tool name
close
tool goes here
Kettleman gets attention
By REBECCA PLEVIN / Vida En El Valle
(Published Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 09:28AM)
FRESNO -- After months of begging county and state officials to investigate the cause and extent of a cluster of birth defects in Kettleman City, residents' pleas are finally being heard.
State and federal officials pledged last week to investigate health concerns in the agricultural community of about 1,500 people, where about 93 percent of residents are Latino.
Top among those concerns are why six Kettleman City area babies, out of 63 total live births, were born with birth defects in less than two years.
These recent orders for investigations -- from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the new regional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator -- come a little more than a month after the Kings County Board of Supervisors Dec. 22 approval of the expansion of one hazardous waste landfill, and the construction of a second one, at Waste Management's Kettleman Hills Facility, which is located about 3 1/2 miles from the community.
- Last Tuesday, Jared Blumenfeld, Region 9 U.S. EPA administrator, told reporters in a telephonic press conference that upholding environmental justice, and investigating the incidence of birth defects in Kettleman City, would be among his top priorities.
- The next day, Blumenfeld addressed about 50 Kettleman City residents, who were joined by about 50 other environmental justice advocates during a noon rally in front of the regional EPA headquarters in San Francisco.
- And last Friday, Schwarzenegger directed the state Department of Public Health and state EPA to investigate the cluster of birth defects in Kettleman City, through interviews with affected families, a scientific review of possible environmental contaminants, and a full examination of medical records, according to a news release.
"This is an issue of national importance," Blumenfeld said in reference to Kettleman City. "It's how we deal with our most vulnerable, and how we exercise our moral authority, even when don't have legal authority."
During a brief speech, he again promised to address the cause and extent of the birth defect cluster in Kettleman City.
"The first thing I'm doing is ordering internally a look at every single enforcement action that has happened, to make sure that all the ones that can happen did happen," Blumenfeld told the crowd.
He also said he planned to visit Waste Management's Kettleman Hills Facility this Wednesday (Feb. 3), and meet with concerned Kettleman City families.
"My administration is committed to the community of Kettleman City and will use our resources to conduct a thorough investigation to provide these hard-working people with answers and the peace of mind they deserve."
These major developments come at a moment when the situation in Kettleman City is gaining regional and national attention.
Media attention on the issue has been mounting.
In December, The Los Ángeles Times published stories about Kettleman City mothers whose children were born with birth defects, and the newspaper has been following developments ever since.
Associated Press reports about the governor's and EPA's decisions to investigate the birth defects have been published in The Washington Post, on msnbc.com, and throughout the state.
The regional environmental justice community is also focusing on the situation in Kettleman City.
Activists from Bayview-Hunters Point, a neighborhood in the southeastern part of San Francisco, Richmond, East Palo Alto, and Grayson, located in Stanislaus County, participated in the San Francisco protest in front of the EPA last Wednesday.
"We came all the way from Grayson to be in solidarity with the brothers and sisters of Kettleman City, and to let them know that we are here for the long haul," said John X. Mataka, a Grayson resident and a member of the Grayson Neighborhood Council.
Mataka, who is part of a group that opposes a garbage incinerator in Crows Landing, said he was supporting the Kettleman City community's struggle so residents would have the spirit and drive to continue fighting for environmental justice.
Kettleman City, "has really been at the very core of the environmental justice moment," Mataka said. "So goes Kettleman City, so goes the environmental justice movement in California."
Kettleman Hills Facility spokswoman Helen Luibel Herrera said Waste Management is pleased the state will be investigating the birth defects and health concerns in Kettleman City.
"The complexities of the issue require the expertise of officials at the local, state and federal level and we at Waste Management have advocated for such an approach when the issues first came to light more than a year ago," she said in a statement released Friday.
The recent, promising developments have empowered Kettleman City residents, said Maricela Mare-Alatorre, a Kettleman City resident and spokeswoman for the local environmental justice group El Pueblo Para El Aire y Agua Limpio/People for Clean Air and Water.
"I think a lot of people feel vindicated," Mares-Alatorre said in a phone interview Monday. "We've been mentioning these birth defects for over a year now, and they are only now starting to pay attention to us."
"We feel like it's a long time coming, like they should have believed us right away."
Bradley Angel, executive director of San Francisco-based Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, said the calls for investigations came about thanks to Kettleman City residents' dedication to achieving a healthy community, and the support of other environmental justice groups.
"I think it has been a culmination of the persistence and commitment and heartfelt demand for justice of the community, backed by allies," Angel said in a phone interview Monday.
"It became clear that what was going on in Kettleman City was a historic and epic David versus Goliath struggle for justice, and people started paying attention."
Send e-mail to:
rplevin@vidaenelvalle.com
Súplicas son escuchadas
Después de meses de suplicar a los funcionarios del condado y del estado que investigaran la causa y el grado de los defectos de nacimiento en Kettleman City, las súplicas de los residentes por fin fueron escuchadas.
Los funcionarios estatales y federales prometieron la semana pasada investigar las preocupaciones de salud que tiene la comunidad agrícola de cerca de 1,500 habitantes, de los cuales cerca de un 93 por ciento son residentes latinos.
La principal preocupación es por qué, seis de los 63 bebés del área de Kettleman City que nacieron con vida, nacieron con defectos en un periodo de menos de dos años.
Estas recientes órdenes para investigación -- por parte del Gob. Arnold Schwarzenegger y del nuevo administrador de la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de los Estados Unidos -- llegaron a un poco más de un mes después de que el Consejo de Supervisores del Condado de Kings aprobara el 22 de diciembre, la expansión de un basurero para desperdicios tóxicos, y la construcción de un segundo basurero, en la Planta Waste Management de Kettleman Hills, la cual está ubicada a cerca de 3 y media millas de la comunidad.
El martes pasado, Jared Blumenfeld, administrador de la Región 9 U.S. EPA, dijo a reporteros en una conferencia de prensa por teléfono que el sostener la justicia ambiental, e investigar la incidencia de defectos de nacimiento en Kettleman City, estarían entre sus principales prioridades.
"Este es un asunto de importancia nacional," dijo Blumenfeld en referencia a Kettleman City. "Es la manera en que tratamos con nuestros más vulnerables y la manera en que ejercemos nuestra autoridad moral, aún cuando no hay autoridad legal."
El siguiente día, Blumenfeld se dirigió a cerca de 50 residentes de Kettleman City, que se reunieron con cerca de 50 defensores de justicia ambiental durante un mitin al medio día en frente a la oficina regional principal de EPA en San Francisco.
Durante su breve discurso, él una vez más prometió atender la causa y el grado de los defectos de nacimiento en Kettleman City.
