The State : Woman Dies Mysteriously

A 42-year-old Oroville woman whose small farm was contaminated with dioxin has died mysteriously after doctors told her they could find nothing wrong with her. Officials said an autopsy failed to explain why Elaine Brooks collapsed outside the door of Oroville Medical Center on Sunday after she sought treatment for a respiratory problem and doctors sent her home. She died within an hour. In March, Brooks and her husband, Dan, were informed by the state Department of Health Services that tests of chicken eggs from their farm detected the cancer-causing dioxin. State health officials conducted the tests as part of a probe begun after an April, 1987, explosive chemical fire at the Koppers Co. wood treatment plant about 1 mile northwest of the Brooks’ farm.