MOORESVILLE, N.C. — As Declan Apap walks off the school bus on a Friday afternoon, he's grateful his life is mostly back to normal, but the sixth-grader gets the sense all is not well.
"I see (my parents) worrying, but I don't know what they're worrying about and it makes me nervous," the 11-year-old said.
Jennifer Apap has agonized over her son's health for months, only to find out the day care he used to attend was built on top of coal ash. Apap reached out after WCNC Charlotte's "Buried" investigation exposed risky levels of arsenic and radioactivity in coal ash samples collected near the day care.
"He's been exposed to radiation. He's been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic, as a child, as he was developing," the mom worried.
Apap said a decade ago, it seemed so clear that Tutor Time of Mooresville only benefitted Declan throughout the roughly two years he attended.
"They were really good to him there," she said.
Today, almost 10 years later, knowing what she and her husband know now about the coal ash buried under and around the day care, they are no longer convinced.
"We were never told anything," Apap said. "Why weren't we told?"
Apap is among several past and recent Tutor Time parents who've reached out to WCNC Charlotte, previously unaware of the potential risk to their kids' health. That lack of potentially pertinent information is especially problematic considering Declan's medical history following his time at the day care, which includes gastrointestinal issues, asthma, ADHD, a heart murmur and a blood clot in his brain earlier this year that left him hospitalized and left his parents with lingering questions about the cause, his mom said.
"It's been six months of this guessing game. Deep down, we want to know why? Like, what happened? What caused this?" Apap said. "It's the worst feeling and you just want to fix it."
Medical records show doctors think a recent bout with the flu coupled with a genetic mutation triggered Declan's March hospitalization, which followed headaches and two emergency room visits in February.
"There's always a hypothesis," Nicholas Apap said. "We need to get answers for him to find out why the hell he got sick in the first place."
While Declan's family can't say with any certainty if coal ash has had any negative health impact on him, Duke University scientists, citing a wide body of research, have warned, generally, about the long-term dangers, considering the many heavy metals in its ingredients, including carcinogens and radioactivity.
The scientists have said their biggest worry is tied to the most vulnerable, like kids, who could breathe in tiny toxic particles or even swallow coal ash while playing in the dirt. They said the potential health impacts, from asthma to cardiovascular disease and developmental disorders to cancers, might not even show up until years or decades later.
"The only information that I'm finding is how toxic (coal ash) is and that scares me," Jennifer Apap said. "We just want answers."
Following the rules of the time, Duke Energy sold the coal-burning byproduct decades ago for builders to use as cheap fill dirt. The utility continues to say it is safe, noting trace elements combined make up less than 1% of coal ash, but environmental advocates have said otherwise.
A cancer survivor recently sued Duke Energy for negligence, along with unfair and deceptive trade practices, among other things. Tanya Hall's lawsuit accuses Duke Energy of exposing her to coal ash and its toxic ingredients and withholding information about the potential risk. The Sherrills Ford woman lives near the Marshall Steam Station and its unlined coal ash basin. In response to Hall's lawsuit, the utility said there are "countless risk factors that can contribute to someone's health condition."
Meanwhile, in response to WCNC Charlotte's investigation, Tutor Time of Mooresville is planning a complete playground renovation and is waiting on its own tests to come back from inside its property. The day care has said, following a prior visual inspection by state regulators, "there is no risk to children." Concerned by that conclusion, Earthjustice has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to provide "immediate oversight, guidance, and leadership" to "ensure the protection of public health."
The scientist who analyzed the coal ash WCNC Charlotte collected called the mixture a "cocktail of toxic elements." The Iredell County Public Health Department has since updated its coal ash guidance to concerned parents. Health Director Brady Freeman referred specific questions to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
"We understand the concerns that have been raised by identification of coal ash in structural fill at a child care center," NCDHHS said in a statement. "...we encourage parents to talk with their health care provider if they have any specific concerns about their child's health. The doctor can assess their symptoms, do a physical exam and talk with the parents about what steps should be taken."
NCDHHS added there are no universal evaluation or testing recommendations for children who were potentially exposed to coal ash.
"Results from soil sampling can be helpful in understanding whether heavy metals or other substances are present and at what levels and deciding whether testing is needed," the agency's statement says. "Finding high levels of metals or other contaminants in the soil does not necessarily mean that a child was exposed or is at risk for getting sick. To be exposed, you need to come into direct contact with contaminated soil, such as through ingestion (putting items into your mouth that have soil on them), inhalation (breathing in soil dust) or skin contact with soil. If coal ash that was used as construction fill is properly managed, the risk of exposure through ingestion, inhalation or skin contact is considered to be low."
WCNC Charlotte previously documented what appeared to be exposed coal ash along the day care's fence line, which Tutor Time has since covered with sod. In addition, past pictures suggest ash has remained exposed at the surface at times. The day care's own soil testing recently found a "few areas" where coal ash was closer to the surface.
"Parents with more general concerns about their child's exposure can talk with their health care provider to decide whether any additional evaluation or testing is needed based on environmental testing results, the child's likelihood of exposure and other factors," NCDHHS added. "The type of testing that might be needed will depend on the specific situation; some tests related to environmental exposures might need to be sent to specialized laboratories. Health care providers can reach out to the NCDHHS Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch if they have questions about specific environmental exposures in their patients."
For Declan's mother, all of this is especially difficult to process. She used to work at Tutor Time.
"It just does not sit right with me. Knowing that my child was exposed to that. Knowing that I was exposed to that. I mean, I recommended people to go there," she said. "We kind of questioned ourselves at first. Like what did we do wrong?"
She's begging the day care to notify all past families, so those families can better inform their medical decisions. If Tutor Time of Mooresville intends to do so, the day care has not yet shared that information with WCNC Charlotte when asked two weeks ago.
"Every parent that has been there has the right to know," Apap said.
Thankfully, her only child is recovering from his most recent health scare.
"I feel way better," Declan said.
His parents said Declan has missed 30 days of school over the course of the year as his health worsened. He's not missing any days now.
"He's a fighter," his mom said. "Anything he has to face he overcomes. He doesn't back down from anything."
Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.