Calif. farming town fights expansion of hazardous waste facility after spike in birth defects

Calif. county considers expanding toxic waste site

KETTLEMAN CITY, Calif. — Officials overseeing a tiny central California farming community are expected to consider the expansion of the largest toxic waste dump in the West amid growing concerns about a spike in the town’s number of birth defects.

Chemical Waste Management Inc. wants to increase its 1,600-acre facility near Kettleman City, a town of 1,500 in the San Joaquin Valley. The proposal is slowly moving through the permitting process and faces a vote by the Kings County supervisors Tuesday.

Activists want the supervisors to reject it. Of 20 children known born in Kettleman City between September 2007 and November 2008, five had a cleft in their palate or lips.

The facility’s owners say there’s no evidence linking the dump to the birth defects. Other potential culprits are pesticides, discolored drinking water and exhaust from Interstate 5.