One of six Cameron, Mo., residents suing companies linked to a former insulation plant hopes the lawsuits bring answers about her husband’s two brain tumors.

“We want to find a link between all these brain tumors. We hope the lawsuit will put the pressure on them so that we can find that link,” said Carol Helms, whose husband, Steve, has been diagnosed with at least one malignant brain tumor.

By “them,” she was referring to the former Cameron plant, Rockwool Industries, and the state agencies that have been investigating whether there’s an above normal number of brain tumors in the Cameron area and whether environmental factors tied to the plant have played a role in the tumors.

Six residents have filed five lawsuits in Clinton County, demanding monetary damages from companies linked to Rockwool. They claim the plant played a role in what seems like a higher than normal number of brain tumors in the area.

The suits allege that between 1974 and 1982 Rockwool dumped toxic substances at and near the plant and buried hazardous waste near the plant and in a nearby quarry.

However, state agencies including the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services have said that soil and water test results in those areas present no health concerns.

Ms. Helms thinks more testing and better testing needs to follow, and she thinks the lawsuits can bring that.

“We don’t want them to quit testing. We don’t just want them to sweep it under the rug ‘cause the tumors keep comin’,” she said. “We don’t want these state people to give up hope. If they give up hope, our hope goes with it.”

Ms. Helms is represented by attorney Grant Davis — a Kansas City attorney who contacted the Helms and others. During a community meeting last week with state officials, several attorneys handed out business cards to residents.

The Cameron investigation has even attracted nationally known attorney Erin Brockovich. Cameron residents, including Bill Kemper, have been in contact with her and her staff.

Mr. Kemper, whose wife died of complications related to a brain tumor, recently talked with one of Ms. Brockovich’s environmentalists after he e-mailed Ms. Brockovich. The environmentalist, Jim Drury, asked Mr. Kemper for more information about the tumor cases and said he thought Cameron’s situation was alarming.

Mr. Kemper said he e-mailed Ms. Brockovich after an article in the Cameron newspaper said Ms. Brockovich contacted the paper in an effort to get her e-mail address out to Cameron residents because she wanted to help.

The lawsuits were filed by Cameron residents Cyndee Gardner, Rebecca Stewart, Michael O’Loughlin, Hope and Steve Soldberg and Ms. Helms.

The lawsuits were filed against Susquehanna Corp. of Delaware, which owned Rockwool, as well as Susquehanna’s parent company, Eteroutremer of Belgium. Loren Brookshier, a Cowgill, Mo., resident who was a manager at Rockwool, was also named as a defendant.

The cases seek class-action status, which means thousands of Cameron residents could receive damages.

At least 68 people have reported tumors to the state health department, however, those reports have yet to be verified.

About 9,800 people live in Cameron. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, about one person per 10,000 people is diagnosed with a brain tumor each year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nancy Hull can be reached at nancyhull@npgco.com