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 A former Tucson reporter
watches a South Side community member with a look of concern and
interest.
She takes notes without
breaking eye contact with her subject, a former student of a Sunnyside
school that was shut down because of TCE (trichloroethylene) well-water
contamination.
Part of a nine-member
panel discussion where community impact meets technological solutions, a
journalist may wonder why Jane Kay cares so much.
This is her project.
As a reporter for The
Arizona Daily Star in 1985, Kay began investigating what the Pima County
Health Department denied existed: an abundance of illnesses ranging from
cancer to nerve disorders concentrated in a population located in a
five-mile by three-fourths-mile area in south Tucson.
So when the Society of
Environmental Journalists called Kay, also a member, she agreed to
arrange a tour and panel discussion of TCE contamination sites.
TCE was a cleaning
solvent widely used by Hughes Aircraft and other Air Force contractors
in the '40s at Air Force Plant 44, just east of Nogales Highway. The
solvent has since been believed by the EPA to be a probable carcinogen.
"There are no villains
out there," said Craig Cooper, project leader for the Superfund site for
the EPA. Cooper said one group cannot be accused of wrongdoing because
at the time the dangers of TCE were unknown.
The Superfund site is the
area of land with high levels of TCE concentration that was designated
for cleanup by the EPA.
The parties thought to be
responsible for the TCE contamination are required to share in funding
the remediation.
Cooper explained that the
extensive use of TCE as a solvent was a common practice in the -40s
since people were unaware of its potential health hazard.
Followed by large-scale
waste disposal by Hughes in the '50s, these chlorinated solvents were
washed into the ground where they seeped into the ground water supply,
contaminating residents' drinking water.
The highest level of
contamination, found at the site of the former Tucson airport, was
determined to be 100,000 parts per billion. Cooper said that is the
equivalent of one eyedropper of TCE in a swimming pool.
One of the drinking wells
contaminated the most by TCE was located at the former Sunnyside High
School, which opened in the '50s.
"I can remember coming
down with these rashes and allergies," said Melinda Bernal, a former
student at the school and a teacher with the Sunnyside Unified School
District.
Bernal noticed in the
early -70s that many of her friends were becoming seriously ill. Some
were developing cancer while others developed benign brain tumors.
"The illnesses became
suspicious because they were severe and extreme," Bernal said.
Bernal said realized what
was happening when several wells started being closed around the
southside.
At the same time, Kay was
covering the TCE well contaminations for the Star. She was told by Pima
County health officials that there were no exposures to residents in the
contaminated area.
Bernal's brother, who
also worked for the Star, informed Kay of his sister's friends'
illnesses. Kay followed up on the lead and found a connection.
Kay said she conducted
500 interviews. She compiled the types of illnesses in a computer
database for tabulation when the local health officials refused to open
a study.
Bernal became one of
1,000 individuals in a class-action lawsuit against Hughes. The
Tucsonans for a Clean Environment sued Hughes for responsibility for
their illnesses.
"With Jane's help in her
articles, we began to get a little recognition," Bernal said.
Kay's articles spanned a
two-year period.
Bernal said residents had
trouble finding a law firm willing to represent them because of the
expense and publicity surrounding the TCE contamination issue.
Residents did not have the money to take Hughes to court.
A Dallas law firm finally
agreed to take the case.
The judge awarded the
residents $84 million for medical expenses, which the lawyers divided
up according to the severity of each individual's illness.
Two more lawsuits have
since been taken up.
The EPA and the city
tested for volatile organic compounds, including TCE, in 1981 and found
unsafe levels in several south side water wells. Eleven city wells were
shut down as well as several private residential wells.
Twenty-eight journalists
attended the tour of three out of six of the more heavily
TCE-contaminated sites, one of which was Sunnyside High School that was
closed down in the early '80s.
The second site was Air
Force Plant 44, which had containment in place and reduction within six
years of contamination detection.
"There was a quick
reaction by the Air Force once contamination was found," said Dennis
Scott, remediation project manager for Air Force Plant 44.
Scott said the plant was
able to bypass administration processes to quickly implement innovative
technology for the reduction and removal of TCE from the ground.
Pima County Supervisor
Raul Grijalva , a Democrat, said how Tucsonans feel about the TCE issue
depends on where they live.
"We began to understand
the reality of the contamination through the press," he said. "These
issues are complex and we're starting to address them on the local
level."
Abe Campillo, a South
Tucson community activist who formerly worked for the War on Poverty
program in the -70s, said he saw a lot of people sick with cancer, but
he never linked the widespread occurrences to the environment until he
saw Kay's articles.
"She's the person who
brought to light what a lot of people were suspicious of," Campillo
said. "No matter where she goes, we'll always remember her."
Kay said she had no idea
at the time that the TCE contamination issue would turn into such a big
story. She said the Star's studies showed the local officials were
wrong.
"I was just checking a
tip," she said.
Kay has been reporting on
the environment for the San Francisco Examiner since 1986, after she
finished her TCE articles for the Star. She has reported on 25 sites of
TCE dumping in the South Bay area.
"It's a stunning example
of how the press can bring a serious environmental problem to the
attention of the government, " Kay said.
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