Contaminated groundwater is devastating communities in Tucson, Arizona, and jeopardizing the well-being of generations of families.
what happened?
According to Earthjustice, federal authorities in the 1980s discovered that a military base south of Tucson had been contaminating nearby drinking water for decades with trichlorethylene, dioxins, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Linda Robles and her family moved south to a newly built home in Midvale to avoid these toxic chemicals, but moving a few miles wasn't enough to escape them.
“I tried to escape from TCE,” Robles told Earthjustice. “It's been following us. Wherever the water goes, those chemicals follow.”
Shortly after moving, Robles' daughter developed a rare form of kidney cancer and died within three years of diagnosis. Her other daughter and her son developed rashes and were diagnosed with lupus. Robles' surviving daughter's granddaughter was born with a cleft lip and was also diagnosed with kidney disease.
“When I asked my daughter's doctor if TCE could be the cause of her illness, he said, 'It's very possible. Let's test all your children,'” Robles said. Ta.
The city installed a wastewater treatment system after the Environmental Protection Agency designated it a Superfund site. However, rather than remediate the source of the plume, the agency simply added clean water from another area, leaving residents with water that still contained TCE that met EPA-compliant standards.
Why is contamination a concern?
TCE is a carcinogenic solvent frequently used as a refrigerant or metal degreaser in factories, airports, and military bases. It can be waterborne or airborne and is associated with adverse health effects such as leukemia, breast cancer, kidney cancer, and congenital heart disease in fetuses.
According to data from the Environmental Working Group, 18.4 million Americans are exposed to toxic substances through their drinking water.
Dioxins, on the other hand, can harm the immune, nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems, and PFAS can cause cancer and reproductive complications.
Robles also noted the disproportionate presence of chemicals contaminating the water in Midvale, a predominantly Latino and Spanish-speaking community.
“We were forced to drink, cook and bathe in that water.” [before the city notified us]”Our property and health were destroyed,” Robles said. Because of environmental racism, its effects have been downplayed, denied, and ignored. ”
What is being done about pollution?
Frustrated with the city's response, Robles formed an Environmental Justice Task Force with other local residents and took matters into his own hands. After raising awareness about the dangers of water, several neighbors shared a number of health problems they and their acquaintances had experienced.
Earthjustice sued the EPA over its use of TCE, and the Biden administration responded by proposing a ban on the chemical.
“When the military decided to locate hazardous waste sites in communities of color, they chose who would live or die and whose children would get sick,” Robles said. “Making that decision, being ruthless, that’s its own health.”
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