Is Living Near Fort Detrick Scary? (Baltimore, Frederick: condos, living in, price)

[gottaq]

Is is scary to live in Frederick City near Fort Detrick? I've heard frederick residents have gotten sick from different bacteria being let out of Fort Detrick. How safe is it to live by here, and do you have any fears about things happening?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by gottaq

Is is scary to live in Frederick City near Fort Detrick?

Only in the fog ...when you can see the buildings glow.

[steppinthrax]

Originally Posted by gottaq

Is is scary to live in Frederick City near Fort Detrick? I've heard frederick residents have gotten sick from different bacteria being let out of Fort Detrick. How safe is it to live by here, and do you have any fears about things happening?

LOL,

Are you serious.

My parents live around Ft. Detrick, there is nothing there.

When I was growing up in Frederick, the rumor was there was the anthrax building. Some scientist broke some vial or something, let that **** out. They had to close the building up and seal it off. So many people said you can see it from the fence, but I could never find it.

I believe they went in (when they had the tech) and destroyed it (maybe).

It's just a military base. Just like any military base. Unfortunately it does have a disease research lab. There are things in the base that can make you very sick. But it's heavily protected and I don't believe anything has ever happened.

[tw71]

Heh.... yeah. If anything, I find it kind of odd how Ft. Detrick is just smack dab in the middle of everything else. Except for having an extra long highway exit with instructions on it pointing to the direction of the loading docks, you see nothing but typical suburbia (housing developments, strip malls, condos, etc.) all around it.

Maybe more military bases are like that than I realized, but I know coming from Missouri -- the bases like Ft. Leonard Wood were a pretty good drive from any major city (like St. Louis), and you felt like they owned a lot of land, all to themselves, out there.

[gottaq]

^ so you ARE concerned living in frederick and being around Detrick?

[EducatedBro82]

This may be dumb.. But i didnt know there was an Army base in Frederick.... I know Ft. Meade is located around the suburbs and its mainly safe around there. not scary or such.. Andrews AFB now thats a different story.

[Tiger Beer]

I'm surprised the cancer cluster around Fort Detrick hasn't been mentioned yet:

Residents Near Fort Detrick Voice Concerns Of Cancer Cluster « CBS Baltimore

State investigation into Ft. Detrick cancer cluster leaves residents frustrated | WJLA.com

Possible Cancer Cluster in Fort Detrick, Maryland Under Investigation | Veterans Today

As a person who has definitely researched Frederick as a potential place to live, I would personally feel very wary and aprehension about living any any 'debatable' cancer cluster. It is still debatable, as one side of the argument feels the high rates of cancer isn't conclusively linked to the base, while the other side does. In my own opinion, regardless if there is a connection or not, there do seem to be quite a few people concerned about the higher rates of cancer, and I'd rather not have that as a personal concern myself by willingly live in any area that was, or is, designated as such.

In relation to Frederick city itself, I think there are a ton of neighbors throughout the city, that I would definitely consider living in. But I would personally feel best to avoid any areas are adjacent to Fort Detrick.

[tw71]

Yeah, this has certainly been in the news in the past. But honestly, I don't give it that much significance.

#1, every single study they've done is saying there's really no statistical difference between cancer rates around Ft. Detrick and the rest of the nation. And #2, I think there are so many factors involved, it's just not that wise to get too worked up over claims that one specific type of cancer had 10%, 20% or even 25% more cases in one area than the "national average". I'm pretty sure you're going to have random scatterings of places where that happens naturally. (If I found a city where 20% more people than the national average had a broken arm, should I start worrying about living there too? Maybe it was just how random chance dealt the cards for those people at that point in time? Maybe you just happened to have more people than usual who moved there who have calcium deficiency problems and weaker bones than average? Who knows!)

And look who published one of your links.... Veterans Today. Not knocking Veterans, but this is a group of people who often qualify for big government settlements/payouts if they wind up contracting various diseases. Some of that is VERY justified, but just saying -- it's a group of people who tend to be "hyper sensitive" to the possibility that a military run operation might have done something that causes people health problems. I think they have a certain bias, in that regard.

At the end of the day though? Sure, if you've got two housing choices in your price range that you like equally, and one is NOT in this area, that probably makes more sense to pick.

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I'm surprised the cancer cluster around Fort Detrick hasn't been mentioned yet:

Residents Near Fort Detrick Voice Concerns Of Cancer Cluster « CBS Baltimore

State investigation into Ft. Detrick cancer cluster leaves residents frustrated | WJLA.com

Possible Cancer Cluster in Fort Detrick, Maryland Under Investigation | Veterans Today

As a person who has definitely researched Frederick as a potential place to live, I would personally feel very wary and aprehension about living any any 'debatable' cancer cluster. It is still debatable, as one side of the argument feels the high rates of cancer isn't conclusively linked to the base, while the other side does. In my own opinion, regardless if there is a connection or not, there do seem to be quite a few people concerned about the higher rates of cancer, and I'd rather not have that as a personal concern myself by willingly live in any area that was, or is, designated as such.

In relation to Frederick city itself, I think there are a ton of neighbors throughout the city, that I would definitely consider living in. But I would personally feel best to avoid any areas are adjacent to Fort Detrick.