Beginning in 2007 citizens of Kettleman gathered in protest of the proposal to dump the radioactive waste from the Santa Susana Field Lab in the Kettleman hazardous waste landfill. Kettleman is a small truck stop town in California where the citizens are mainly people of color and live in poverty. An oil depot and a huge power plant border the town, and the biggest hazardous waste dump site in the United States is located just outside the town. From 2007-2008 residents of Kettleman have reported as many as five birth defects where three of the children have died. They have also reported high rates of cancer, reproductive illnesses and asthma. They have been excluded from the policy and decision making process; their opinion was not even asked when considering to dump radioactive waste outside of their doorsteps where their children play and go to school. Even committees that discussed this proposal that were open to the public were conducted in English even though most of the citizens of Kettleman are Spanish.
In 2009 government officials went to Kettleman and heard the citizens concerns and stories of the harmful effects that they have endured because of their close proximity to the hazardous waste dump site. Later that year, a mass was held for the victims outside of the building that officials were in, approving an expansion for the dump site. In March 2010 citizens ask for a Health Survey to be conducted, and the EPA proposes an Exposure Assessment for the city of Kettleman. After the EPA threatened the Waste Management company with a huge lawsuit, the plans for dumping the radioactive waste from the Santa Susana Field Lab in the Kettleman hazardous waste landfill are finally shut down. The citizens of Kettleman were able to rally together and persistently demand their presence to be acknowledged and considered.
Here is a link to a video on YouTube about the Kettleman story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H03yT33VRM&feature=related
~Eve Hansen
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