FRESNO BEE

February 4, 2010

EPA official visits Kettleman families, landfill

He hears from families affected by birth defects.

By Lewis Griswold / The Fresno Bee

KETTLEMAN CITY -- The regional administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency said he "learned a lot" after talking Wednesday with residents of this poor farmworker community about a cluster of birth defect cases.

But Jared Blumenfeld, administrator for the Pacific Southwest region, declined to discuss what the mothers told him about their babies.

"These are very emotional things to talk about. I want to respect that privacy," he said after leaving one home and before entering another.

During a 15-month period that ended in November 2008, five babies were born with cleft palates, and three of them died.

Kings County health officials revealed this week that another baby was born with a birth defect that was not a cleft palate, and environmental activists are now saying a seventh child was stillborn with birth defects in August 2009.

Residents in this community of 1,500 have been clamoring for an investigation for months, but it was not until last week that state and federal officials said they'd act.

Blumenfeld promised an internal investigation to see whether the EPA properly handled complaints about the operation of a nearby hazardous waste landfill that is the largest west of the Mississippi, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered state health and environmental officials to investigate the birth defect cases.

Also Wednesday, Blumenfeld toured the landfill owned and operated by Waste Management Inc. that's in the process of expanding.

Waste Management officials said in a statement that they discussed with Blumenfeld environmental issues in the area, such a truck traffic on Interstate 5 and local drinking water quality.

Residents say they believe the landfill is the source of chemical contamination causing the birth defects, a claim that's denied by Waste Management.

Blumenfeld met with four of the families. "They gave us very good hope after what's happened here in the community," said Magdalena Romero, whose daughter was born with a cleft palate and later died. "They made a promise they're going to do an investigation and help us out."

Romero, speaking in Spanish, said she showed Blumenfeld pictures of her baby's birth defects and also of her daughter lying in her casket to counter denials that no babies have died.

Ana Martinez, an activist with the San Francisco-based Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, one of the groups working with the Kettleman City community, was with the mothers when they told Blumenfeld their stories.

"It was very emotional," she said. "He couldn't help but be overwhelmed."

Martinez said Blumenfeld told the group "he's going to have someone like a real health expert, someone who is not biased" come to Kettleman City and be available as a medical resource for residents.