellite Beach resident, emphasized the community's right to take action. “We know when something isn’t normal. We don’t need a formal definition from the Department of Health to begin protecting ourselves,” he said.

The group is calling for:

Independent environmental and blood testing
Improved healthcare access
Publicly available data from the military healthcare system

While the Florida Department of Health’s study didn’t include military data or a full spectrum of cancers, Oncologist Dr. Greenwalt noted that even under narrow criteria, the two ZIP codes studied still showed significantly higher-than-normal cancer rates.

Tech consultant DP Williman of DP GeoTech, who is working with Fight for Zero, added: “We can do better than outdated ZIP code data that ends in 2015. This is the 21st century, we have the tools to map disease accurately.”

A History of Overlooked Contamination

The region’s struggle with toxic exposure is not new. In the 1990s, a wave of Hodgkin's lymphoma cases among teens in South Patrick Shores made national headlines. 30 toxic waste sites were identified at Patrick AFB and nearby Cape Canaveral, contaminating local soil and water.

Epidemiologist Richard Clapp, who reviewed over 1,000 cases, called the South Patrick Shores situation “one of the most notable cancer clusters in U.S. medical history.” The Florida Department of Health attributed it to a “viral infection,” even though the rate was 17 times the national average—and only 2 of the 40 patients are still alive today.

Fight for Zero continues investigating buried military debris under homes in South Patrick Shores. The group is urging the area to be designated a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) and examined for vapor intrusion—due to its use as a Navy landfill since the 1940s.

No Safe Level, No Clear Answers

Despite the growing concern, there are no federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for PFAS. The EPA and state agencies have yet to establish enforceable limits or explain how groundwater “safety” is currently assessed.

The Brevard Cancer Assessment labeled the PFAS impact “minimal,” yet the Florida Department of Health refused to hold a public meeting to clarify their methodology or explain why several PFAS-linked cancers were excluded from the report.

As Bailey put it, “Science is catching up, and when it does, it will show PFAS chemicals are far more harmful than initially believed.”