(1) In the past three years, ten babiles in the tiny farming community of Kettleman, California, have been born with birth defects; residents and experts believe that a variety of environmental factors mary be the cause. (2) First, the town has poor air quality: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found the air to be unhealthy as a result of pesticldes used in neighboring farms; additionally, Kettleman is located directly off Highway 41, which subjects the town to vehicle emissions that further pollute the air: (3) Residents worry that poor air quality may harm the health of pregnant women and their unborn children. (4) Secend, Kettleman's water supply is polluted, which may also negatively impact the pregnandes of women in the commonity. (S) Naturally occurring arsenic has leaked into the town's water, making it unsafe according to EPA standards. (6) Yet another possible factor in the health of pregnant women and unborn children, and the most significant concern for the town of Kettleman, is the toxic waste site that exists 4 miles outside of town. (7) This waste disposal site is the largest in the western United States; a waste manapermant firm damps 400,000 tons of hazardous refuse there every year. (8) The firm that operates the dump says that their disposal methods are safe, yet Kettleman residents fear that the hazardous waste is directly affecting the bealth of their community. (9) The high rate of birth defects in Kettleman has put it on the radar as a "toxic town," and the residents have started to fight for their rights to a clean. healthy community.
