Testing and mapping surface and ground waters adjacent to a local Tribal Center to generate evidence supporting a heightened perception of cancer rates among citizens.

In recent years, residents living in Charles City County, already facing life expectancies five years below the state average, have experienced an increase in cancer deaths, especially within a 4-mile radius of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe Tribal Center. Citizens of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe (CIT), perceive that they have heightened cancer risk in their community and want to quantify that risk and understand how it interacts with other health seeking behaviors. The CIT has planned a systematic water sample collection project through the Chickahominy Health and Wellness Working Group (CHWWG) that, with the support of stakeholders from VCU Massey and the Chickahominy Health District, will provide evidence regarding factors that may be contributing to the increase in cancer diagnoses and deaths.