How former residents can map their proximity to an EtO facility using public maps

Many EtO-emitting facilities have been in operation for decades, which means the exposure period relevant to a cancer diagnosis today may stretch back to the 1980s, 1990s, or even earlier. Former residents may need to account for childhood homes, rental properties, apartments, mobile home parks, or family-owned residences they have not thought about in years. Identifying the location of a former residence and establishing how close it sat to a facility during the years it was actively emitting EtO is one of the foundational steps in evaluating a potential claim.

Public mapping tools that can help

Several free tools are available to help former residents locate old addresses and estimate their distance from industrial facilities.

• Google Maps allows users to locate former addresses, view the surrounding neighborhood, and measure approximate distances between a residence and a nearby facility. The built-in distance measurement tool gives a working estimate of proximity even without an exact address on file.
• Google Earth goes a step further by offering historical satellite imagery for many locations. This feature is particularly useful for identifying mobile home parks that no longer exist, locating roads that have changed names, or confirming the layout of older residential developments that may have been redeveloped since the exposure period.
• County assessor and property appraiser offices maintain online databases that include historical property information, parcel maps, and ownership records. Counties often have GIS portals that show property boundaries, aerial images, and zoning information, so a user can identify the exact location of a former residence within a specific geographic area.
• The U.S. Geological Survey maintains historical aerial imagery resources that can document past land use and community development, which is especially helpful when a neighborhood has changed significantly since the relevant exposure period.

Measuring distance from a facility

Once a former address is identified, the next step is estimating how far it sat from the facility in question. Google Maps and Google Earth each offer distance measurement tools that allow you to drop markers at two points and find out how far apart they are. While these measurements are estimates rather than formal assessments, they can help determine whether a former residence falls within the geographic area typically used as a starting point in exposure reviews.

Other records that can help confirm a former address

Not everyone can recall an exact address from 20 or 30 years ago, and that is a common situation in EtO cases, given how long the latency period between exposure and diagnosis can be. A number of personal and institutional records can help fill in the gaps, such as:

• School enrollment records and report cards
• Tax documents and mortgage paperwork
• Utility bills and rental lease agreements
• Voter registration records and driver's license records
• Credit reports and old letters or photographs

Any document that places a person at a specific address during a specific period can contribute to establishing residential proximity.

What exposure reviews typically consider alongside distance

Proximity to a facility is a starting point, not a conclusion. Eligibility reviews typically consider how long a person lived within the relevant area, whether any of those years occurred during childhood, whether the facility was actively operating and emitting EtO during that period, and whether the person later developed a cancer associated with EtO exposure. Because cancers linked to environmental carcinogens can take decades to appear, residential histories from years or even decades ago remain relevant to claims being evaluated today.

ELG Law can help you review your residential history

ELG Law has spent over three decades representing individuals affected by toxic chemical exposure. If you have questions about your former residential proximity to an EtO facility and have since been diagnosed with lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer, or another EtO-linked condition, reach out to ELG Law to have your history reviewed at no cost.